TCR Germany guest star Michelisz claims pole position

On his guest star appearance in the ADAC TCR Germany championship, Norbert Michelisz set pole position at the Nürburgring at the end of a tight Qualifying session. The Hungarian was fastest in both, Q1 and Q2, eventually beating Harald Proczyk and Mike Halder by 17 and 34 thousandths of a second respectively. 
In Q1, Michelisz spent most of the time into the pits, working on the car’s set up and went off for a fast lap only in the final stages; that single attempt was worth the fastest lap of 1:33.877, beating Mike Halder’s 1:33.879 by two thousandths of a second. They were the only drivers who broke the 1:34 mark, with Proczyk in third position (1:34.190) and Marcel Fugel fourth (1:34.351).
Both girls had no problems in making the cut for Q2, Michelle Halder fifth (1:34.372) and Jessica Bäckman seventh (1:34.511); results they brilliantly confirmed in Q2. Other drivers who advanced to Q2 were the points leader Nico Gruber (sixth), Antti Buri (eighth) and Dominik Fugel (ninth).
The last thrill was provided by Andreas Bäckman and Jan Seyffert who were fighting for the tenth and final spot in Q2; none of them was able to improve on their last attempt and so Bäckman advanced to Q2 by only 23 thousandths, while Seyffert was the only Hyundai driver eliminated, together with all four Volkswagen cars.
In Q2, Michelisz settled the matter with his first lap out of 1:33.804; Mike Halder (1:33.834) and Andreas Bäckman (1:33.859) moved into second and third, but eventually Proczyk posted the second fastest lap of 1:33.821.
Gruber and Jessica Bäckman qualified in eighth and seventh positions respectively and so secured the front row on the reversed grid for Race 2, while the winner of the second race at the Lausitzring, Dominik Fugel, qualified a disappointing tenth, behind his brother Marcel.
Race 1 will be streamed live tomorrow at www.tcr-series.com, at 11:50, local time (CEST). 

Qualifying
1:33.804 Norbert Michelisz (Hyundai Team Engstler, Hyundai i30 N)
1:33.821 Harald Proczyk (HP Racing International, Hyundai i30 N)
1:33.834 Mike Halder (Profi-Car Honda, Honda Civic Type R)
1:33.959 Andreas Bäckman (Target Competition, Hyundai i30 N)
1:34.025 Michelle Halder (Profi-Car Honda, Honda Civic Type R)

Championship points
1. Nico Gruber 39 pts; 2. Harald Proczyk 36; 3. Dominik Fugel 35

Picture: ADAC Motorsport