Mikel Azcona has conquered the pole of the WTCR in the Autodromo de Most, signing the best possible start to a hectic weekend in which he will compete in parallel in the Czech Republic and in Barcelona. On his goal of achieving his second TCR Europe title and continuing in the battle for the World Touring Car Cup, the Spanish rider finished the first episode with an outstanding mark after getting pole position in the World Cup event. With a time of 1: 38.757, Mikel beat Norbert Michelisz by 91 thousandths in the decisive Q3. Due to the inverted grid concept, Petr Fulín will start first in the opening round.
The Navarrese Mikel Azcona left samples of his speed in Most during free practice and in Q1, session in which he set the best time in the first minutes of training. Only the red flag caused by the breakdown of Gilles Magnus’s Audi It gave his rivals an opportunity to rearm in the pits to try to beat the Spanish time. Finally, Esteban Guerrieri took the fastest time in Q1 after beating Azcona by 21 thousandths. Behind them were Nathanaël Berthon, Néstor Girolami and Jean-Karl Vernay. WTCR leader Yann Ehrlacher finished seventh, just behind Norbert Michelisz.
Mikel Azcona also missed the best time of Q2 by a sigh, since the Spanish finished five thousandths of the 1: 38.851 marked by Jean-Karl Vernay. All in all, the Navarrese got a ticket for the final Q3, a session for which Norbert Michelisz and Esteban Guerrieri also qualified. With a great final effort, Yann Ehrlacher took the last ticket to Q3 when completing the ‘top 5’. Far from this battle Petr Fulín achieved an equally important loot by being tenth. The Czech can make history by starting first on the inverted grid.
In the usual Q3 shootout, Mikel Azcona signed a time of 1: 38.757 to overtake Jean-Karl Vernay and ultimately take pole, even if the Spaniard had a small error when stepping on the ground in one of the curves of the central part of the circuit. Despite this, Mikel’s first and last sector record made him sign time that no one could reach. Norbert Michelisz placed second 91 thousandths behind Mikelwhile Yann Ehrlacher was third. For its part, Esteban Guerrieri had to settle for the fourth position, relegating Vernay to the final fifth place.