Yvan Muller dismissed Norbert Michelisz’s defence of suspension damage in their crash in the opening FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) race at Zandvoort, calling it a ‘silly excuse’.
YMR’s Muller and BRC Racing’s Michelisz came to blows at the third corner of the opening lap, with both Hyundais out of the race and Muller’s i30 perched on top of the barriers.
The Frenchman was furious with Michelisz on the radio at the time, calling out “he’s fucking stupid is Michelisz – fucking stupid” over the radio.
After the race, Michelisz explained the incident to TouringCars.Net: “It was unfortunate that we touched. My right-front suspension broke and as a consequence of that we hit the barriers quite hard.”
But Muller threw out Michelisz’s defence, claiming that the Hungarian driver put his foot flat out on the exit of the corner because he had seen that it was Muller coming through.
“At Turn 3 there was too many cars on the inside so I went to the outside,” said Muller to TouringCars.Net. “Then, from the middle of the corner when he saw me, he just put his foot flat out.
“He probably had understeer or whatever, I don’t know, and he just pushed me. He said he had suspension damage after the contact, of course, but that’s his stupid excuse.
“He just put [his foot] flat out, and he hit me on the side. I had time to brake, because even when the suspension breaks you can brake and stop, but he stayed flat out.
“I had time to brake and you can see there are two [tyre] marks from my car on the track. After that, I couldn’t do anything.
“He had space on his left which he completely avoided. I think just because he saw me he was desperate to not lose that place and he did a stupid move.
“This kind of manoeuvre like the manoeuvre he did at the Nürburgring should not happen.”
Michelisz says he spoke to Muller both after the incident and in the stewards room, where it is being investigated.
“We talked after jumping out of the car and we talked just now in the steward’s room,” added Michelisz. “I don’t want to say anything negative in this aspect.
“From what I heard he was quite clear on the radio about what he thinks, and I don’t have any special comment regarding that.”
Video: Muller and Michelisz crash out at Zandvoort