Mikel Azcona admits points lead a “psychological advantage”

Mikel Azcona will share the front row with pole sitter Jean-Karl Vernay in his Cupra for the first race of the weekend at Monza, Italy. The Spaniard also claimed the points’ lead in the process, as the four points he bagged leave him two up on Dusan Borkovic’s Hyundai.

“Absolutely, leading the championship is very important,” admitted the PCR Sport driver to TouringCarTimes. “Even if you are two points behind you are still in second, so it helps a lot to be in the lead now. There was an extra motivation in this qualifying for me because of this.”

Azcona is also happy his chief rival for the championship is behind him on the grid.

“It’s great that Borkovic is behind me, we need to make use of it. I must not make mistakes and make sure I see the chequered flag.”

The Spaniard promised to be cautious and only overtake pole-sitter Vernay if it’s an easy pass, as he feels bagging points is the priority over a race win.

“I will try to pass Vernay only if I can do it rather easily if he makes a mistake. We will see after the first chicane, but in general the idea is to bag good points, staying on the track and just make the most out of the front row start, and then we’ll see.”