*Home hero Michelisz targets more Hungaroring success after emotional 2015 win
*New track surface and kerbing tweaks expected to lower lap times
*Monteiro heads López by a point in thrilling WTCC title battle

Lap records could be broken when the FIA World Touring Car Championship makes a high-speed stop at the revamped Hungaroring near Budapest later this week (22-24 April), less than seven days since Slovakia Ring produced some truly sensational on-track action.

While local hero Norbert Michelisz will take centre stage at the circuit where he first drove a racing car after he was talented-spotted through an online gaming competition, the fully resurfaced Hungaroing creates an exiting prospect for the WTCC drivers. Michelisz lapped the 4.381-kilometre layout for a TV documentary shortly after the improvement work had been completed. He enjoyed the experience. “There are no bumps, it’s completely smooth,” said the works Honda driver, who moved to Budapest last summer. “The new asphalt was more abrasive, so although that will make tyre wear a bit higher than in previous years, there will be more grip. There is a new kerb at Turn 4, which is flatter, and the mid-corner bumps at Turn 5 that unsettled your car have gone. The kerb at the chicane is also lower so you can now take more of the kerb and go a bit faster.”

Michelisz, who has been promoted to Honda’s factory line-up for 2016 after winning his second privateers’ title last season will take to the Hungaroring for testing on Friday third in the WTCC standings following a double podium in France and more points in Slovakia last weekend, an event that didn’t go quite to plan.

“We’ve shown very strong race pace, Tiago has won and taken the championship lead and Honda leads the manufacturers' standings too,” said the 31-year-old. “For me personally, I'm a little disappointed with sixth and fifth places. My starts were not good and I was quite unfortunate to have a puncture and to receive the push from Thed Björk on the final lap, but that's racing sometimes. I'm hoping for much better at my home races in Hungary.”

WTCC title battle intensifies
Tiago Monteiro leads the FIA World Touring Car Championship for the first time heading to Hungary after he claimed a win and a second place in Slovakia. But with the compensation weight coming into force for the Hungaroring, the Honda Civic WTCC will have to cope with a new element when it comes to optimising performance. But while the Portuguese is unsure how this will impact his on-track pace, he plans to savour his one-point advantage over reigning champion José María López for as long as possible. “I know it’s going to be tough with the weight balance but it’s a nice feeling to be leading the world championship and I hope it continues.”

Hungaroring braced for more WTCC MAC3 magic
After Citroën won the inaugural WTCC MAC3 contest in France by 0.030s, the spectacle was raised even further when it tied on time with Honda in Slovakia, meaning both makes picked up 10 points towards their WTCC Manufacturers’ championship totals. And this is how the Tour de France-inspired team trial competition works. Citroën, Honda and LADA (Polestar will participate when it enters a third car) nominate three drivers to take part in WTCC MAC3, which follows Qualifying Q3 once all cars have been refuelled and fitted with a new set of tyres. As soon as a team’s three cars leave the grid side by side, the clock starts and then stops once the last car completes two flying laps. Failure to get all three cars over the line – or if the second or third car doesn’t finish within a maximum of 15 seconds after the first car – means no points, the fate suffered by LADA last time out.

Hello Opening Race and Main Race!
Gone are Race 1 and Race 2 for 2016, in their place come Opening Race and Main Race with the reverse-grid now used for the first clash of the weekend and the grid for the second event, which runs over an extra lap, based on the results of Qualifying.

WHO’S ON TRACK IN 2016
Citroën: World champion José María López and Yvan Muller remain in factory C-Elysée WTCCs. Privateer squad Sébastien Loeb Racing expands to a three-car effort with Tom Chilton and Grégoire Demoustier joining Mehdi Bennani.

Honda: Independent champion Norbert Michelisz gets his big factory break, whileRob Huff joins from LADA. Tiago Monteiro stays put but there’s no drive for Gabriele Tarquini…

LADA: Gabriele Tarquini continues in the WTCC at LADA after leaving Honda. Hugo Valente is handed a dream works ride after impressing as a privateer. Nicky Catsburggets a full season.

Polestar: Volvo’s performance brand begins its long-term WTCC campaign with two S60 Polestar TC1s for Scandinavian Touring Car aces Thed Björk and Fredrik Ekblom.

WTCC Trophy: Bennani, Chilton and Demoustier aside, Tom Coronel is back for WTCC season 12 in his privateer Chevrolet. John Filippi turned 21 in February and gets Yvan Muller as a driver coach. John Bryan-Meisner crosses over from single-seater racing, while René Münnich will combine the WTCC with World RX. Zengő Motorsport will enter two Hondas for Hungarian teenagers Ferenc Ficza and Dániel Nagy.

FORM GUIDE
With two seconds and a first, Tiago Monteiro tops the WTCC standings, albeit by a single point over defending world champion José María López, a double winner in 2016. Up until last season, Yvan Muller had never failed to win at the Hungaroring on the WTCC’s previous four visits. He was on the DHL-presented pole position in Slovakia but out of luck in both races. Hugo Valente has claimed the reverse-grid Opening Race pole for the last two weekends.

FACTS AND STATS
Race wins in 2016: López 2; Huff and Monteiro 1
Pole positions in 2016: López and Muller 1
Fastest laps in 2016: Huff 2; López and Muller 1
Laps led in 2016: López 22; Huff 16; Bennani 8; Catsburg 7; Monteiro 3

All-time race wins (top 5): Y Muller 47, Huff 28, López and Menu 23, Tarquini 20
All-time pole positions (top 5): Y Muller 29, Tarquini 17, López/Menu 15, Farfus/Huff 11
All-time fastest laps (top 5): Y Muller 38, Huff 26, Tarquini 22, López 21, Menu 20
All-time laps led (top 5): Y Muller 565, Huff 322, Menu 297, Tarquini 274, López 245

WTCC Race of Hungary winners
2015: Race 1: José María López (Citroën C-Elysée); Race 2: Norbert Michelisz (Honda Civic)
2014: R1: Yvan Muller (Citroën C-Elysée); R2: Gianni Morbidelli (Chevrolet Cruze)
2013: R1: Yvan Muller (Chevrolet Cruze); R2: Rob Huff (SEAT León)
2012: R1: Yvan Muller (Chevrolet Cruze); R2: Norbert Michelisz (BMW 320)
2011: R1: Alain Menu (Chevrolet Cruze); R2: Yvan Muller (Chevrolet Cruze)

WTCC RACE OF HUNGARY VENUES
2011-Present: Hungaroring

DID YOU KNOW?
Hungarian inventions include the Rubik’s cube (Erno Rubik), the ballpoint pen (László Bíró) and the theory of the hydrogen bomb (Edward Teller).

THE BIG WTCC NUMBER: 100
Tom Chilton will make it WTCC start number 100 when he lines up for Sunday’s Opening Race.

THREE WTCC FIRSTS
1 Tiago Monteiro leads the WTCC standings for the first time, the first time a Portuguese has led an FIA world championship.
2 The WTCC will be the first FIA world championship to try out the resurfaced Hungaroring.
3 Zengő Motorsport’s highly rated 17-year-old Hungarian Dániel Nagy is set for his first WTCC races this weekend after engine supply issues kept him out of his Honda Civic.

HOW THEY STAND (after Round 4 of 24)*
Drivers: 1 Monteiro 77; 2 López 76; 3 Michelisz 52; 4 Huff 49; 5 Bennani 48; 6 Muller 36; etc. Manufacturers: 1 Honda 167; 2 Citroën 164; 3 LADA 89; 4 Polestar 30. WTCC Trophy: 1 Bennani 45; 2 Chilton 29; 3 Coronel 25; 4 Demoustier and Filippi 19; 6 Thompson 7; etc. WTCC Teams’ Trophy: 1 Sébastien Loeb Racing 74; 2 ROAL Motorsport 25; 3 Campos Racing 21; 4 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport 12; 5 Zengő Motorsport 0. *Full standings are available at http://media.fiawtcc.com/statistics

THEY SAID WHAT?
Thed Björk (Polestar): “While I got some places in the race [in Slovakia] due to punctures and we still have a lot to work, in total, we are closer to the front than I expected this early in the season. I can’t wait for Hungaroring.”

Nicky Catsburg (LADA): “Obviously the weight will play a role but everybody can see we’ve made a clear step. It would have been better if we had scored a bit better in the first two events but let’s see now from Budapest where we are. I did not race there last year so I think it’s going to be more difficult.”

