Photo: TCR World Tour

Mikel Azcona: “Santi drove as if I wasn’t there”

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Mikel Azcona and Santiago Urrutia were both involved in the victory fight of the final FIA TCR World Tour race of the weekend in Macau, a fight which ended in tears for both.

“I started very well, I was able to protect myself and prepare for Mandarin. There, I couldn’t have the same good moment as yesterday, but I was able to keep position,” Azcona told TouringCarTimes.

“I kept the outside at Lisboa and the following one, Ma (Qing Hua) is a respectful driver, so we didn’t collide despite me being on the outside.”

Cyan Racing driver Urrutia fought intensely with Josh Buchan for the lead but lost momentum following a mistake from the Australian driver which enabled Azcona to get into the mix and the two came together at the exit of Lisboa.

“The opposite happened a few laps later with Santi at the same point. I knew that, going on the outside, I had to decelerate to respect him that was on the inside,” said Azcona.

“But, as we exited the corner, I was already on the outside wall and Santi drove as if I wasn’t there, causing a collision.

“I had a puncture as a result, which was frustrating after eight laps, specially when I was so close to finishing on the podium. I had settled for P3 and wasn’t going to enter the fight between them (Buchan and Urrutia). I’m still happy and positive because I have been very competitive all weekend.”

Azcona finished the race in 13th place while Urrutia had to pit due to the damage from the incident and was classified as 15th.

“I was very strong all race and much faster than the Australian,” Urrutia told TouringCarTimes.

“But, with the straight line speed of the Hyundai, it was difficult to overtake.

“He was a bit too fast at Turn 3 and I went on the inside, we touched a bit and, when I went to the outside, Mikel was there, and there was no space for two cars. He was close to the barrier and we collided, puncturing my tyre, it was a bad luck incident.”

The stewards ruled the contact between the two as a racing incident, with no further action taken.