Rob Huff’s long wait for pole position in the FIA World Touring Car Championship is over after he set a blistering pace to land the DHL top spot at WTCC JVCKENWOOD Race of Hungary today.

The ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport driver was the last to go in the top-five shootout but held his nerve to outgun Mehdi Bennani’s similar Citroën C-Elysée by 0.327s. Esteban Guerrieri made it a clean sweep for WTCC Trophy drivers in third in his Campos Racing Chevrolet with Polestar Cyan Racing pair Nicky Catsburg and Néstor Girolami fourth and fifth respectively at a warm and dry Hungaroring.

Huff scored his last official WTCC pole at Macau on 16 November 2012, a gap of four years, five months and seven days. And the Briton was naturally delighted after making it WTCC care pole position number 12.

“It’s a huge thanks to the team,” he said. “We came here really understanding the car, it was fantastic and we were confident. It’s not been easy today with the weather changing and FP2 was my first experience of the car in the wet. I was praying for it to be dry and we managed to pull the lap out when it counted. There was a lot of pressure waiting for 10 minutes with everyone watching. I didn’t want to let the team down because I knew I had the car for pole position so to reward the team like this is really nice.”

John Filippi took the all-important P10 in Qualifying Q2 to start the reverse-grid Opening Race at the front of the grid, where he will be joined by Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team’s Tiago Monteiro, who was ninth fastest. However, it was a frustrating day for Monteiro’s Hungarian team-mate Norbert Michelisz who was unable to make it beyond Qualifying Q2 for his home race.

“I was hoping for a bit of rain because in FP2 we realised the car was competitive when the circuit was wet but then when it was drying we knew with 80 kilograms it’s not going to be easy,” said Michelisz. “I expected Rob to be on top but I expected us to be right behind. We have to analyse because the gap is too much and for us the target is to fight for the championship. My lap was okay but I wanted to be in Q3. Now I have to target being on the podium in the races.”

Meanwhile, Tom Chilton was seventh, Thed Björk eighth following balance issues, Yann Ehrlacher P11 and Ryo Michigami P12. Tom Coronel, Aurélien Panis, Kevin Gleason and Dániel Nagy completed the top 16.

The FIA World Touring Car Championship’s all-action global tour stops off in Hungary next week when thousands of Norbert Michelisz-worshiping fans – and their air horns – hit the Hungaroring for international touring car racing at its finest.

Following the spectacular slipstream thriller at the super-fast Monza last month, it’s off to another famous grand prix venue from 12-14 May. But while the speeds won’t be quite as high as they were in northern Italy, WTCC Race of Hungary is set to deliver some truly memorable on-track drama and excitement. And a national hero will be in the thick of the fight.

Norbert Michelisz, the original online gamer turned real-life racer, is the man most of Hungary will want to win. Driving for the factory Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team, Michelisz is a driver with revenge on his mind after his bid to take the lead of the Opening Race at Monza ended in retirement following a clash with Mehdi Bennani. The Moroccan, a winner in Hungary last season, will serve a five-place penalty for his part in the incident, while Michelisz will be desperate to claim the victory that got away last time out.

“I would have won quite easily if Mehdi hadn’t turned in on me,” said the 32-year-old Pécs resident. “That cost me the race. Now it’s really important to keep the head down, to work in the same rhythm, with the same kind of approach as before. If we do that we will be a very strong contender for the title and there is still a long way to go.”

Michelisz has won at home in the WTCC twice before, following up his 2012 victory with a euphoric drive to glory in 2015, a performance that helped to secure a step up to the factory Honda team for the following season. “To win your home race is such a nice feeling and there is a nice pattern actually because 2014 wasn’t good, I won in 2015, last year was not so good, so hopefully after a bad year a good one will follow. I know the competition will be strong but all the good drivers are looking for good competition because, in the end, if you are successful with high-level competition then it gives you an extra boost.”

