Mikel Azcona: “I’m happy to be here after a brake problem”

Hyundai driver Mikel Azcona was satisfied with second place in the opening TCR World Tour race at Vila Real after developing a serious mechanical issue in the warm-up laps of the race.

“I’m happy to be here because I had an issue whilst warming up the tyres and had to go straight to the grid to have it fixed, so I was compromised to prepare my tyres for the start,” Azcona told TouringCarTimes.

“I was on the warm-up laps and had no brakes. Maybe at Paul Ricard is not so much of a problem, but here they must be working properly.”

Moments of tension were seen on the grid as the BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse mechanics tried to fix the problem in a few minutes.

“I couldn’t build the pressure, and I couldn’t warm, so the guys did an amazing job to fix the car on the grid,” Azcona added.

The race was then a survival exercise for the Spaniard, focusing on not losing too many positions against the Geelys.

“Considering this, I tried to focus on the start and I had too much wheelspin on the right side,” Azcona explained. “I lost the position with Yann and tried to defend from Ma and managed to keep second position.

“From then  on, I focused on finishing the race and bring the car home, because the repair wasn’t 100% and I’m super happy to get this points after this problem,” the Hyundai driver added.

Azcona leads the championship with 216 points, six over Geely driver Santiago Urrutia, ahead of Race 2.