Azcona wins Race 1 after a pile-up at the start
Mikel Azcona claimed his and PCR Sport’s first victory in the TCR Europe Series at the end of a race that was influenced by a pile up at the start that eliminated three cars and resulted in a safety car period.
Local hero Jaap Van Lagen who was on pole position in the Leopard Lukoil Team Audi RS3 LMS spoiled his chances with a slow start that dropped him down to fifth, while Azcona managed to keep the Hell Energy Racing’s duo of Attila Tassi and Josh Files behind into the first turn and laid down his success on that move. When the race resumed after the safety car intervention, the young Spaniard and his Cupra managed to build a gap ahead of Tassi’s Honda, while Van Lagen was able to overtake Dušan Borković’s Hyundai and Files to take third and also victory in the TCR Benelux.
Borković retained the lead in the standings, but Azcona has closed the gap to eight points; Nagy is third, 22 points behind the leader.
Race 2 will start tomorrow at 14:55, with Danny Kroes on pole on the top-ten reverse grid. Live streaming on www.tcr-series.com and www.tcr-series.tv.
Key facts
Grid – Richard has been dropped from seventh to last following an engine change
Start – From the second row, Tassi squeezes among Azcona and van Lagen, but the Spaniard resists and keeps the lead into the Tarzan bend; there is chaos behind as Barr tangles with Nagy, spins and crashes under the grandstand; Stefanovski swerves in avoidance and collides with Briché who hits the pit wall
Lap 1 – The safety car is deployed
Lap 2 – Baus-Coppens pits with a technical issue
Lap 4 – The race resumes with 14 minutes left; Azcona leads from Tassi, Files, Borković and van Lagen; Paulsen overtakes Nagy for sixth; van Lagen overtakes Borković for fourth
Lap 5 – Potty misses the braking point at the Tarzan and stops in the gravel trap; Kroes overtakes Møller for eighth; Mora overtakes Abreu for tenth
Lap 6 – Mora overtakes Møller for ninth
Lap 8 – Van Lagen overtakes Files for third at the Tarzan; Mora overtakes Kroes for eighth
Lap 10 – Cencetti punts his teammate Piro into a spin while fighting for 13th
Lap 11 – Van Lagen is on the tail of Tassi’s car
Lap 12 – Azcona wins and Tassi successfully defends second place from van Lagen; Files, Borković and Paulsen take the positions from fourth to sixth
