Mikel Azcona, third on the Seat Leon Eurocup 2015, had a very good feeling during the first meeting of this year’s Eurocup, which took place in Estoril (Portugal). He proved to be strong and determined in key moments of the meeting, pole position and winner of the first race, as well as patient when the situation wasn’t favourable and he had to wait for the appropriate moment to
overtake without taking unnecessary risks.
The first encounter with the timer was, as usual, during the official training sessions. The PCR Sport driver was the only one on the track to race under 1’47”, obtaining the leading spot on the starting grid for the first race. It was obvious that the first challenge of the weekend had been overcome with flying colours, Mikel was very pleased: It’s the best way to start a meeting. We will try to take advantage of the pole position to have a good race and fight for the win.
And this is what happened, Mikel overcame all the difficulties of the start and the first lap,managing to get ahead on his own towards the victory. Not for a second did he lose his concentration on the 15-lap race and he even managed to keep his pursuing rivals at bay. Once he
got out of his Leon his had this to say: I’m very happy; we’ve worked very hard to be here and to start with a victory is always rewarding for everyone. Tomorrow? It will all be very complicated. Starting eighth it will be difficult to win, so we will try to get as many points as we can without taking too many risks. It is not yet time to put it all on the line.
His words once again were proven during the race the next day. He stayed eighth for the first laps and took advantage of any chance to overtake when possible. He crossed the finish line fifth, which increased his point count for the provisional ranking of the León 2016.
This first meeting of the Eurocup 2016 made it obvious that both drivers, Stian Poulsen and Mikel Azcona, who shone last year, got a head-start towards victory for this year’s competition with 44 and 40 points respectively. They have established a fair advantage ahead of their closest rivals.
The next event is scheduled for next month (21st and 22nd May) in Silverstone (Great Britain).
 Press service.
Results Seat León Eurocup / Estoril Racetrack
Official training sessions:
1.-Mikel Azcona (ESP), 1’46”908, 2.-Lourenço Beirao (PRT), a 0”390, 3.-Niels Langeveld (NLD), a 0”572, 4.-Julien Briché (FRA), a 1”132, 5.-Stian Poulsen (NOR), a 1”509.
Race 1:
1.-Mikel Azcona (ESP), 27’41”323, 2.-Stian Poulsen (NOR), a 7”650, 3.-Niels Langeveld (NLD), a 8”390, 4.-Julien Briché (FRA), a 14”536, 5.-Alexander Morgan (GBR), a 22”544.
Race 2:
1.-Stian Poulsen (NOR), 27’54”156, 2.-Lucile Cypriano (FRA), a 3”761, 3.-Mauricio Hernandez (CRI), a 3”832, 4.-Facundo della Motta (ARG), a 4”480, 5.-Mikel Azcona (ESP), a 6”880. |
