Photo: TCR World Tour

Mikel Azcona cruises to victory in Inje Speedium opener

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Hyundai driver Mikel Acona made the most of his pole position to cruise home to victory in the opening race of the FIA TCR World Tour weekend at Inje Speedium in South Korea to claim the points lead.

The Spaniard made a solid start and never locked behind for the rest of the race while his BRC Hyundai team-mate Norbert Michelisz had Geely Cyan Racing driver Thed Björk climbing all over his back.

Björk made a better start than Michelisz and challenged the Hungarian driver during the first couple of corners, but had to slot back into third place.

Aurélien Comte piled the pressure on Björk’s team-mate Yann Ehrlacher for fourth place during the first couple of laps.

The Cupra driver managed to pass the reigning champion for fourth with some contact on lap four, a move which allowed local hero Junesung Park to pass Ehrlacher as well.

Comte then set his sights on the fight for second place between Michelisz and Björk, reaching the duo by lap 13.

Just as Comte had caught the duo, Björk managed to pass Michelisz for second place, with the Hyundai driver instead coming under pressure from the Cupra driver.

Björk gained on leading driver Azcona, but was too far behind as the Spaniard won the race by just below two seconds ahead of the Swedish driver.

Comte tried his best to pressure Michelisz into a mistake, but had to settle for fourth behind the Hungarian who claimed the final podium spot.

Park finished a strong fifth ahead of Ehrlacher who had to fight very hard to keep fifth ahead of the Cupra duo Viktor Andersson and Jean-Karl Vernay.

Santiago Urrutia made his way up from 15th place on the grid following his engine change grid penalty to finish ninth ahead of team-mate Ma Qing Hua who started 16th.

Björk secured the fastest lap of the race which elevates him one place on the Race 2 reversed grid, meaning that he will start seventh instead of eighth.

Azcona’s victory has elevated him into a 19-point lead of the drivers’ standings over Urrutia while Michelisz keeps third, 35 points adrift.

The second race of the weekend starts at 10:40 local time/03:40 CEST on Sunday.