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS
*With four different winning drivers and types of car from the opening four races, much is expected at the Hungaroring with all the action broadcast live around the world and on free-to-air Hungarian TV channel MTVA.
*The WTCC Race of Hungary weekend is always a big hit with vocal local fans, whose kit list includes air horn, customised national flag and anything bearing the number five, Norbert Michelisz’s race number.
*Tiago Monteiro, Michelisz’s factory Honda team-mate, heads the World Touring Car Championship for Drivers by 15 points over Polestar Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk with Björk’s Volvo-driving colleague Nicky Catsburg third and four points ahead of Michelisz. Rob Huff holds a one-point WTCC Trophy lead over Tom Chilton.
*Michelisz will get his own TV channel of sorts during the WTCC Race of Hungary weekend. In a first for the WTCC, a dedicated ‘Norbi Cam’ will follow his progress onboard in both races live on the FIAWTCC Facebook page.
*The WTCC’s established feeder series, the FIA European Touring Car Cup, tops the support bill with three Hungarian young guns in action: Norbert Nagy, Zsolt Dávid Szabó and Anett György. The KIA LOTOS Cup completes the event undercard.

WHAT’S NEW FOR 2017
*Factory teams from Honda and Volvo Polestar go up against leading privateer entrants.
*Revamped calendar features return to iconic venues Monza and Macau, a new track for WTCC Race of China, plus a mid-July date for WTCC Race of Argentina.
*Reduced schedule – 10 weekends only – means every result counts.
*Main Race longer than before with more points on offer to the top 10 (new scale: 1=30 points; 2=23; 3=19; 4=16; 5=13; 6=10; 7=7; 8=4; 9=2; 10=1).
*WTCC MAC3, the Tour de France-inspired time trial, continues with two more points for winning.
*FIA World Rallycross-style ‘joker’ lap planned for WTCC Race of Portugal in Vila Real.
*New two-day format to reduce costs (Free Practice 1 and 2 now 45 minutes, no Friday testing).
*Renewed social media push with several innovations coming during the season.
*Use of 360-degree camera to give viewer the impression they are in-car with the driver.

LATEST DRIVER NEWS
*Factory teams Honda and Volvo Polestar both feature tweaked driver line-ups for 2017. Japanese racer Ryo Michigami replaces Rob Huff at Honda where he will partner Norbert Michelisz and Tiago Monteiro. Thed Björk gets two new team-mates: Nicky Catsburg and Néstor Girolami, while Yvan Muller has signed as a development driver for partner team Cyan Racing.
*Huff has returned to ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport after three years away to drive the German team’s Citroën C-Elysée WTCC. Mehdi Bennani and Tom Chilton continue in Sébastien Loeb Racing-run Citroëns and welcome new team-mate John Filippi.
*There will be family pride at stake for rookie racers Yann Ehrlacher and Aurélien Panis. Ehrlacher is the nephew of four-time world champion Yvan Muller, while Panis’s father Olivier won the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix and commentates on Eurosport France’s WTCC coverage.
*Panis will partner Dániel Nagy at Zengő Motorsport, while Ehrlacher joins new team RC Motorsport, which also includes American Kevin Gleason in its line-up.
*Esteban Guerrieri has secured a partial programme with Campos Racing with work underway to make it a full-season deal following his maiden win last time out in Morocco.
*Like Guerrieri, Tom Coronel will be Chevrolet Cruze-mounted in 2017 after he extended his long-term agreement with inaugural WTCC champion Roberto Ravaglia’s ROAL Motorsport team.

WTCC TO EMBRACE FIA VOLUNTEERS DAY
The first FIA Volunteers Day will take place on 12 May, celebrating those who dedicate their time to make motorsport possible around the world. Capitalising on a packed weekend of FIA competition – six headline race events will raise awareness and give thanks to the volunteers who carry out the wide variety of essential roles without which the events would simply not happen. Throughout the day, the entire motorsport community – from volunteers and officials to fans, drivers and members of the media – are encouraged to join in and show their appreciation on social media. Using the hashtag #FIAVolunteersDay on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, people can share photos and stories of themselves in action on the day connecting motor sport volunteers at all levels from all around the world – from club events to world championships. “This is an opportunity to embrace the day as an occasion to thank all volunteers who support our events at all levels,” said FIA President, Jean Todt. “It will also promote the positive benefits that they gain from their involvement in motor sport, and help attract new people to get involved. “It is important for the FIA to give the appropriate recognition and publicity to acknowledge that each volunteer’s commitment is an essential part in ensuring the safety and success of every motor sport event.”

THE WEIGHT IS OVER ON!
The compensation weight carried by World Touring Cars, which is designed to equalise performance using a time-based calculation, will be adjusted for WTCC JVCKENWOOD Race of Hungary. The updated compensation weight list appears below: Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1: 0kg; Citroën C-Elysée WTCC: 50kg; Honda Civic WTCC: 80kg; LADA Vesta WTCC: 0kg; Volvo S60 Polestar: 80kg.

THEY SAID WHAT?
Thed Björk (Polestar Cyan Racing): “I like the Hungaroring. I like the challenges of it. It’s really nice to have a big city like Budapest so close. It’s completely crazy to see the Norbert fans there and what they are doing but it’s also nice as a racing driver to feel this atmosphere of course. I have good memories from the track and I look forward to going back there. Last year I had to leave directly from the track to go to the airport. At 18h00 I came directly from the track, parked the car and shut off the engine. At 19h20 I took off with a normal plane from the airport so it’s so good it’s close to the airport because my son was born that night and my wife and son are coming this year.”

Norbert Michelisz (Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team): “Racing in front of the Hungarian fans is amazing. It’s always huge pressure in the week before the races. But as soon as I jump out of the car after the Main Race I cannot wait for the next year to be back in the car racing in front of my fans. It’s the most special feeling I have racing at home. I have so many nice memories since my first podium there in 2011, since my first race win in 2012. I remember the great feeling, just moments and memories for the lifetime. I hugely appreciate all the support I have from my Hungarian fans because it’s really special to have these people standing behind me. No matter what happens they are 100 per cent there and supporting me. It gives me an extra boost many times and extra energy, especially when things are not really going my way.”

Rob Huff (ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport): “The Hungaroring is one of the most challenging circuits we do because it’s so complex. It really is probably one of the circuits that has the biggest variants of corners. We tend to go to either fast tracks or slow tracks, the F1-style big open tracks or the little street circuits so to go to the Hungaroring, which is a real combination of all those aspects put together, is a real challenge for the driver especially with the set-up of the car. It’s a circuit I love and I’ve always done well at. I won there in 2013 in the SEAT with ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport and then obviously last year I was pushing for the lead against José María López when, unfortunately, I got a drive-through penalty. And then there’s Budapest, a place I like that much that when I went testing at the Hungaroring earlier this season I cancelled my flight home and stayed for an extra two days.”

Dániel Nagy (Zengő Motorsport): “I pushed hard in the last race at Monza to prepare for Hungary and scored my first world championship point. But Hungary is going to be the most important race for us this year and I would like to give a really big performance. We are competing with last year’s Honda so it’s going to be hard for me although I have very good mechanics, very good engineers and the important thing is the guys at Zengő Motorsport are believing in me. I try to continue to progress and score as many top 10 finishes as possible. Maybe if the rain comes and something happens with the other guys we can score some bigger results.”

WHAT HAPPENED IN 2016
The FIA World Touring Car Championship delivered two dramatic races on a wet day at the Hungaroring, with Mehdi Bennani (Morocco) and José María López (Argentina) triumphing in slippery conditions. Bennani scored his second outright WTCC victory in the Opening Race, leading from start to finish as many big names, including Citroën’s López and Yvan Muller and Honda’s Tiago Monteiro and Rob Huff, were caught out by the difficult weather. All four opted for dry-weather tyres and finished outside the points as a result. Tom Chilton made it a one-two for Sébastien Loeb Racing from P10 on the grid ahead of LADA driver Nicky Catsburg and Volvo Polestar’s Fredrik Ekblom for the Swedish make’s best WTCC finish so far. López was lapped in that first race but later took his third Main Race win from as many events to extend the championship lead he claimed with five points for the DHL Pole Position on Saturday. He was pressured by Huff and a fast-starting Muller, who made contact when fighting over second place, leading to a penalty for the Briton. Erstwhile title leader Tiago Monteiro completed the Main Race podium for Honda ahead of Thed Björk (Volvo Polestar). After a turbo failure forced him out of the Opening Race, Norbert Michelisz produced a stunning comeback drive from the back of the grid in the Main Race before a suspension failure late on dropped him from sixth to P10. López claimed the TAG Heuer Best Lap award for the second event running.

