Norbert Michelisz won his second consecutive drivers’ title for the BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse team at the 2024 Macau Guia Race. The race saw GOAT Racing Honda, driven by Serbian driver Dušan Borković, finish with 1-2-3 to take its first win. world tour car racing
With Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk winning the first race on Saturday, the Swedish driver was only five points behind going into today’s race, but as he was set to start 10th on the grid, four places behind Michelisz, he had to pass him on the track to take him out. . title.
The first attempt to start the race was abandoned due to heavy rain falling on the Kia Circuit throughout the morning, and the race was rescheduled for shortly after 1pm on what was now a dry track.
Two local drivers, Andy Yan and Martin Cao, racing for the TCR China Hyundai team, started from the front row on wet tires, with Cao leading the early stages of the race, ahead of his team-mate at Dona Maria.
Michelisz started the race on wet surfaces and moved into Lisboa ahead of teammate Néstor Girolami at the start of lap one. He started the race on slick tires. But despite the advanced performance advantages of slicks on dry tracks, the Argentine stayed put to face any criticism from Björk’s Lynk & Co. Lynk & Co also chose the conservative option of starting from the Geumho Wetlands. tire.
This meant that of the three GOAT Racing drivers, the sleek Honda was free to move up the order. Starting the race in fourth, Borković soon took the lead and overtook Cao on the sixth lap in Lisboa, and on the following lap, Borković’s teammate Guerrieri moved up to second, passing six cars in one lap. A third driver, Marco Butti, is in tow.
The race was put behind the safety car for two laps when Max Hart’s Hyundai came to a precarious halt with damage at a fast Mandarin curve on lap 9, followed by a one-lap sprint. Borković led the Catalan Honda team’s formation finish to win the race, Michelisz’s fifth place was enough to secure the championship and Björk crossed the line in eighth, just behind the three Hyundais.
“It was a really beautiful day.“said Michelisz. “Considering my position throughout the season, I don’t think this season was one where I got off on the wrong foot from the beginning. I scored in every race and we had great teamwork in every race.
“I know from my first year in racing that if I have an efficient team I have a good chance of fighting for the championship. Thank you to my team and my teammates Mikel (Azcona) and Néstor (Girolami). “I’m so grateful because without their support I wouldn’t be here.”
