Mikel Azcona on claiming TCR Europe title: “The most exciting moment of my life”

Mikel Azcona has described his TCR Europe series title triumph as the “most exciting moment of my life” after coming through the final race of the season at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

The PCR Sport Cupra driver secured the title on home turf with an eighth place finish, while main title rivals Dusan Borkovic and Attila Tassi failed to finish following contact on the opening lap.

Azcona’s only other challenger, Jean-Karl Vernay beat the Spaniard to the line in seventh, but could not score enough points to clinch the title.

“Amazing, this is unbelievable. This has been the most exciting moment of my life, to be European champion with these fantastic drivers, these brands and my family, this is amazing to win,” Azcona told TouringCarTimes.

Azcona had been embroiled in a number of battles after making a poor start from seventh on the grid. The Cupra driver dropped to tenth on the first lap and had to battle past the Peugeot 308TCR of Julien Briché at Turn 10 on the first lap following the safety car intervention.

From then on, Azcona remained out of any major squabbles, despite going wheel-to-wheel with Vernay at Turn 1.

Azcona admits that despite playing it relatively safe during the race, he was keen to make sure he kept his car damage-free until the end.

“I think the most difficult part was at the start of the first lap, because we have Tassi, Borkovic and Files battling together and we were just looking at the championship. But then after that, it was an easy and comfortable race,” Azcona said.

“At the moment, we need to celebrate with my people, my brand Cupra and my family. Then we will see for next year.”