Team Honda won its first Manufacturers Against the Clock team time trial of the 2017 FIA World Touring Car Championship season, more than three seconds ahead of Team Volvo Polestar at WTCC Race of Hungary.

In the third WTCC MAC3 of the campaign, Ryo Michigami led his Honda team-mates away from the line, with Tiago Monteiro and Norbert Michelisz running closely behind the Japanese to secure Honda's first WTCC MAC3 triumph of 2017 and 12 points in its bid to win the World Touring Car Championship for Manufacturers.

However, despite claiming victory in WTCC MAC3, the success was tinged with an element of frustration as Team Principal Alessandro Mariani explained. “It’s very good to secure our first WTCC MAC3 victory of 2017 because it helps our position in the Manufacturers’ championship. But overall qualifying did not go as we’d hoped. The circuit di not evolve as we’d expected when the sun came out and we didn’t go the right way with the set-up.”

It was an off-song WTCC MAC3 for Volvo Polestar. After enjoying WTCC MAC3 success in Morocco and Italy this year, a reported vibration issue hit Néstor Girolami's Volvo S60 Polestar and prevented the trio, which also included Thed Björk and Nicky Catsburg, from running in formation. And with the clock stopping once the last of a team's three cars crosses the line, the Swedish firm lost out on victory as a result.

Victories for Thed Bjork and Tom Chilton at WTCC OSCARO Race of Italy at Monza today made it four different winners from four races in this year’s wide-open FIA World Touring Car Championship. And with four different types of car victorious in 2017, the prospects of a thrilling season-long battle for glory have intensified.

While Sébastien Loeb Racing driver Chilton edged Rob Huff – who had charged through from eighth on the grid – in a tense battle in the Opening Race, Björk had to catch and re-pass Tiago Monteiro for his maiden Main Race triumph after a sluggish start allowed the Honda man to get in front. The Swede’s success was also the first Main Race victory for Volvo Polestar, which now moves ahead of Honda in the battle for the World Touring Car Championship for Manufacturers having arrived in Italy level on points.

Meanwhile, Monteiro’s podium double ensures the Portuguese maintains his title advantage as he heads to the next race in Hungary leading new second-placed driver Björk by 13 points.

Like Monteiro, Huff was twice on the podium for ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport. But while the weekend marked a reversal of fortune for Huff following a troubled season-opening WTCC AFRIQUIA Race of Morocco, it proved an afternoon to forget for Norbert Michelisz.

The Hungarian works Honda driver was battling Mehdi Bennani for the Opening Race lead when contact at the Parabolica put both drivers out. Bennani was penalised for his part in the incident and will serve a five-place grid penalty in the Opening Race at the Hungaroring on 14 May.

Tom Coronel started the Opening Race on the reverse-grid DHL pole position but a fluffed getaway left him languishing in sixth at the finish behind Esteban Guerrieri, who appeared to lose out to Björk in a final-corner move until Björk picked up a one-second penalty for the incident, demoting him one place.

American Kevin Gleason scored points on his WTCC debut with ninth in the Opening Race for RC Motorsport, while Zengő Motorsport’s Dániel Nagy bagged his first WTC point in P10.

Nicky Catsburg scored a weekend-best fourth in the Main Race, one place ahead of Polestar Cyan Racing team-mate Néstor Girolami. But it was a tough Opening Race for both drivers: Catsburg dropped to eight with front-splitter damage while Girolami retired with broken right-rear suspension. Yann Ehrlacher bagged his first WTCC top 10 with ninth in the Main Race, Aurélien Panis took P12 in the Main Race but Ryo Michigami twice retired his factory Honda.