Mikel Azcona: “We knew we would suffer here”

BRC Motorsport driver Mikel Azcona was in a positive mood after qualifying in eighth place for the FIA WTCR races at Motorland Aragón, with the Spaniard securing third position for the reversed-grid Race 2.

“I had a good feeling with the car, it was going very well and the feedback was very good,” Azcona told TouringCarTimes. “In all the sectors the car behaved very well and it was going where I wanted it.

“It’s in the last sector where we lose top speed compared to other cars and, in the end, this is what caused us to not be able to go into Q3. But we still are in the top ten and where we want, P3 on the reverse grid and with a good chance of scoring points for the championship.”

Azcona knew before qualifying that Q3 would be hard to reach, instead aiming to keep within the top ten.

“We knew that we would suffer here and our target was finishing in the top ten, as we knew that getting into the Q3 would be very difficult, especially given how much top speed we are losing on the straight,” concluded Azcona, who is enjoying his family and fans’ support not only as the local hero, but also as the Hyundai driver celebrates his 26th birthday on Saturday.

The BRC Hyundai team set the strategy early for the reversed grid race, stating the 97,5% power level of the Balance of Performance as a key contributing reason.

“Here it’s very difficult for us because the engine is losing top speed because the BoP,” Hyundai advisor Gabriele Tarquini told TouringCarTimes. “Our strategy was the reverse grid positions, as we knew we didn’t have a chance for the pole position.”