Mikel Azcona was delighted to score his second podium finish of the year in the opening FIA World Touring Car Cup race at Zandvoort, as the PWR Racing driver also moved up to fifth overall in the drivers’ standings.
Azcona finished behind the in-form Lynk & Co cars of Thed Björk and Yvan Muller to claim a second podium of 2019, having got a strong start to leap-frog Andy Priaulx when the lights went out.
The CUPRA driver believes he has made a step up since joining the WTCR grid,
“It’s a big step from last year when I was in the TCR Europe championship,” said Azcona. “I am super-happy to take my second podium of this year.
“My pace is very good, better than I expected since the beginning of the championship. I am very happy and the car is working really great this weekend.
“To be here in the fourth round of the championship with my second podium is more than I expected. For sure I will continue growing up, pushing and learning during the year to arrive in Malaysia at the final round as best as possible.
“It’s my first year and if I can finish in the top ten, which is my goal, I can be very happy.”
When asked by TouringCars.Net if he felt able to challenge for a higher position, or if he was just aiming to secure a podium finish and be consistent, Azcona replied that he didn’t feel he had quite enough to attack.
“It was [both] difficult and not difficult [to follow] because in some corners I could catch Muller, but in other corners he was faster than me. In general, it was difficult, but I could follow them. It’s much better for us with the BoP [Balance of Performance] like this.
“In the last part of the race I didn’t have the tyres to attack. Their pace was very similar to me, but I don’t know if they were pushing or not. I was pushing 100%.”