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Motorsport Kumho FIA TCR World Tour Race Review: Round 4 – Interlagos, Brazil
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Motorsport Kumho FIA TCR World Tour Race Review: Round 4 – Interlagos, Brazil
Motorsport Kumho FIA TCR World Tour Race Review: Round 4 – Interlagos, Brazil
Motorsport Kumho FIA TCR World Tour Race Review: Round 4 – Interlagos, Brazil
Motorsport Kumho FIA TCR World Tour Race Review: Round 4 – Interlagos, Brazil
Motorsport Kumho FIA TCR World Tour Race Review: Round 4 – Interlagos, Brazil
Motorsport Kumho FIA TCR World Tour Race Review: Round 4 – Interlagos, Brazil
Motorsport Kumho FIA TCR World Tour Race Review: Round 4 – Interlagos, Brazil
INTERLAGOS/SEOUL, JULY 22, 2024 – BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse tasted victory once again in on the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour after defending champion Norbert Michelisz put up a defensive masterclass to win on the series’ debut weekend at the famous Autódromo José Carlos Pace circuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Hungarian Michelisz started the 30-minute plus one lap reverse-grid Race 2 from pole position, used all of his vast experience to survive a safety car restart, then held off a trio of rivals cars led initially by Ma Qing Hua. Resisting intense early pressure, Michelisz kept his cool to score a second win of the season.
In the opening race, a strong start from Michelisz allowed him to keep hold of his points lead despite carrying a hefty 30kg of compensation weight. The Hungarian rose from tenth on the grid to finish sixth, aided in part by team-mate Néstor Girolami giving up a position. The result initially left Michelisz with a five-point lead over race winner Esteban Guerrieri, who then finished fourth in Race 2.
Michelisz’s victory, combind with his rival’s result, means the defending Kumho FIA TCR World Tour champion leaves Brazil with a 15-point lead at the top of the standings over Guerrieri, with main competitor Yann Ehrlacher a further 17 points back in third.
Meanwhile, Mikel Azcona and Néstor Girolami fought valiantly in both races to complete a challenging weekend in their Hyundai ELANTRA N TCR. In the opener, Azcona made a scorching start from 13th on the grid, progressing to eighth in a race interrupted by an early safety car – despite the disadvantage of a maximum 40kg compensation weight. In Race 2, the Spaniard again made up ground, this time rising from 13th to score more points for his team in ninth.
But Girolami was out of luck. The Argentinian started fifth in Race 1 and briefly ran fourth on the opening lap, only to lose pace following contact with another car. He dropped down the order, allowing both Michelisz and Azcona past, to finish an eventual 13th. In Race 2, early contact with Ehrlacher and Raphael Reis de Sá forced Girolami to pay a visit to the pits. He returned to the track, climbing his way up to 11th at the chequered flag.
The Kumho FIA TCR World Tour heads next to Uruguay for the second part of the series’ South American adventure, with the El Pinar circuit hosting the action on August 2-4.
Hyundai Motorsport Circuit Racing Project Manager Julien Moncet said: “Coming to this iconic place, Interlagos, the target was clear: to maintain or increase our leads in the Drivers’ and Teams’ championships, but we achieved it only for the Drivers’. We knew it was going to be difficult because of the compensation weight we carried due to the good results at Mid-Ohio. And this track is demanding with the long straight and uphill section. Nevertheless we arrived quite confident. To be honest it has been a very tough weekend. We struggled during freee practice to the find the right setup of the car but made good steps to bring back the in a reasonable window. As you could see in free practice and qualifying we struggled a lot. The highlight of the weekend is obviously the win of Norbert Michelisz in Race 2. I think we have to say to him ‘chapeau’ because he managed to keep ahead for 30 minutes – very long minutes! He made the difference. El Pinar will be new for me, although not the team, but we have a few days to think about it and bring some out-of-the-box solutions to recover a bit. We will still have some compensation weight for Norbi, but not for Mikel and Néstor, and on a less weight dependent track, we will hopefully be able to bounce back and reclaim our lead of the Teams’ championship, which we conceded this weekend.”
Driver Notes: #105 Norbert Michelisz (HUN), Hyundai ELANTRA N TCR
Michelisz said: “Ending the race weekend like this was an amazing feeling to cross the finish line. To be honest, it was one of my best races and I didn’t expect to win. There was a lot of pressure. It was not just all about pushing 100 per cent, it was about pushing without making any mistakes and also looking after the tyres. I’m very happy and very proud that I managed it. Ma did his best to attack and he was fair when we were running side by side. In Race 1 I made a good start from P10 and gained two positions, then another before the safety car arrived. Then ‘Bebu’ [Girolami] struggled a little for pace, so we swapped positions. I tried to do my best. The blues were faster than us on the straights so I needed to make the difference up through the corners and I was flat out all the race. El Pinar will be tough but our aim must be to finish both races and score more points.”
