Dániel Nagy insists he “will not play it safe” in title race after first series win

M1RA’s Dániel Nagy says he needs to maximise his Hyundai i30 N TCR’s pace advantage in the second race at Assen, if he is to mount a serious TCR Europe series title challenge in the remaining rounds.

Nagy claimed his maiden victory in the opening race of the weekend at the Dutch circuit, outscoring new championship leader Dusan Borkovic’s Hyundai and erstwhile leader, PCR Sport’s Mikel Azcona.

The Hungarian driver is now tied on 114 points with Azcona and lies just five behind Borkovic with five races left this season. Despite taking three podiums in the last three races, Nagy refuses to change his approach.

“I think tomorrow will be a good chance to make something great, because the following races are suited to the Cupras, so I expect Azcona to very very fast in these two weekends,” Nagy told TouringCarTimes.

“So I have to score a lot of points tomorrow and I will be not play a safe game. We have the potential and the speed, yesterday on old tyres and today also. Because of this, I expect a hard race tomorrow and hopefully I can improve a few positions.

“I will do everything to try and overtake him if I get the chance.”

Nagy started the race from third place after qualifying pace-setter Josh Files’ three-place grid penalty but quickly made his way past early leader Vernay on lap five.

“It happened in T4, which is a tight left-hander, and he missed the braking point a little bit, and this cost him a very bad exit of the corner.

“He was able to come back on the left side of me and then there is a right hander and then a left, so the only goal was to defend the right and then try to brake as late as I could to avoid him and stay on the inside for T7.

“I touched the tyre stack because I had no space to go because Vernay was very hard with me, but it was fair – it’s touring car racing.”

Nagy opened up a one-second margin over Vernay’s Audi RS 3 LMS but the Frenchman closed back up on the Hyundai when Nagy ran too deep at Strubben.

“I made a mistake at the moment in T4 in the first sector and then he was closing,” Nagy said.

“For me it was a surprise because normally the Audi does not have the best race speed and they don’t handle the tyres the best, but Jean-Karl did a very good job because he was not slowing down like I expected.

“I knew that there can be a last opportunity for him, so I had to defend very hard.”

With Nagy now sitting just five points of Borkovic at the top of the standings, Nagy admits he is now thinking about a late title tilt.

“We are closing up in the championship now and it means everyone feels more pressure. And of course, it’s time to think about the championship a little bit. But I still keep in my mind, that I want to be the fastest Hyundai in qualifying and then we will see.

“Of course, I will not take a huge risk in every race but I will push as hard as the past.”