Mikel Azcona was happy to finish in second behind Mehdi Bennani in the final TCR Europe race of the weekend at the Slovakiaring, with the Spaniard leaving the event as the comfortable series leader as a result.
Volcano Motorsport’s Azcona had earlier won the opening race on Saturday, laying down his intent as he secured a fourth win in five races at the time.
Despite starting from ninth on Sunday’s reversed grid, Azcona soon had his CUPRA up into fourth by the end of the opening lap.
That then became third when he picked off Klim Gavrilov on lap three after a one-lap safety car pause, and Azcona then took just two further laps to find a way past the Honda of Franco Girolami for second.
Despite applying pressure to the Hyundai of Mehdi Bennani for the rest of the race, Azcona was unable to find a way around the Moroccan.
A second-place finish to add to his earlier win means Azcona leaves Slovakia as the championship leader on 84 points, with Bennani in second on 62 and Dániel Nagy in third on 60.
“I feel really good with P2,” said Azcona. “I started from P9 with many cars in front of me.
“At the beginning of the race I didn’t know what was going on in the first corner. I decided to go on the outside line because I had a clear line and there were too many cars on the inside, plus I had Dušan Borkovič on my right and I decided to give him some room.
“It was the best choice as there were no other drivers on that line and I had a really good exit even though I put two wheels on the grass for a few metres to avoid a contact.
“The first lap was a bit chaotic, but I didn’t have any contacts so that was great.
“After that I could concentrate on my race; Mehdi drove really well and so I’m happy with P2.”