Sepang WTCR: Michelisz crowned champion in dramatic finale

Hyundai driver Norbert Michelisz sealed the World Touring Car Cup title in the final race of the season at Sepang after rival Esteban Guerrieri dropped back with overheating issues.

Michelisz finished the race – won by double World Rallycross champion Johan Kristoffersson from 22nd on the grid – in fifth position, having eased off when Guerrieri dropped back after his Honda Civic Type R ingested grass while he defended the lead.

Guerrieri had been in position to claim the title at that point, though, as pole-sitter Michelisz had slipped to fourth.

The title rivals matched each other off the line and ran side-by-side into the first corner, but Guerrieri braked later than his rival to snatch the lead at Turn 1.

Mikel Azcona also drove around the outside of Michelisz between Turns 1 and 2 to claim second, though that order would still have given Michelisz the title by a point.

The Hungarian appeared tentative on the opening lap, though, and ceded third to Kristoffersson when the Sebastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI driver got a better exit off the Turn 11 right-hander.

Guerrieri survived a robust attack from Azcona through Turns 1, 2 and 3 at the start of lap two, but held the position into Turn 4 as the safety car was deployed so Augusto Farfus’s Hyundai i30 N could be recovered from the gravel trap.

It took another five laps for the race to be restarted, with Michelisz immediately going on the attack in an attempt to unseat Kristoffersson and reclaim the third place he needed to guarantee the title.

Though that did not come off, the top four bunched up as Guerrieri struggled to contain the pack behind him.

Things came to a head out of Turn 11, when Azcona got a better exit than the leader. As he went to nose his Cupra inside Guerrieri on the approach to the Turn 12 left-hander, Guerrieri moved across to close the door – with Azcona hitting the Argentinian as a result.

This sent Guerrieri skating along the grass, though he was able to keep his Honda on the road and in the lead, briefly, as the four leaders approached the penultimate corner side-by-side.

But Azcona got ahead out of the corner, with Kristoffersson launching an attack into the final corner – eventually making the position his into Turn 4 on the following lap.

That made Michelisz’s task far simpler, though he continued to hound Guerrieri as the Honda began to develop an issue.

Michelisz tapped his rival into Turn 11, and later made a pass stick, to move into third, with Guerrieri then forfeiting a handful of positions on the run to the final corner.

Guerrieri was told to “just keep going, we’re hoping for some miracle”, but visited the pits three times during a second safety-car period to have grass removed from his splitter. He eventually finished 22nd, having set the fastest lap at the end of the race.

Safe in the knowledge Guerrieri was out of contention, Michelisz handed positions to Kevin Ceccon (Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce) and the Comtoyou Audi RS3 LMS of Frederic Vervisch in the middle of the race, and cruised to a comfortable fifth ahead of teammate Gabriele Tarquini to seal the title by 21 points.

His success means BRC has run the winning driver to the title for a second year in a row, following Tarquini’s success last year. 

While the title fight fizzled out, the battle for the race win ensured there was still an entertaining end to the race.

Azcona was still in the lead after the second safety car, but had put up a strong defence to keep Kristoffersson at bay.

After an entertaining tussle between the top three – now featuring Ceccon – Kristoffersson made his race-winning move around the outside of Azcona at the final corner with four laps remaining.

The lead trio continued to squabble for the remainder of the race, though would ultimately stay in formation as Volkswagen ended its works presence in WTCR with a victory.

Vervisch was a lonely fourth, while behind Michelisz and Tarquini the top 10 was completed by Guerrieri’s Munnich Motorsport team-mate Nestor Girolami, Tiago Monteiro (KCMG Honda), Cyan Racing’s Thed Bjork and the second Sebastien Loeb Racing VW of Benjamin Leuchter.

The fourth BRC Racing Hyundai of Nicky Catsburg was disqualified from starting the race following his collision with Yvan Muller in race two.

Race results

Cla#DriverChassisLapsTimeGap
114 Johan KristofferssonVolkswagen14 39’02.972  
296 Mikel AzconaCUPRA14 39’04.998 2.026
331 Kevin CecconAlfa Romeo14 39’05.154 2.182
422 Frederic VervischAudi14 39’07.268 4.296
55 Norbert MicheliszHyundai14 39’12.269 9.297
61 Gabriele TarquiniHyundai14 39’12.877 9.905
729 Nestor GirolamiHonda14 39’16.122 13.150
818 Tiago MonteiroHonda14 39’17.709 14.737
911 Thed BjörkLynk & Co14 39’20.280 17.308
1033 Benjamin LeuchterVolkswagen14 39’20.779 17.807
1112 Rob HuffVolkswagen14 39’22.251 19.279
1269 Jean-Karl VernayAudi14 39’24.345 21.373
13100 Yvan MullerLynk & Co14 39’27.451 24.479
14111 Andy PriaulxLynk & Co14 39’28.748 25.776
1537 Daniel HaglofCUPRA14 39’29.390 26.418
1615Hafizh SyahrinHyundai14 39’39.539 36.567
1768 Yann EhrlacherLynk & Co14 39’39.799 36.827
1825 Mehdi BennaniVolkswagen14 39’40.659 37.687
1927Mitchell CheahHyundai14 39’43.195 40.223
2010 Niels LangeveldAudi14 39’46.143 43.171
2165 Douglas Khoo Koh HuiCUPRA14 39’59.219 56.247
2286 Esteban GuerrieriHonda14 40’02.409 59.437
2355 Ma Qing HuaAlfa Romeo14 40’53.617 1’50.645
 38Joao Paulo de Oliveira 10 28’57.003 4 Laps
 52 Gordon SheddenAudi7 20’09.646 7 Laps
 50 Tom CoronelCUPRA5 14’59.272 9 Laps
 8 Augusto FarfusHyundai0  
 21 Aurelien PanisCUPRA0  
 9 Attila TassiHonda0  

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