Photo: TCRAustralia

Mikel Azcona “disappointed” over jump start penalty

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Mikel Azcona missed out on his first FIA TCR World Tour win of 2025 by a very narrow margin after being handed a jump start penalty during the first race of the weekend at The Bend.

“After the jump start I was a bit disappointed, but the pace was very good. I was happy with the balance of the car, and I managed to pull a gap,” said Azcona.

“After hearing of the penalty, I was a worried about my front-left tyre. I didn’t want to risk a puncture, so I focused on finishing strong. P2 is still a very good result and to be honest it feels like my best race of the season so far.”

The Spaniard started from pole and headed the field from lights to flag. But a five-second penalty for slightly moving his car on the grid before the lights went out meant that he was dropped behind his team-mate Norbert Michelisz with a margin of 0.0024 seconds.

“I’m super happy! Winning a race is always a fantastic feeling. But honestly, today Mikel was the fastest guy and without the penalty he would have deserved the win,” said Michelisz.

“From a team perspective, a 1–2 finish is fantastic. That’s the big positive, as we showed how strong Hyundai is today. Personally, I’d like to understand how to go as fast as Mikel did. That’s something I want to learn and improve on.”

Points leader Yann Ehrlacher finished third behind the Hyundai duo, despite carrying the maximum compensation weight of 40 kilos.

“They messed up a little bit with the start procedure, that’s why Mikel jumped, and now a jump start is only a five-second penalty,” said Ehrlacher.

“Still, with 40 kilos of compensation weight, we didn’t expect to be in the fight. Yesterday we were two seconds off the pace, so we are happy with a podium. The team did a fantastic job with very little time between the containers arriving, shakedown, FP1 and qualifying, and I delivered one of the best qualifying laps of my career.

“The race went smoothly, luckily no safety car, because the Hyundais were much quicker in the straights. Tomorrow starting eighth, I won’t take risks. This weekend was about points, and I’ve scored more than I expected.”