Qualifying report

WTCC

Honda Civic fourth fastest in dramatic qualifying for Slovakia Ring event

The popular young Hungarian Norbert Michelisz was second fastest in Q2 before going into the single car shoot-out Q3 where he set 4th fastest time.

Edited: May 10, 2014, 9:02 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Norbert Michelisz, Honda Civic WTCC, Zengo Motorsport

The Honda Civic of Norbert Michelisz battled through the three quick-fire qualifying sessions to set the fourth fastest time to take a well-deserved second row grid position for tomorrows FIA World Touring Car Championship race here at the Slovakia Ring. Norbert had set quick times in each of the mornings free practice sessions and then put his Zengo̎ Motorsport run Civic at the top of the timesheets with his very first flying lap in Q1. The popular young Hungarian was second fastest in Q2 before going into the single car shoot-out Q3 where he set 4th fastest time to secure the second row starting spot.

Norbert was delighted with his result. I am quite happy with my position. I went through qualifying without any problems and the car got better and better, every lap improving since Friday. After a days testing I am getting more and more confident in the Honda and this circuit layout is good for me and the car. I am hoping for a top position in Race 1.

For the Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team qualifying proved less rewarding but Tiago Monteiro secured pole position for Race 2 with 10th fastest overall. Gabriele Tarquini was a comfortable 5th fastest in Q1 but had a scary high-speed drama in Q2 when a bonnet pin broke allowing the bonnet to obscure his view whilst travelling at more than 240kph. The experienced Italian managed to bring the Civic to a halt without contact with the barriers and brought the car quickly back to the pits. Mechanics frantically fixed the bonnet down but Gabriele had just seconds left of the session but managed to set 8th quickest time.

Tiago Monteiro, Honda Civic WTCC, Castrol Honda WTCC Team

Photo by: XPB Images

For Mehdi Bennani in the Proteam Racing Civic good practice times turned sour when a turbo problem eliminated the Moroccan from Q1. The car will be repaired but he will start both races from the back of the grid.

Tiago Monteiro had predicted that the Slovakia Ring would be more of a test than the Hungaroring where he had taken two very positive podium results. The Civic was harder to drive here on used tyres than I expected but when we fitted the new tyres it as much better and immediately had good balance. This is a technical circuit and you have to get those sections right to get a quick lap time. I was going for the lap in Q2 when Gabriele had his moment and I had to go on the grass which damaged my underfloor and upset the balance. So I need to get a good start in Race 2 and get a good rhythm and I think I can take a podium position.

At the post qualifying press conference Tarquini explained the incident. For me it was a very hot moment. I was following Norbi to set a time immediately and suddenly at the entry to turn 2 the bonnet flew up and blocked my view. Of course I immediately tried to stop but got a big oversteer and could only see out of my side window. Cars were all avoiding me and I was pleased to stop safely. I pushed the bonnet down and got back to the pits for my mechanics to make some repairs for me to continue. Now I have to work hard to be in race 2 and then see that we get more points from the result

Alessandro Mariani, Team Principal of the Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team: Unfortunately a breakage is not good news especially in Q2. We will investigate what caused this and make changes. We are working hard to develop the Civic but we have had four racing events in just over one month and one days testing so we have lots of work to do with alternative settings and components.

Daisuke Horiuchi, Large Project Leader for WTCC engine development from Honda R&D is positive. We continue with the throttle control mapping program that we used successfully in Hungary and have made further adaptations for the Slovakia Ring.

Startgrid Race 1:

1. José-Maria Lopez, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 203912; 2. Sébastien Loeb, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 204284;; 3. Yvan Muller, Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 204541; 4. Norbert Michelisz, Honda Civic WTCC 204903; 5. Gianni Morbidelli, Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 204931; ; 6. Tom Chilton, Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 204870; 7. Tom Coronel, Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 204988; 8. Gabriele Tarquini, Honda Civic WTCC 205363; 9. Hugo Valente, Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 205429; 10. Tiago Monteiro, Honda Civic WTCC 205685; ... 20. Mehdi Bennani, Honda Civic WTCC

Honda Racing

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Citroën on the Slovakia Ring: Pechito López, as evidence!

Next article High drama in Slovakia as LADASport break into Qualifying 2 for the first time in 2014

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Franco Morbidelli on securing most coveted WSBK ride: 'Clearly Ducati has some trust in me'

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Japanese GP

9 min

Franco Morbidelli on securing most coveted WSBK ride: 'Clearly Ducati has some trust in me'

"Not allowed, not made possible": Was BMW denied its title chance?

DTM

DTM DTM

Hockenheim

58 min

"Not allowed, not made possible": Was BMW denied its title chance?

Max Verstappen: FAQ on his GTWC Europe debut

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1 1 h

Max Verstappen: FAQ on his GTWC Europe debut

Pedro Acosta: "I'm going to Ducati to learn from Marc Marquez, not to beat him on same bike"

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Indonesian GP

2 h

Pedro Acosta: "I'm going to Ducati to learn from Marc Marquez, not to beat him on same bike"

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts