Mikel Azcona targets pole position in Macau
Hyundai driver Mikel Azcona is looking to finish the 2025 FIA TCR World Tour season on a high, with pole position in sight after a strong first free practice session on the Guia street circuit.
“I feel very good after the first practice,” Azcona told TouringCarTimes.
“I’m very happy to be back in a circuit that I like a lot and that is very challenging.
“Here everything has to be perfect, a small error costs you dearly, so starting the weekend in P1 is very good.”
Azcona was the first to establish a reference lap time in FP1, with Lynk & Co’s Yann Ehrlacher responding in the second part of the session. The Spaniard recovered the top spot in his last attempt.
“I was the only one to go for tyres in the session, the difference to the second (1.2 seconds) was because I put on new tyres at the end,” added the Hyundai driver.
“I already was P1 on used tyres at the end of the first stint.”
The 2022 WTCR champion believes he’s competitive enough to remain on top for the rest of the weekend.
“The pace is there and we’ve been able to get the most from the tyres, but there is still room for improvement,” said Azcona.
“This is a very specific and demanding track and you must have the car well prepared to have the confidence to go for it.
“We are going to make some changes for the FP2, but we are on the right direction with the setup. There is a lot of track evolution here, so it will keep on getting better until tomorrow’s qualifying, but we are positive for the weekend.”
Qualifying is key at a track with difficult overtaking opportunities and Azcona believes scoring the pole position is key to a good result from the weekend in total.
“The most important thing here is the quali, preparing for the races is also important, but 99% of the focus is on the quali, so today is a very important day to prepare the car,” said the Spanish driver.
“Our target is getting the pole position and making a good start. If we don’t get any technical issues, that would be the race set for us.”