Norbert Michelisz (Honda): “My career started at the Hungaroring and I have a lot of nice memories from there. The wins in the WTCC and my early career means Hungaroring will always have a special place in my heart. There are a lot of spectators, the best fans in the world, and this makes a special atmosphere. When you jump out of the car at the end of the second race you just can’t wait to come back.”

Yvan Muller (Citroën): “We got our starting strategy wrong in the main race. From that moment on, I was out of it, as my car wasn’t set up to drive in the pack. Some of the drivers’ behaviour was a little borderline, but none of that would have happened if I had got a good start! I’m hoping for a better time in Hungary.”

TRACK DETAILS
Name: Hungaroring (www.hungaroring.hu)
Location: 2146 Mogyoród, Versenypálya 0222/2/3/6, Hungary
Length: 4.381 kilometres Opening Race distance: 14 laps Main Race distance: 15 laps
Lap record (qualifying): Yvan Muller (Citroën C-Elysée), 1m48.727s (145.05kph), 03/05/14
Lap record (race): Yvan Muller (Citroën C-Elysée), 1m50.119s (143.223kph), 04/05/14
WTCC appearances: Five
Time zone: GMT +2 hours Sunrise/sunset: 05h38/19h46 (Sunday 24 April)
Average temperature: 6°C-15°C (for April)
The venue: Located close to the capital Budapest, the Hungaroring is famed for hosting the first Formula One grand prix behind the Iron Curtain in 1986 – an event won by Nelson Piquet in a Williams-Honda. Although it has been ever-present on the F1 calendar since, the Hungaroring is also established as a regular on the WTCC calendar. And the venue’s popularity among home fans has rocketed thanks to the emergence of Honda driver Norbert Michelisz as a home hero, particularly following of his pole-to-flag victory in the second race of 2015. FIA European Formula 3 is the lead support race in 2016.
The timetable: 
Following a 30-minute test on Friday, Saturday’s timetable includes Free Practice 1 and 2 (both 30 minutes), Qualifying and WTCC MAC3. The Opening Race on Sunday is scheduled for 14h15 local time and covers 14 laps with the Main Race running over 15 laps and due to start at 17h15.

TRACK MAP

A LAP OF THE TRACK WITH NORBERT MICHELISZ
He’s the driver most of Hungary will want to win this weekend. And with two WTCC victories at the track, there’s every chance that Honda hero Norbert Michelisz will deliver. This is the Budapest resident’s guide to a fast lap of the 4.381-kilometre Hungaroring.

“Turn 1 is one of the slowest parts of the circuit where we have the hardest braking from the highest speed and it’s a place to overtake by out-braking your rivals. It’s not a huge challenge because you’re braking in a straight line but you want to just clip the inside kerb as you accelerate to the slight right-hander before Turn 2. It’s tricky braking for Turn 2 from 200kph slightly downhill. And while you are braking you have to be 100 per cent at the turn-in point to make the ideal line. You have a lot of mid-corner power understeer because the corner is off-camber and you have to compromise your exit slightly to to be flat and on the left-side of the circuit for Turn 3. It’s important to be smooth on the exit for the 400-metre uphill straight towards Turn 4, my favourite corner. It’s one of the fastest corners on the circuit and we have a new kerb on the inside for this year, which is more flat than before. Turn 4 is completely blind. You arrive up hill and at the point where you reach the highest point, you turn the car to the left at 150kph. Because it’s blind you have to be perfect with the turn-in point and keep immediately to the left side to prepare the turn-in point for Turn 5, a long corner slightly uphill. It was a bit bumpy before and this used to unsettle your car but now the surface is completely even. But you still have a lot of understeer mid-corner and exiting the corner. You can overtake here but only if the driver in front as aware to avoid a crash. Turns 6 and 7, or the chicane, is the slowest part of the circuit but probably a bit more than 80kph with the slightly different kerbs but still in second gear. If you can make the guy in front defend into Turn 5 then you have the inside line braking for the chicane. I consider Turns 8 and 9 as one corner because it's quite flowing and short between the corners. The important point for Turn 8 is not to carry too much speed into the corner, which is easy to do, so you can prepare properly for Turn 9. Turn 10 is flat but you take a tight line and stay to the left on the exit to be ready for Turn 11, which is as fast as Turn 5 but a bit longer and with more space on the outside so you will see people running wide on the exit. Turn 12 is a 90-degree right-hander, which needs a good set-up for the high kerb on the inside. Turn 13, a long left-hander in third gear, is fun with new tyres because you can brake long into the corner but you don’t want to be too greedy on the throttle on the exit. I find the best solution for Turn 14 is a wide entry to have the highest exit speed possible onto the straight. If you take too much speed, it compromises your exit.”

