Macau - Race 2: Norbert Michelisz wins his third international crown in TCR

The Hungarian driver has just won the TCR World Tour 2024. Fifth in the last race of the season, he is ahead of Thed Björk (8th this morning) and Mikel Azcona in the general classification. Dusan Borkovic adds his name to the list of winners of the prestigious Macau round.

Published on 17/11/2024 à 08:08

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Macau – Race 2: Norbert Michelisz wins his third international crown in TCR

©TCR Media

Norbert Michelisz's nerves were put to the test this Sunday morning. Scheduled for around 4am (Paris time), the TCR World Tour competitors had the unpleasant surprise of seeing their race postponed due to incessant rain preventing race management from ensuring the safety of the drivers. The race was therefore able to take place two hours later. Qing Hua Ma (Lynk&Co) was the first World Tour driver to start on the grid, beaten by two drivers from the local Chinese TCR championship. The race was launched behind the safety car.

Michelisz protected by his teammates

The Korean manufacturer's tactic was to allow Michelisz to finish the race without any damage and protect him from the return of Thed Björk who started from 10th place following the grid reversal for Race 2. The plan of Hyundai and Gabriele Tarquini's men worked perfectly. Azcona and Girolami played the pilot fish for their leader. When Esteban Guerrieri showed himself to be threatening for their position, none of these boys showed extreme resistance to the fiery Argentinian. Guerrieri also drove a magnificent race to finish second behind the Serbian giant Dusan Borkovic who won his first world victory in the TCR series. Thed Björk crossed the finish line in 8th position. The 2017 WTCC champion is Michelisz's runner-up this season. It was a weekend to forget for Yann Ehrlacher after his mechanical problems the day before, the Alsatian did not manage to finish better than 10th place in the final race of the season (he finished 5th to the champion this season).

#TCR – Norbert Michelisz the 2024 Kumo FIA TCR World Tour crown in Macau 👏👏👏#FIA #MacauGP pic.twitter.com/ImQkWBjm9F

- FIA (@fia) November 17, 2024

The podium of the last round of 2024 is as follows: Borckovic, Guerrieri and Butti (Honda Civic). The triumph goes to Norbert Michelisz who wins his third international crown (one in WTCC, two in TCR World Tour), his second in a row after that of 2023. The Hungarian did not have enough words to express his joy in the victory lane: "I didn't sleep last night I was so stressed and then the race was delayed because of the rain, I can tell you that I suffered before being able to celebrate this new title. I would like to especially thank my two teammates Mikel and Nestor who supported me perfectly for this last race, I am really the happiest and I am very lucky to race with this team."Despite its image and recognition difficulties, the TCR World Tour has still offered a formidable spectacle throughout the season. Marcello Lotti and his teams must now work to improve the visibility of his world touring car championship.