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The ultimate double duty
With all this talk about double duty at Bathurst, Spaniard Mikel Azcona faces the ultimate challenge of racing in two TCR events in different countries this weekend.
The factory Cupra driver represents the marque in both TCR Europe and WTCR, which clash this weekend.
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Barcelona hosts the final round of TCR Europe where Azcona holds a 53-point advantage from Honda’s Franco Girolami where the Spaniard races a Volcano Motorsport-prepared Cupra Leon Competicion.
Azcona plans to contest Saturday’s qualifying and Race 1 where all he has to do is finish ahead of Girolami to seal the title.
However, Friday will be spent completing practice and qualifying in the WTCR at Most in the Czech Republic in which he races for factory-supported team Zengo Motorsport. He is placed eighth in the standings, 31-points behind leader Yann Ehrlacher with four rounds remaining.
Scheduling is key for Azcona this weekend as WTCR won’t be in action on Saturday due to an endurance bike race.
“The plan is to be at Most on Friday, and do the free practice and qualifying sessions there,” Azcona told TouringCarTimes. “I would then return to Barcelona for Saturday, where I would do the qualifying session and Race 1.
“If we clinch the TCR Europe title on Saturday, I will then return to Most that day to participate in the WTCR races on Sunday.
“We can do this because of the six-hour FIM World Endurance Championship event taking part on Saturday at Most, so we (WTCR) don’t have any track activity on that day.”
This is not new to Azcona, who features in Cupra’s Pure ETCR line-up in addition to programs in WTCR and TCR Europe. At Motorland Aragon earlier this year, Azcona contested both WTCR and Pure ETCR, which provided a unique challenge.