Mikel Azcona scored a breakthrough fourth place finish for the brand new CUPRA Leon Competición today, following a strong performance in the second World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) race of the weekend.
Azcona and the team were feeling quietly confident after the Spaniard ended qualifying as the sixth fastest driver in the field.
Having struggled to even get into the top ten at the season opener in Belgium, fourth place signals a notable improvement over a very short period of time for the team.
Whereas most other teams had at least a few weeks to test before the season got underway, Zengő Motorsport received their new Leon Competición fleet with just a matter of days before the first on-track session.
As such, the Hungarian outfit was always going to be on the back foot to begin with, but it already looks as though the team isn’t too far away from being able to challenge for podiums again.
The quick turnaround in pace has delighted CUPRA works driver Mikel Azcona, who was in good spirits after the race.
“What a race! I’m very happy with P4,” he beamed. “It was a crazy race to be honest, very difficult conditions and we were driving on the limit for all three laps.
“On the first lap, I hit the wall through the Karussell but after that I decided to continue my race. The car felt ok but the steering was a little [misaligned].
“After that, I caught Esteban [Guerrieri] really a lot. I was on his rear bumper but decided to wait [to pass] until the long straight because I know that the CUPRA is faster there than the Honda.
“We made the overtake on the last lap, so I’m very happy, very happy with the Zengő Motorsport and CUPRA guys.”
But while Azcona thrived at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, his two team-mates didn’t fare quite so well. Bence Boldizs did score a career-best result of tenth place in race one, although by his own admission, he struggled for outright pace over the course of the weekend.
Many of the issues that he and compatriot Gábor Kismarty-Lechner faced can ultimately be put down to a lack of experience of the car, and of the circuit.
But, with the series heading to the Slovakiaring in two weeks’ time, that issue of familiarity won’t be quite so present.
Following their escapades in the TCR Eastern European Series, the circuit will be a familiar one to them, which could aid the Hungarian duo in their quest to reduce the gap to their Spanish team leader.