Mikel Azcona sets the pole for WTCR’s Race 1 in Hungary
Mikel Azcona has placed his BRC Squadra Corse Hyundai Elantra N on pole position for the first race of WTCR at the Hungaroring. The Spaniard emerged as the fastest in Q3 beating Nathanaël Berthon‘s Comtoyou Racing Audi and the Cyan Racing Lynk & Co of the reigning champion Yann Ehrlacher.
In Q1, Néstor Girolami set the early mark with a lap of 1:52.429 that stood until the halfway point, when Gilles Magnus improved to 1:52.215. In the following couple of minutes there were a lot of changes on top of the timesheet, with Santiago Urrutia (1:52.142), Esteban Guerrieri (1:52.088) and Azcona (1:52.061) leading one after the other, until Girolami moved again into the first place with a lap of 1:51.862 and Norbert Michelisz moving into P2 (1:51.900). During the final moments, Berthon climbed to third (1:51.9169), while Ma Qing Hua and Dániel Nagy made the cut for Q2 in seventh and twelfth position respectively. Among those who remained off were Then Björk (13th) and the Nürburgring pole sitter Mehdi Bennani (15th).
Q2 was soon red-flagged when Nagy’s CUPRA crashed at Turn 1; the session resumed with five minutes left on the clock. Girolami was the first to set a lap of 1:52.108, but eventually dropped to eighth as most of the others improved. Guerrieri was the first to oust his countryman with a lap of 1:51.804 that was beaten by Ehrlacher’s 1:51.687 and then Magnus’ 1:51.684. Guerrieri dropped behind Berthon and Azcona, but retained the last spot for Q3, while Ma and Michelisz were the first to be eliminated and Urrutia qualified in 10th place, claiming the pole for the second race.
Guerrieri was the first to hit the track in Q3, he drove very aggressively and clocked a 1:52.086 that was disallowed for a track limit infringement at T11. Azcona was next and was six hundredths of a second faster than Guerrieri in 1:51.020, while Berthon and Ehrlacher who followed were not able to beat Azcona’s time. Magnus was the last one to try and imitated Guerrieri, trespassing the limits at T11 and having his lap time disallowed. However, the young Belgian scored the ten points for the fastest lap of the day set in Q2.
Azcona and Guerrieri too scored in Q2, four and two points respectively that enabled them to close the gap to Girolami in the standings. Azcona is now only two points behind the leader, with Guerrieri three further points adrift.
Race 1 is scheduled to start tomorrow at 11:20 (CEST).
Hungaroring – Qualifying
1:52.020 Mikel Azcona (BRC Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N)
1:52.148 Nathanaël Berthon (Comtoyou Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS II)
1:52.344 Yann Ehrlacher (Cyan Racing, Lynk & Co 03)
Championship points
1. N. Girolami 49 pts; 2. M. Azcona 47; 3 E. Guerrieri 44
Picture: FIA WTCR/DPPI