Norbert Michelisz’s perfect passing place: “Braking for the Turn 1 and getting the inside line for the chicane by making the driver in front defend into Turn 5.”

WTCC FLASHBACK 2015 (1-3 MAY)
Norbert Michelisz underlined his status as a national hero by winning the second MOL Group WTCC Race of Hungary to claim Honda’s maiden victory in 2015 and end Citroën’s dominant start to the season. Driving the revamped Civic WTCC for the first time, Michelisz capitalised on his pole position in the reverse-grid race two for an emotional win in front of 35,000 fans. The Zengő Motorsport driver’s success followed world champion José María López’s third triumph of the year for Citroën in the opening contest, which ensures the Argentine remained the driver to catch in the title chase. Yvan Muller and Hugo Valente completed the race one podium with Tom Coronel and Tom Chilton second and third respectively in race two in their Chevrolet Cruze TC1s. Valente and Michelisz were the two Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy winners. However, it was a case of mixed fortunes for LADA Sport Rosneft with Rob Huff’s ninth in the opening race the highlight.

MEDIA INFORMATION
Event press officer: Anita Tóth, hgpmedia@hungaroring.hu, +36 309621392
Accreditation location/opening times: The Media Accreditation Centre is located at the main circuit entrance open as follows: Friday 22 April, 08h00-18h00; Saturday 23 April, 08h00-18h00; Sunday 24 April, 08h00-12h00.
Media centre location/opening times: The Media Centre is located on the second floor of the pit tower building open as follows: Friday 22 April, 08h00-20h00; Saturday 23 April, 08h00-20h00; Sunday 24 April, 08h00-until the last journalist leaves.

MEDIA DIARY
Thursday 22 April
13h00-14h00: Pre-event press conference and photocall (Intercontinental Hotel, Budapest)
Friday 23 April
08h00-20h00: Media Accreditation Centre open; 08h00-20h00: Media Centre open
12h30-13h00: Testing
17h30-18h30: WTCC Happy Hour (WTCC VIP Club): all WTCC drivers present
Saturday 24 April
08h00-18h00: Media Accreditation Centre open; 08h00-20h00: Media Centre open
09h45-10h15: WTCC Free Practice 1
11h00-11h30: Autograph session (WTCC Fan Village)
12h15-12h45: WTCC Free Practice 2
14h30-14h45: Driver Q&A with Nicky Catsburg and Rob Huff (WTCC Fan Village)
16h00-16h20: WTCC Qualifying Q1
16h25-16h35: WTCC Qualifying Q2
16h40 (pit lane opens: WTCC Qualifying Q3
17h00-17h30: WTCC Manufacturers Against the Clock
17h40 (approx.): WTCC MAC3/post-qualifying press conference (Media Centre). Representative from each team contesting WTCC MAC3, followed by the fastest three drivers in Qualifying Q3 and fastest WTCC Trophy driver in Qualifying in attendance
Sunday 24 April
08h00-12h00: Media Accreditation Centre open; 08h00-until the last journalist leaves: Media Centre open
10h30-11h00: Driver Q&A with José María López and Norbert Michelisz (WTCC Fan Village)
11h30-12h00: Autograph session (WTCC Fan Village)
13h55: Pit lane open; 14h05: Pit lane closed 14h10: Five-minute board displayed
14h10: WTCC Opening Race (14 laps)
14h55 (approx..): WTCC Opening Race podium
15h05 (approx..): Post-Opening Race press conference (Media Centre). Top-three drivers and WTCC Trophy winner in attendance.
16h40: WTCC refuelling time starts; 16h45: OSCARO WTCC repair time starts
16h50: Pit lane open; 17h00: Pit lane closed 17h10: Five-minute board displayed
17h15: WTCC Main Race (15 laps)
17h55 (approx.): WTCC Main Race podium
18h05 (approx..): Post-Main Race press conference (Media Centre). Top-three drivers and WTCC Trophy winner in attendance.

Timings are provisional and subject to change. Additional activities may be arranged.