BRC Racing Team triumph in Slovakia
Tarquini and Michelisz both victorious
There were excellent results for BRC Racing Team in the sixth round of the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) which was held from 13th to 15th July on the 5.922 meters of the Slovakia Ring.
Gabriele Tarquini and Norbert Michelisz were the real stars of the Slovak weekend, collecting points and victories. "Cinghio" is leading the world series again, while the Hungarian is now third in the championship standings.
Thanks to the drivers’ performance, BRC Racing Team regained the leadership of the teams’ standings and can face the summer break in the best way, before launching into the last four races that will be held in the autumn in Asia.
Gabriele Tarquini made a fast start to the final European weekend of the season by winning the DHL Pole Position in Q1, right in front of his team-mate Norbert Michelisz, though the latter was placed at the back of the grid by a penalty following the session. Tarquini reached the third step of the podium in Race 1, to get the first valuable points of the weekend for the team.
Michelisz was able to bounce back from his Q1 disappointment in Saturday’s Q2, claiming an excellent Pole Position, winning more important points, as well as claiming to the best starting sport for the all-important finale.
Tarquini, meanwhile, finished qualifying only ninth. However, this gave him second position on the partly reversed Race 2 grid. He immediately grabbed the lead of this race at the start, bringing his Hyundai i30 N TCR to triumph. The fourth win of the season allowed the Italian driver to reconquer the first position of the drivers' standings. His performance also secured Tarquini the TAG Heuer Best Lap Trophy, setting the fastest race lap of the weekend. Michelisz completes BRC’s success recovering from tenth to seventh place.
In the third, and final, race, BRC’s triumph is completed. Despite Tarquini bowing out following contact on the opening lap, Michelisz stands out as a protagonist. After so many good races and excellent placings, he led throughout and set the fastest lap time of the race to score his first victory of the season.
"It was not easy” - said Tarquini after the victory in Race 2 – “On the grid we had some water leaking and the mechanics made a miracle with an old trick that turned out to be successful! I fought hard and I pushed for the first two laps and then managed the gap, although I was not sure about that water. This makes my win even greater.”
Norbert Michelisz comments: “I’ve been waiting for this for some races now. The weekend didn’t start the way we wanted. Not having the proper starting position for the first race was disappointing, but we managed to turn it around with the second qualifying and the third race. I’m really happy and there’s a big relief from my side. There is some pressure off my shoulders now and I really hope this is the start of a turnaround for me in terms of the championship fight. There have been a lot of ups and downs throughout the season, but going into the summer break with such a result makes me happy”.
Race 1 WTCR 2018 Slovakia – Slovakia Ring – 11 laps
1 – Pepe Oriola – Campos Racing 26:24.640
2 – Jean-Karl Vernay - Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team + 1.734
3 – Gabriele Tarquini - BRC Racing Team + 2.374
4 – Aurélien Comtee – DG Sport Competition + 5.525
5 – Fabrizio Giovanardi – Mulsanne Srl + 5.773
6 – Yann Ehrlacher - ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport + 7.357
7 – Tom Coronel - Boutsen Ginion Racing + 7.725
8 – Denis Dupont – Audi Sport team Comtoyou + 8.190
9 – Aurélien Panis - Comtoyou Racing + 8.993
10 – Nathanael Berthon - Comtoyou Racing + 9.813
23 – Norbert Michelisz - BRC Racing Team 1 lap
Race 2 WTCR 2018 Slovakia – Slovakia Ring – 9 laps
1 – Gabriele Tarquini - BRC Racing Team 19:54.580
2 – Norbert Nagi – Zengo Motorsport + 2.150
3 – Yvan Muller - MRacing - YMR + 3.354
4 – Pepe Oriola – Campos Racing + 4.750
5 – Benjamin Lessennes - Boutsen Ginion Racing + 5.313
6 – John Filippi – Campos Racing + 5.892
7 – Norbert Michelisz - BRC Racing Team + 5.895
8 – Frédéric Vervisch – Audi Sport team Comtoyou + 13.578
9 – Esteban Guerrieri - ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport + 14.194
10 – Yann Ehrlacher - ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport + 14.540
Race 3 WTCR 2018 Slovakia – Slovakia Ring – 13 laps
1 – Norbert Michelisz - BRC Racing Team 32:25.458
2 – Aurélien Comtee – DG Sport Competition + 2.005
3 – Frédéric Vervisch – Audi Sport team Comtoyou + 8.273
4 – Thed Björk - MRacing - YMR +8.312
5 – Petr Fulin – Fullin Race Academu + 8.796
6 – Kevin Ceccon – Mulsanne Srl + 9.150
7 – Fabrizio Giovanardi – Mulsanne Srl + 9.382
8 – Tom Coronel - Boutsen Ginion Racing + 9.729
9 – Pepe Oriola – Campos Racing + 11.065
10 – Zsolt David Szabo – Zengo Motorsport + 11.721
NC – Gabriele Tarquini - BRC Racing Team
OVERALL RANKINGS - DRIVERS
1 – #30 Gabriele Tarquini ITA - BRC Racing Team - HYUNDAI - pt. 202
2 – #48 Yvan Muller FRA - MRacing - HYUNDAI - pt. 199
3 – #5 Norbert Michelisz HUN - BRC Racing Team - HYUNDAI - pt. 176
4 – #68 Yann Ehrlacher FRA - ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport - HONDA - pt. 171
5 – #69 Jean-Karl Vernay FRA - Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team - AUDI - pt. 166
6 – #11 Thed Björk SWE - MRacing - HYUNDAI - pt. 164
7 – #74 Pepe Oriola ESP – Campos Racing - CUPRA - pt.154
8 – #86 Esteban Guerrieri ARG - ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport - HONDA - pt.134
9 – #12 Rob Huff GBR - Sébastien Loeb Racing - VOLKSWAGEN - pt. 130
10 – #7 Aurélien Comte FRA – DG Sport Competition - PEUGEOT - pt. 109
OVERALL RANKINGS - TEAMS
1 – BRC Racing Team - HYUNDAI - pt. 385
2 – MRacing - HYUNDAI - pt. 375
3 – ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport - HONDA - pt. 311
4 – Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team - AUDI - pt. 250
5 – Sébastien Loeb Racing - VOLKSWAGEN - pt. 207
6 – Campos Racing - CUPRA - pt. 177
7 – DG Sport Competition - PEUGEOT - pt.147
8 – Audi Sport Team Comtoyou - AUDI - pt. 109
9 – Boutsen Ginion Racing - HONDA - pt. 96
10 – ComtoyouRacing - AUDI - pt. 47
11 – Mulsanne Srl - CUPRA - pt. 35
12 – Zengo Motorsport - CUPRA - pt. 27