After a rocky start to the 2020 World Touring Car Cup season for Norbert Michelisz, the Hungarian believes that he still has all to play for despite underwhelming results at Zolder and Hyundai’s refusal to race in the previous event at the Nürburgring.
After just two rounds of the championship, Michelisz finds himself 79 points behind Yann Ehrlacher the series leader, but heading into the Slovakiaring for round three, ‘Norbi’ seems cautiously optimistic about what the weekend may have in store for him.
“To be honest I’m always quite confident arriving here,” he said. “If you go back to last year and the year before you will see we were always on pole here so this circuit is almost like it’s made for the i30 N TCR.
“Also, I have to say the first moment I arrived here, when I drive here, I realised I just love this circuit. I really like the layout. Somehow it suits my driving style for the weekend so I am confident.
“Of course, you never know where you will end up against the other cars because it’s very tough competition, very high-level cars and drivers so it’s very difficult to make a proper prediction. But we should be good enough to finish in the top six or top five normally.”
In years gone by, the Slovakian round has often felt like a second home event for Michelisz. Given its proximity to his native Hungary, dedicated fans regularly make the trip across the border to cheer for their favourite racer. Sadly though, with Covid-19 precautions still in place, the track will be without any spectators at all this time around.
That detail hasn’t gone unnoticed by Michelisz, who always appreciates the trackside support he receives during this leg of the calendar.
“I was looking forward to these two weeks with races at the Slovakia Ring and the Hungaroring since January,” he added. “Then we had the delay. I always said they are the nicest race events, back home on the Hungaroring and here at the Slovakia Ring. Like you said, a couple of thousand fans join us and I have to say it’s a bit strange now.
“Okay, it’s a Friday, but normally on a Friday you see already people gathering so it’s a bit strange but it’s the right decision to go without fans unfortunately, because, currently, it’s quite tricky to manage the situation.
“I hope they follow me from back home and support me for the rest of the season. We are not in an easy position but there are still 12 races ahead of us.”
As he mentioned, Michelisz and the rest of the Hyundai squad have a mountain to climb if they want to continue their collection of championship honours this year. Rival outfit Cyan Racing appears to have stepped up to another level this season, while the Münnich Motorsport Honda outfit is also in a good position.
It will take an almighty comeback effort for Michelisz to successfully defend his 2019 title, but as far as the Hungarian is concerned, now is not the time to give up.
“For me it’s not about doing the maths now. We will have circuits where we can be pretty strong. The important thing is always to maximise the package you have.
“We will have race weekends where we will have a good package and then my objective will be to fight for the podium places. Then we will have races when we will be again a bit behind. For me the most [important] thing is to be there all the time, inside the top ten, and then just to wait and see.
“Until China last year I was always 40 or 50 points behind and then suddenly we started to come and we are still very early. It’s 16 races and we only did four. People do the mistake by saying two weekends gone and the championship is already over. But for me we still have 12 races and anything can happen.”