Michelisz on being let past by Azcona: “We agreed on this before the start”

Norbert Michelisz won the first race of the 2026 FIA TCR World Tour season from second on the grid after being let past by BRC Hyundai team-mate and pole-sitter Mikel Azcona on lap two.

“First of all, thanks to Mikel, he let me pass in lap two. Because we need to score every point available,” said Michelisz.

“I think he realised quite soon that my pace is a bit better than his. And you know, we have three or four blue cars behind, we cannot risk to be in danger.

“So, we agreed this before the start. And it’s fantastic to have a team-mate like him, I mean to follow the rules, I mean to assisting myself.”

Azcona kept close to Michelisz throughout the race and even set the fastest lap of the race, elevating him from tenth to ninth ahead of Michelisz on the Race 2 grid.

Michelisz won the race by 1.170 seconds after 15 laps over Azcona and the two are sharing the points lead on 40 points after qualifying and the first race of the season.

“My car was really good throughout the race. Honestly, I did 12 qualifying laps in the beginning,” said Michelisz.

“And then I picked up some understeer because of tyre wear, but then already fortunately the gap was almost two seconds, so I could leave something on the table.

“Nevertheless, very happy with the race win. I don’t want to go into technical details, it’s perfect to start the season like this.”