WTCR of Italy Practice 2 - Michelisz heads Azcona in the Vallelunga heat 23.07.2022: FIA WTCR Race of Italy Vallelunga Saturday, July 23rd 2022 Norbert Michelisz banked a fast late lap to hit the top of the second free practice session at WTCR Race of Italy as the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup teams and d

FIA WTCR Race of Italy
Vallelunga
Saturday, July 23rd 2022







Norbert Michelisz banked a fast late lap to hit the top of the second free practice session at WTCR Race of Italy as the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup teams and drivers made their final preparations for qualifying at Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi.



BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse’s Michelisz managed a time of 1m15.321s in his Elantra N TCR to knock team-mate and Goodyear #FollowTheLeader Mikel Azcona off the top, by just 0.067s. The top 15 were separated by 0.881s in this 30-minute session.



“The feeling is good, but you have to know we used new tyres now, so as far as I know the others were not,” said Michelisz. “It’s a bit misaligned now. But I think we have a chance to finish inside the top 10. This shouldn’t be considered as the qualifying positions.


We had better grip than the others. We have a good base and the car is working well. The heat is tough but we have to be used to this. We’ve had it many times in the past. So far, so good. I’m really looking forward to qualifying now.”



Azcona escaped one big moment when he ran wide out of Turn 8 and into Turn 9. “He was very close to crashing the car,” said his team manager Gabriele Tarquini. “We are trying to set up the car for qualifying so they are very close to the limit and sometimes over the limit.”



Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport’s Nathanaël Berthon, who was fastest in the first session, was third in the times on this occasion in his Goodyear-equipped Audi RS 3 LMS. He headed fellow Audi driver Mehdi Bennani, while ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport’s Néstor Girolami was fifth in his Honda Civic Type R TCR.



Cyan Performance driver Thed Björk was the fastest of the Lynk & Cos in sixth, with LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler’s Attila Tassi seventh. Esteban Guerrieri’s Honda was eighth with Tom Coronel (Audi) and Tiago Monteiro (Honda) completing the top 10.



King of WTCR Yann Ehrlacher was in P11, ahead of Gilles Magnus (Audi), Santiago Urrutia (Lynk & Co), Ma Qing Hua (Lynk & Co) and Rob Huff in his Zengő Motorsport Cupra Leon Competición. Yvan Muller returned to the circuit after his off in the first session and was in P16.



Qualifying at WTCR Race of Italy is due to begin at 15h00 local time.






Richard Rodgers, photos WTCR