Norbert Michelisz (born 8 August 1984) is a Hungarian auto racing driver. He was the 2019 winner of the World Touring Car Cup and winner of the TCR World Tour in 2023 and 2024.

Career

Early career Michelisz was the 2006 Hungarian Suzuki Swift Cup champion, and in 2007 he won the Hungarian Renault Clio Cup.

In 2008, Michelisz competed in the Hungarian SEAT León Supercup, where he finished as runner-up. He drove in the SEAT León Eurocup, winning one race at Monza,Career , fiawtcc.com; accessed 29 June 2015. and finishing 14th overall. The win in the SEAT León Eurocup led to a drive in the FIA World Touring Car Championship, competing in two rounds at Okayama for the SEAT-backed SUNRED Engineering team. After retiring in race one, he finished sixteenth in the second race.

In 2009, Michelisz was the best scorer in the León Eurocup round at Porto, winning WTCC participation at Brands Hatch. He went on to win the León Eurocup title in September. This won him a drive for SEAT Sport in a SEAT León TDI at the 2009 European Touring Car Cup. He scored pole position and won the first race, but finished the second race in fifth, meaning he finished third in the overall standings, behind established touring car drivers James Thompson and Franz Engstler.

2010-2017: World Touring Car Championship (WTCC)

In 2010, Michelisz completed his first full season with SEAT León TDI in Zengő-Dension Team. He gained his first podium at Okayama in Race 1 after the disqualification of Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus. In the last race of the season, he won his maiden victory in WTCC at Macau. He finished ninth in the championship with 104 points. He won the Rookie Challenge that year.

In 2011, Michelisz switched to a BMW 320 TC with his Zengő-Dension Team. He scored his only podium finish in the season at Hungaroring. In both races, he posted the fastest lap. Overall, he was ninth again with 88 points.

In 2012, he took his first win since the Race of Macau in 2010, and his first win with the BMW. He was victorious in Race 2 of the Race of Hungary, in front of his home crowd.

On 18 November 2012, after the last race (Macau), Michelisz won the Yokohama Trophy (Independent Championship) with the Zengő Motorsport team, achieving the most significant victory in the history of Hungarian motor racing.

Zengő Motorsport switched to Honda for 2013, Michelisz stayed with the Hungarian squad until the end of 2015 – he won twice during this time: in 2013, he took victory at Honda's home track, Suzuka Circuit, two years later, he was a winner again at the Hungaroring.

On 13 January 2016, Honda announced Michelisz as factory driver alongside Rob Huff and Tiago Monteiro. The Himesháza-born driver was victorious in Japan for the second time; then he finished fourth in the standings. Next year, he became a championship protagonist, but got defeated by Cyan Racing's Thed Björk in a dramatic final weekend in Qatar.

2018- : World Touring Car Cup After the 2017 season, WTCC became World Touring Car Cup following the merge with TCR International Series. On 30 January 2018, it was announced that Michelisz would join to BRC Racing Team's Hyundai team as Gabriele Tarquini's team-mate. His only win of the year was clinched at Slovakia Ring, he was fourth in the championship while helping Tarquini to become the first WTCR champion.

In 2019, Michelisz continued his career with BRC and Hyundai. After a couple of races, he became a real challenger by taking five wins and ten podium finishes during the season. In a thrilling final at Sepang, he was crowned as champion after defeating Münnich Motorsport's and Honda's Esteban Guerrieri.

