Taking FIA_WTCR by storm since joining Hyundai, Mikel Azcona is likely to be crowned 2022 champion. Find out how he moved himself to the cusp of title glory. Feature:
Mikel Azcona has come a long way from the contrite rookie who ruined Esteban Guerreri’s title shot in a frenetic World Touring Car Cup finale back in 2019. The Spaniard, then 23, could only offer a grovelling apology in the post-race press conference after nerfing the Honda ace off in a thrilling night-race climax at Sepang, clogging the Civic’s radiator full of grass.
“Normally when you make this kind of change – the brand, car, team, everything – you need time to adapt,” says the racer from Arrigorriaga, in the Basque region of northern Spain. “But from the second day of the first three-day test at Aragon I felt very good with the car and team.” He reports too that Michelisz, now very much playing second fiddle to his unintentional 2019 ‘kingmaker’, has “helped from the very beginning”.
But Azcona is quick to give credit to Tarquini’s direct influence. “I’ve known Gabriele for a long time, in a way. Even when I was racing go-karts I was watching the WTCC on Eurosport. Now it’s very curious to be replacing him. He is such a good driver, a world champion, a kind of idol to me, and now he is my team manager. As a driver he is teaching Norbi and me a lot, giving us advice on qualifying, the race, tyre preparation, overtaking – how to make the driver’s life easier.
ahead of the August round at the little-known Circuit de l’Anneau du Rhin. It’s been a torrid season for a series Azcona insists is still “the highest-level touring car championship in the world”.What a shame Azcona has been robbed of the chance to beat reigning double champion Yann Ehrlacher on track. What has he made of the tyre dramas? “When you put the car on the limit with the maximum camber, changing the set-up to win the last tenth, it’s obvious the tyre is suffering a lot,” he says.
Tarquini denied the claim at the time, but Azcona is a little more… open. “My opinion on BoP is I like the rule otherwise the championship would be killed very soon,” he says. “If we are like Formula 1 without BoP and the best car is winning every weekend then the championship will die. It’s very necessary, this tool. The regulation says the BoP is working like this and as a team and manufacturer you need to use this tool in the best way possible.
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