Today was a day of two halves for Mikel Azcona, but despite the ups and downs he has still managed to leave Sochi Autodrom with a smile on his face.
Things started exceptionally well for the Spaniard, who charged up the order from ninth on the grid to win the first race of the day. Then in race two, it looked as though he might win again, or at least it did until Yvan Muller accidentally wiped him out under braking during the safety car restart…
Nevertheless, a victory in the penultimate race is a fine way to end what has been a difficult year in the FIA World Touring Car Cup for Zengo Motorsport and all of their drivers. The CUPRA simply hasn’t looked capable of matching some of the other marques at times this year, but in the wet Russian weather the short wheelbase hatchback came into its own.
“It was an amazing race,” Azcona said after the reverse-grid opener. “I love these tricky weather conditions and I think I’m really good at driving [when it’s wet].
“I said to myself ‘OK, I’m going to drive carefully over the first laps.’ Just not to have any contact. From that point on I went to overtake for some positions, and I felt really fast. No contact, no damage to the car.
“I struggled a little bit with the others because they were defending really well. It’s amazing to finish the year off with a victory. I’ve been waiting for this for the whole year.”
Azcona was clearly disappointed with how the second race of the day ended though, but despite that he still managed to take the positives from it.
“As for the second race, it was a very frustrating moment for me because I didn’t expect that from Yvan,” he said. “I really appreciate that he came over to apologise to me, I understand his point of view and I’m sure it was an honest mistake so no problem with that.
“But, I was trying to win the second race because I felt really good in those conditions. In the wet I’m really fast so to have finished the season with a double victory for me would have been amazing.
“It’s been a really up and down season for us, but anyway I’m really happy and so is the team that Rob [Huff] won the second race instead. In the end the weekend went amazingly for us as a team. Hopefully next year there are as many races as possible in these conditions because I love it!”
The rumour mill about driver transfers will undoubtedly kick off in the coming weeks and months ahead of the 2022 season, but already Azcona has been the attention of whispers in the paddock.
Eurosport’s very own Matt Neal has previously suggested that the Spaniard might be on his way to replace Gabriele Tarquini at Hyundai, though for now Azcona appears to be holding his cards close to his chest.
“At the moment I just want to enjoy this occasion tonight with my team and CUPRA,” he said. “It is the best moment to be all together. Obviously when I arrive back home I will prepare myself as best I can for next year because I want to be World Champion. This is my big goal, but we will see.”