Photo: TCR Europe

Dusan Borkovic maintains slender championship advantage heading into final two rounds

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Dusan Borkovic has escaped punishment for his overtake on Stian Paulsen’s Cupra in the second TCR Europe series race at Assen to maintain his slim two point championship lead over Mikel Azcona going into the final two rounds.

Borkovic moved into the lead of the championship with his sixth place finish in Saturday’s first race of the weekend, before consolidating it with a third in Race 2.

The Target Competition Hyundai i30 N TCR driver managed to recover from a poor grid position after qualifying to leave the Dutch circuit ahead of his chief title rival.

For Azcona, it was a case of damage limitation. The Spaniard struggled for optimum pace in the opening race but rallied to finish a strong second behind race-winner Attila Tassi in Race 2.

With the Cupra tipped to be one of the more competitive cars at the next round at Monza, Azcona is keen to make amends for losing the points lead.

“We need to battle but for sure the Hyundais are better than us at the moment. Borkovic in the first race was metres behind me and then suddenly he was on my bumper,” said Azcona to TouringCarTimes.

“So we need to maintain our points and fight and push harder at Monza. I think it’s very important to get ahead of Borkovic, because we know they are very fast.

“I hope Monza and Barcelona are better suited to our car, but I don’t know. All sessions, the Cupras are not going well. We’re always fighting with the set-up, it is not the fastest car in the championship.”

Another contender for the championship title is M1RA’s Dániel Nagy. The Hungarian launched himself firmly into the mix with his maiden victory in the first race, but an engine problem robbed him of a strong result in the second.

“It’s a technical sport and of course I am disappointed, but I totally accept this as part of the sport,” Nagy said.

“The performance that the whole team showed this weekend has been great. We are aiming for the championship and we will come back fighting at Monza, that’s for sure.”