Kristoffersson and Michelisz victorious at Suzuka, Muller left behind

Norbert Michelisz continues his duel with Esteban Guerrieri in the championship while Yvan Muller only scored a handful of points at Suzuka and finds himself fourth in the general classification.

Published on 27/10/2019 à 09:23

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Kristoffersson and Michelisz victorious at Suzuka, Muller left behind

The Sunday day of racing on the small Suzuka circuit (Japan) produced two different winners in the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR), Sunday October 27.

Ce n’est pas un hasard si Norbert Michelisz (Hyundai) et Johan Kristoffersson (Volkswagen) l’ont emporté. Les deux hommes s’étaient élancés depuis la pole position. Sur un tracé long d’à peine 2,24 km et sinueux, les voitures de tourisme ont pour la plupart fait le train-train.

Winner in Race 2, Norbert Michelisz then scored an eighth place in Race 3. His duel with Esteban Guerrieri (Honda, winner of Race 1) extends with a difference of only six points in favor of the Argentinian in the general classification.

“It came down to 24 qualifying laps”, the Hungarian laughed. I was at the limit, two or three times I slipped. In the end we are aiming for the title and the only approach for me is to go all out. »

At the end of the day, the double world champion rallycross (World RX) Johan Kristoffersson signed his second victory in World Tourism. “It was complicated with Tiago (Monteiro, 4th) who got me at the start, specifies the representative of Sébastien Loeb Racing.

I was looking in the side window, I thought I should react. Either you do it in the first two laps or in the last two, and I managed to overtake him after 400 meters, I was happy with that. We touched sideways, but it was an affectionate gesture! »

The third strong man of the season, Yvan Muller (Lynk & Co) only finished 14th then 13th after poor qualifications. The Alsatian finds himself rejected behind his Cyan Racing teammate Thed Björk (248 points for the Swede, 240 for the Frenchman), with a disbursement of 48 units on Esteban Guerrieri.

The best French representative was once again Jean Karl Vernay (Audi), particularly enterprising after lackluster tests (9th twice). Yann Erlacher (Lynk & Co) finished 15th and 18th after contact and a penalty with Augusto Farfus (Hyundai). Aurelien Panis (Cupra) finished outside the points (19th and 17th).

Find the analysis of the WTCR in Japan in issue 2239 of AUTOhebdo, on sale Monday evening digitally and Wednesday on newsstands.

WTCR Suzuka 2019 Race 2 standings: