TCR World Tour: Michelisz and Ma winners at Misano as Geely claims maiden international victory

BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse’s Norbert Michelisz and Geely Cyan Racing’s Ma Qing Hua were the victors at the opening event of the 2026 FIA TCR World Tour at the Misano World Circuit in Italy last weekend.

Ma’s victory in Race 2 was a significant achievement as it marked the first win for the Geely brand in international competition.

It was Michelisz’s Hyundai team-mate Mikel Azcona who had secured pole position in a tight qualifying session on Saturday morning, just under a tenth ahead of Michelisz, with reigning champion Yann Ehrlacher putting the new Geely Preface TCR third on the grid for its first race.

Azcona led at the start, but through a team agreement he soon handed over the lead to Michelisz who had the quicker pace and went on to win, while Azcona defended to keep back the three Geely Prefaces of Ehrlacher, Santiago Urrutia, and Thed Björk all the way to the finish.

The reversed grid second race provided more thrills, with Jenson Brickley starting on pole position in his ALM Motorsport Honda. The British driver put on a valiant defence at the head of the pack for six laps, before he was eventually passed by the faster Geely of Ma Qing Hua, with the Chinese driver then going to win the race comfortably, and pick up a win for the Chinese manufacturer on its debut weekend.

Brickley was soon shuffled down the order, with Azcona coming through from ninth to finish second ahead of Björk, while Race 1 winner Michelisz suffered accident damage at the start of the race and retired.

With pole and two second places, Azcona heads to the next round at Valencia on June 12-14 with a 17-point lead in the standings over Ehrlacher.