Azcona: “to win after such a bad start to the season is incredible”

Mikel Azcona now has two years of WTCR experience. Cupra's flagship recruit in 2019, the Spaniard had an excellent campaign with a 6th place overall. While we were waiting for confirmation in 2020, he completely missed his start to the season with only 19 points in eight races.

His second game was much better, collecting 60 points in the same time frame. He notably won his first victory in the series in Aragon, finishing 7th in the end. As well as his WTCR triumph at MotorLand Aragón, Azcona has scored a further 10 victories from 32 starts in WTCR, TCR Europe, TCR Italy and the Spanish Championship. And of the 11 weekends he was in action, eight were consecutive.

How good was it to run so often?

I really liked it because you drive almost every day and it's very good because you improve every moment. But at the same time, especially with the COVID-19 situation, it took more hours to travel.

Then when I got home I would clean the suit, clean all the clothes and the next day I would fly out for the next race. There was stress but I really enjoyed it because I love this sport. In fact, I want to ride every weekend if I can!

How does the new CUPRA compare to the previous CUPRA?

There are a lot of little things. The brakes are a different brand and the pads feel different. The new gearbox results in smoother shifts. We also have more downforce, so we are faster in high-speed corners. The new car is also more stable because it is five centimeters longer between the front and rear axles.

You struggle less than with the old model and you can adjust a lot more things. But you have to understand it and prepare for it and we also had the new Goodyear tires. We didn't do any pre-season testing, we just went to Zolder for the first WTCR race. Even though it was very difficult for us, I was finally happy because I finished the WTCR season with a very good feeling from the car, an almost perfect set-up and that's very good for my 2021 season.

Have you ever been tired?

The last round of the Campeonato de España Resistencia in Aragon, I had a problem. I was in my room sleeping but at five in the morning my stomach really hurt and on Sunday I was throwing up.

But, at the same time, I had to do both races just to win the championship. It was a very difficult day for me without food in my body, without energy but, at the same time, to ride. We won the championship but after 11 weekends my body felt a little tired and the reason why I felt like that in Aragon.

What was the best moment of your year?

My best was when I won the second race in Aragon. It was a reflection of many hours of work with my engineer, my team, just to improve as quickly as possible in a very short period of time.

I remember in Zolder I went straight to the screen after qualifying to see that I was the last driver. It was a very bad feeling, we were in a bad situation. So to win in WTCR after that was very difficult. To win a race in a world championship after such a bad start to the season is incredible.

The other best moment was winning both TCR Europe races at Spa in the rain, in very difficult conditions, from 13th position. It was crazy because I had never done anything like that. It was also very good mentally. After Zolder, I was at home thinking: 'Mikel, maybe you're not at the highest level anymore because you're fighting for 20th position.' So the result at Spa gave me good motivation for my next WTCR race.

What are your ambitions for 2021?

I will continue in WTCR. If we can start 2021 feeling like we finished 2020, we will start fighting for the top position. And if we can start like this, we can fight for the championship at the end of the year. It's 95% [certain] that I will fight for the title. It is the objective