Mikel Azcona completes a hat trick in TCR Spain finale

Mikel Azcona won both TCR Spain’s races, Sunday at Barcelona, completing a hat-trick on his first visit to the championship.
Mike Halder, who had secured the title after finishing second in Saturday’s Race 1, was runner-up again in Race 2, adding the TCR Ibérico trophy to his tally.
The start of Race 2 saw Michelle and Mike Halder sprinting from P2 and P5 on the grid ahead of pole sitter Evgenii Leonov. As the field negotiated Turn 1 Mike passed his sister to take the lead. During the first lap Sergio López spun off and his CUPRA Leon Competición sunk into the gravel, and the safety car was deployed.
Racing resumed in lap 4, with Mike and Michelle Halder chased by Leonov and Azcona; further behind Isidro Callejas and Gustavo Moura got past Fernando Navarrete advancing to fifth and sixth. One lap later, Azcona overtook Leonov for third and then moved up to second ahead of Michelle Halder who was also passed by Leonov and Callejas, dropping to fifth. In lap 6, Callejas overtook Leonov for P3.
Azcona began to eat into Mike Halder’s lead and eventually passed Halder at Turn 1 at the beginning of lap 9. The Spaniard won by 1.7-seconds over Halder, with Callejas completing the podium. Leonov finished fourth beating Michelle Halder by inches, but he was dropped one place by a 5-second penalty for track limit infringements. 
Azcona had the pole for Race 3, but Mike Halder pipped him at the start. They had a thrilling battle, running abreast for the whole first lap, but Azcona took the lead at the beginning of lap 2 and pulled away. Behind them there was a close fight, with Moura advancing to third in lap 3 ahead of Michelle Halder. In the following lap, Navarrete too passed Michelle, while Alejandro Cutillas dropped from sixth to eighth behind Leonov and Sergio López; then, in lap 6, López overtook Leonov for P6. One lap later, Michelle Halder passed Navarrete for fourth; López seemed set to pass Navarrete as well, but then stopped on the track with a technical issue during the ninth lap.
In the final part of the race, Mike Halder’s pace faded and he dropped to fourth, with Moura and Michelle Halder advancing to second and third, while Cutillas and Alba Cano passed Leonov to finish sixth and seventh.

Barcelona – Race 2
1. Mikel Azcona (Volcano Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Competición), 11 laps
2. Mike Halder (Halder Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 1.742
3. Isidro Callejas (Volcano Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Competición), 9.471
4. Michelle Halder (Halder Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 11.738
5. Evgenii Leonov (Volcano Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Competición), 18.352

Barcelona – Race 3
1. Mikel Azcona (Volcano Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Competición), 12 laps
2. Gustavo Moura (GC24 Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 16.982
3. Michelle Halder (Halder Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 21.453
4. Mike Halder (Halder Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 21.933
5. Fernando Navarrete (RC2 Junior Team, Peugeot 308), 22.669

Championship points – TCR Spain
1. Mk. Halder 528 pts; 2. A. Cutillas 381; 3. M. Halder 371 

Championship points – TCR Ibérico
1. Mk. Halder 129 pts; 2. A. Cutillas 80; 3. A. Cano 79 

Picture: RFEdeA