Racing record

Complete World Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points 2008 SUNRED Racing Development SEAT León TFSI BRA1 BRA2 MEX1 MEX2 ESP1 ESP2 FRA1 FRA2 CZE1 CZE2 POR1 POR2 GBR1 GBR2 GER1 GER2 EUR1 EUR2 ITA1 ITA2 JPN1 JPN2 MAC1 MAC2 NC 0 2009 SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI BRA1 BRA2 MEX1 MEX2 MAR1 MAR2 FRA1 FRA2 ESP1 ESP2 CZE1 CZE2 POR1 POR2 GBR1 GBR2 GER1 GER2 ITA1 ITA2 JPN1 JPN2 MAC1 MAC2 NC 0 2010 Zengő-Dension Team SEAT León TDI BRA1 BRA2 MAR1 MAR2 ITA1 ITA2 BEL1 BEL2 POR1 POR2 GBR1 GBR2 CZE1 CZE2 GER1 GER2 ESP1 ESP2 JPN1 JPN2 MAC1 MAC2 9th 104 2011 Zengő-Dension Team BMW 320 TC BRA1 BRA2 BEL1 BEL2 ITA1 ITA2 HUN1 HUN2 CZE1 CZE2 POR1 POR2 GBR1 GBR2 GER1 GER2 ESP1 ESP2 JPN1 JPN2 CHN1 CHN2 MAC1 MAC2 9th 88 2012 Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TC ITA1 ITA2 ESP1 ESP2 MAR1 MAR2 SVK1 SVK2 HUN1 HUN2 AUT1 AUT2 POR1 POR2 BRA1 BRA2 USA1 USA2 JPN1 JPN2 CHN1 CHN2 MAC1 MAC2 6th 155 2013 Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC ITA1 ITA2 MAR1 MAR2 SVK1 SVK2 HUN1 HUN2 AUT1 AUT2 RUS1 RUS2 POR1 POR2 ARG1 ARG2 USA1 USA2 JPN1 JPN2 CHN1 CHN2 MAC1 MAC2 6th 185 2014 Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC MAR1 MAR2 FRA1 FRA2 HUN1 HUN2 SVK1 SVK2 AUT1 AUT2 RUS1 RUS2 BEL1 BEL2 ARG1 ARG2 BEI1 BEI2 CHN1 CHN2 JPN1 JPN2 MAC1 MAC2 4th 201 2015 Zengő Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC ARG1 ARG2 MAR1 MAR2 HUN1 HUN2 GER1 GER2 RUS1 RUS2 SVK1 SVK2 FRA1 FRA2 POR1 POR2 JPN1 JPN214† CHN1 CHN2 THA1 THA2 QAT1 QAT2 6th 193 2016 Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic WTCC FRA1 FRA2 SVK1 SVK2 HUN1 HUN2 MAR1 MAR2 GER1 GER2 RUS1 RUS2 POR1 POR2 ARG1 ARG2 JPN1 JPN2 CHN1 CHN2 QAT1 QAT2 4th 213 2017 Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Honda Civic WTCC MAR1 MAR2 ITA1 ITA2 HUN1 HUN2 GER1 GER2 POR1 POR2 ARG1 ARG2 CHN1 CHN2 JPN1 JPN2 MAC1 MAC2 QAT1 QAT2 2nd 255 † Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete World Touring Car Cup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points 2018 BRC Racing Team Hyundai i30 N TCR MAR1 MAR2 MAR3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 GER1 GER2 GER3 NED1 NED2 NED3 POR1 POR2 POR3 SVK1 SVK2 SVK3 CHN1 CHN2 CHN3 WUH1 WUH2 WUH3 JPN1 JPN2 JPN3 MAC1 MAC2 MAC3 4th 246 2019 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai i30 N TCR MAR1 MAR2 MAR3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 SVK1 SVK2 SVK3 NED1 NED2 NED3 GER1 GER2 GER3 POR1 POR2 POR3 CHN1 CHN2 CHN3 JPN1 JPN2 JPN3 MAC1 MAC2 MAC3 MAL1 MAL2 MAL3 1st 372 2020 BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse Hyundai i30 N TCR BEL1 BEL2 GER1 GER2 SVK1 SVK2 SVK3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 ESP1 ESP2 ESP3 ARA1 ARA2 ARA3 13th 93 2021 BRC Hyundai N Lukoil Squadra Corse Hyundai Elantra N TCR GER1 GER2 POR1 POR2 ESP1 ESP2 HUN1 HUN2 CZE1 CZE2 FRA1 FRA2 ITA1 ITA2 RUS1 RUS2 8th 146 2022 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai Elantra N TCR FRA1 FRA2 GER1 GER2 HUN1 HUN2 ESP1 ESP2 POR1 POR2 ITA1 ITA2 ALS1 ALS2 BHR1 BHR2 SAU1 SAU2 4th 222 † Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete TCR World Tour results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 DC Points 2023 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai Elantra N TCR ALG1 ALG2 SPA1 SPA2 VAL1 VAL2 HUN1 HUN2 ELP1 ELP2 VIL1 VIL2 SYD1 SYD2 SYD3 BAT1 BAT2 BAT3 MAC1 MAC2 1st 440 2024 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai Elantra N TCR VAL1 VAL2 MRK1 MRK2 MOH1 MOH2 SAP1 SAP2 ELP1 ELP2 ZHZ1 ZHZ2 MAC1 MAC2 1st 323 2025 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai Elantra N TCR AHR1 AHR2 AHR3 CRT1 CRT2 CRT3 MNZ1 MNZ2 CVR1 CVR2 BEN1 BEN2 BEN3 INJ1 INJ2 INJ3 ZHZ1 ZHZ2 ZHZ3 MAC1 MAC2 8th 290 2026 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai Elantra N EV TCR MIS1 MIS2 CRT1 CRT2 CRT3 LEC1 LEC2 CVR1 CVR2 INJ1 INJ2 INJ3 CHE1 CHE2 CHE3 ZHZ1 ZHZ2 ZHZ3 MAC1 MAC2 3rd* 198* * Season still in progress.

Complete International Superstars Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points 2012 Scuderia Giudici BMW M3 (E92) MNZ1 MNZ2 IMO1 IMO2 DON1 DON2 MUG1 MUG2 HUN1 HUN2 SPA1 SPA2 VAL1 VAL2 PER1 PER2 25th 14

Complete TCR International Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points 2017 M1RA Honda Civic Type R TCR RIM1 RIM2 BHR1 BHR2 SPA1 SPA2 MNZ1 MNZ2 SAL1 SAL2 HUN1 HUN2 OSC1 OSC2 CHA1 CHA2 ZHE1 ZHE2 DUB1 DUB2 14th 59 † Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 75% of the race distance.

Complete TCR Europe Touring Car Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Points 2018 M1RA Hyundai i30 N TCR LEC1 LEC2 ZAN1 ZAN2 SPA1 SPA2 HUN1 HUN2 ASS1 ASS2 MNZ1 MNZ2 CAT1 CAT2 16th 28 2023 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Hyundai Elantra N TCR ALG1 ALG2 PAU1 PAU2 SPA1 SPA2 HUN1 HUN2 LEC1 LEC2 MNZ1 MNZ2 CAT1 CAT2 NC‡ 0‡ ‡ Driver was a World Tour full-time entry and was ineligible for points.

References

External links