On 19 October, in one of the most dramatic races of the season, Mikel Azcona scored a long overdue first victory in the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour, depriving the Lynk & Co Cyan Racing team of a home victory despite their impressive pace in the dry qualifying session.
With rain hitting the circuit right at the start of the first race, while many struggled to keep the cars on the circuit with slick tyres, Azcona revelled in the slippery conditions, holding on to fourth place in the early stages behind the three Lynk & Co cars of Thed Björk, Yann Ehrlacher, and Santiago Urrutia.
The Spaniard, then threw his Hyundai Elantra the inside of Urrutia at the final corner on the opening lap to snatch third, before trying an impossible move at the T5 chicane on Ehrlacher. An early safety car meant he had to wait a little longer, and on lap 8, Azcona dived past the Frenchman at T3 to take second before another safety car.
The race restarted with five laps to go, and the conditions were now at their absolute wettest. While many tiptoed around, and even some drivers had switched to wet tyres during the safety car, Azcona was still on it, and at the exit of T3 dived to the left of Björk to take the lead into Turn 4. It wasn’t the only star drive, as Esteban Guerrieri then got past both Ehrlacher and Björk in one move a lap later to grab second, but there was no stopping Azcona, whose win in China kept him in contention for the title.
You can re-live the race on the official TCR TV YouTube channel here.
Picture: WSC/Jun Qian Motorsport
