The most difficult part of racing on the Nürburgring Nordschleife is to find the limit says Zengő Motorsport’s Norbert Michelisz, after the Hungarian experienced “the scariest moment” in his life so far at the circuit.
Hungarian ace Michelisz avoided a huge accident on Thursday when he suffered a puncture in testing, completing a 1080° spin as a result of a puncture.
“If someone told me before the weekend that I’m going to have an accident at the fastest part of the circuit, I would tell him that after this accident I wouldn’t be able to compete because of big damage on the car,” said Michelisz of the incident. “I don’t know how I survived.
“I had a right-front puncture and it was like a miracle that I didn’t hit any of the guardrails or the barriers, because the speed was well over 250 km/h there. I needed to turn left and at the moment I started to turn the front tyre just blew up. It was the scariest moment in my life so far. It was not a nice experience!
“For sure it was the first lesson for me that on this circuit it sometimes looks easy to drive at 250 kph because in a race car you sometimes don’t realise the amount of speed you are carrying, but after an accident like this you realise that in a very short time you can have a big accident.”
Watch: Michelisz’s monster moment in Nordschleife testing
Nürburgring and German touring car legend Klaus Ludwig was brought together wirth Michelisz by the Hungarian’s title sponsor MOL Group, and the German provided insight into the mental state which Michelisz needs to apply in order to succeed on the 172-turn circuit.
“In a normal race you have a lot of run off area – you can go to the limit, or if you go over the limit you are sitting in the middle of a gravel trap,” explained Ludwig. “Here, there are some corners where you don’t know if you are really on the limit, or if it is possible to go faster. The left-hander after the Flugplatz, as an example, it’s a real corner. If you are fast there, you are really fast.
“Here, it is different. You feel it. As soon as you enter the Nordschleife you have to switch your mind, and say ‘now I am on the Nordschleife’.”
Ludwig, famed for his endurance racing experience and for his success in the DTM, was also full of praise for the WTCC drivers, who have impressed many in the paddock with their speed around the Nordschleife.
“It’s amazing to see how fast these guys are, it’s unbelievable compared to the GT3 cars,” admitted Ludwig. “They are doing laps of maybe 8 minutes 35 seconds and then at race speed they are about the same. These cars are front-wheel drive cars with maybe 400 horsepower and limited aero. They are doing a fantastic, unbelievable job. The next problem is that their rear tyres are not getting warm and they have to work on that too. I’m really surprised at how quick they are around here, it doesn’t look easy.”
Michelisz added that one of the biggest challenges about racing on the Nürburgring Nordschleife is maintaining confidence, with accidents and incidents sometimes mentally hard to recover from.
“I could count on my two hands how many laps I did,” said Michelisz of his experience around the track prior to the weekend. “If you overdo it one time, to get the confidence back takes a lot of time. For me the most difficult part is to arrive on the limit in the best possible way and never to be over the limit on corners where it can go wrong. It’s very easy to say this, but sometimes you’re sat in the racing car and you think you have the rhythm and that you know the circuit.
“On this circuit it’s so easy to make a small mistake and have a big, big confidence setback. The biggest challenge is to be patient, to realise that your moment comes and to be able to push.”
Whilst some have questioned whether the WTCC should be racing on the Nordschleife, Michelisz is adamant that even modern racing cars should be adaptable to the circuit.
“I think it’s about compromise,” explained Michelisz. “Most modern race cars are able to drive this circuit. Of course you have to make some changes to the set-up. But it’s 2015, we’re in the modern era, and I don’t think it’s a question now for a touring car to be able to drive this circuit.
“In my point of view there’s no question about these cars being able to go on the limit on this circuit.”
Michelisz will start the first WTCC race at the Nordschleife from fourth on the grid.