Driver Notes: #196 Mikel Azcona (ESP), Hyundai ELANTRA N TCR
Azcona said: “A challenging first race. I was able to overtake three cars at the first corner. In all I made up four places in the first lap and was behind Ma, then the safety car came. After that I overtook Borković and thanks to ‘Bebu’ for the position he gave up for me. I had good pace and tried to push, but with 40kg you struggle to keep the tyre degredation low. From the middle of the race I struggled as the front tyres dropped away more than usual, so I tried to avoid any damage. Eighth was the maximum I could achieve. Then the second race was tougher than the first! But I’m happy to finish P9 from P13 and score more points. We recovered quite a lot from qualifying. I’m positive looking ahead to El Pinar because we’ll lose the 40kg and it’s a track that we know from last year. We will be more competitive there.”
Driver Notes: #129 Néstor Girolami (ARG), Hyundai ELANTRA N TCR
Girolami said: “Not my weekend. From lap one in the first race I realised something was broken after contact with Butti. It was a small touch side by side, but I had such a bad feeling under braking that I was locking the fronts up a lot and I had too much power understeer. It looks like it was something on the differential that wasn’t working properly. I was trying to survive and wait until the end, but I had no pace at all. Then in Race 2 unfortunately I received two big hits on the first lap in Turn 7. The first hit I could control, the second one broke my right rear wheel and I had to pit. I was fortunate to get the safety car so I could catch the pack and finish P11. But when you have a weekend like that it is better to turn the page and reset for El Pinar.”
Race 1 results: | |||
| 1 | E. Guerrieri | Honda Civic Type R FL5 | 14 laps in 26:50.568 |
| 2 | S. Urrutia | Lynk & Co 03 | +10.040s |
| 3 | M. Butti | Honda Civic Type R FL5 | +10.860s |
| 4 | Y. Ehrlacher | Lynk & Co 03 | +11.594s |
| 5 | T. Björk | Lynk & Co 03 | +12.605s |
| 6 | N. Michelisz | Hyundai ELANTRA N | +13.198s |
| 7 | M. Q. Hua | Lynk & Co 03 | +14.662s |
| 8 | M. Azcona | Hyundai ELANTRA N | +14.842s |
| 9 | D. Borković | Honda Civic Type R FL5 | +16.783s |
| 10 | R. Suzuki | Peugeot 308 TCR | +21.677s |
Race 2 results: | |||
| 1 | N. Michelisz | Hyundai ELANTRA N | 18 laps in 32:24.174 |
| 2 | T. Björk | Lynk & Co 03 | +2.618s |
| 3 | M. Q. Hua | Lynk & Co 03 | +8.698s |
| 4 | E. Guerrieri | Honda Civic Type R FL5 | +8.950s |
| 5 | S. Urrutia | Lynk & Co 03 | +10.224s |
| 6 | M. Butti | Honda Civic Type R FL5 | +14.210s |
| 7 | J. Filippi | Audi RS 3 LMS | +15.006s |
| 8 | R. Suzuki | Peugeot 308 TCR | +19.601s |
| 9 | M. Azcona | Hyundai ELANTRA N | +22.168s |
| 10 | R. Reis de Sá | Cupra Leon VZ TCR | +28.569s |
2024 Kumho FIA TCR World Tour for Drivers After Round 4: | ||
| 1 | N. Michelisz | 196 |
| 2 | E. Guerrieri | 181 |
| 3 | T. Björk | 159 |
| 4 | Y. Ehrlacher | 156 |
| 5 | M. Azcona | 148 |
| 6 | M. Q. Hua | 147 |
| 7 | S. Urrutia | 144 |
| 8 | N. Girolami | 129 |
| 9 | M. Butti | 112 |
| 10 | J. Filippi | 100 |
2024 Kumho FIA TCR World Tour for Teams After Round 4: | ||
| 1 | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | 402 |
| 2 | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | 383 |
| 3 | GOAT Racing | 315 |
| 4 | Volcano Motorsport | 133 |
| 5 | PMO Racing | 21 |
| 6 | Bryan Herta Autosport | 14 |
| 7 | Team Clairet Sport | 14 |
| 8 | PMA Motorsport | 13 |
| 9 | Aikoa Racing | 12 |
| 10 | Paladini Racing | 12 |
About Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Hyundai Motorsport GmbH is responsible for Hyundai’s global motorsport activities, including the FIA World Rally Championship and Customer Racing projects. Since its inception in 2012, Hyundai Motorsport has established a strong reputation in WRC and claimed the manufacturers’ title in 2019 and 2020. The company embraced the all- new technical challenge of WRC’s hybrid era in 2022, resulting in the birth of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid. Following the creation of its Customer Racing department in 2015, Hyundai Motorsport has become a trusted partner for teams and drivers looking for success on the rally stages or on racetracks around the world. From its competitive Hyundai i20 N Rally2 to the front-running Hyundai ELANTRA N TCR, Hyundai Motorsport-built cars have claimed crowns in several national rally championships and titles in the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) (2018, 2019, 2022) and the TCR World Tour (2023). Hyundai Motorsport has supported an important perception shift for the Hyundai brand around the world over the past ten years and continues to play an instrumental role in driving Hyundai’s global high-performance N brand.
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