Mikel Azcona a few days ago he was proclaimed WTCR World Champion (World Touring Car Cup). The Navarrese pilot spoke to MD about his historic victory, which he dedicated to his parents, and about his challenges for the future.
How does it feel to be the first Spanish rider to be proclaimed world champion?
A great joy, it is a great reward for all the work, efforts and sacrifices, not only by me, but also by my whole family. My father and my mother have always been with me, since I was six years old, from my beginning, and I am very grateful. Achieving this is every pilot’s dream, it’s something huge. You are world champion, something incredible, a great feeling.
Did you dedicate it to your mother?
Yes, I think about him every day. She is greatly missed, it is something very rare because she has always been with us in the races, she has always accompanied me, since I was six years old. I am lucky to have celebrated two European titles with him in the last three years, something that gives me great joy because European titles are huge.
Life is ups and downs, but he knows that this year we will win the World Cup. Everywhere he is sure he is very proud and happy. In the end this is the reward for all my family’s work and above all thanks to him.
What does this title mean?
It reflects a lifetime. Since I was six years old in this world, with my parents and as fans, I never stopped. We take advantage of every weekend to do what we love most, train in CAR or spend time with family, but what started as a hobby led us to compete. My parents began to realize that we had won, we did it the first year in Navarra, the next in the Basque Country, and so on every year until a point came that my father stopped thinking about here. There seemed to be potential and that was when we decided to start competing at a European level, we wanted to compare ourselves with high-level riders, and the truth is that we always fight for big things, for titles.
It is the most important touring car championship in the world. Did you dream like this when you were a child?
Four years ago I came to the World Cup and yes, it was my dream. I have seen it since I was 10 years old on TV and to achieve it now is something historic. A Spanish pilot has never achieved this, we made history in that sense, and it was brutal, I beat pilots that I saw eight years ago on TV and were my idols, as if they were yours favorite soccer player. I raced with them and I beat the world champions, it was unbelievable, something quite hard to believe. This is my goal, to be world champion, but it’s very difficult.
He achieved this in a year of change.
Yes, this year I am with Hyundai. I changed brands, cars, teams… The truth is that it has been a brilliant year since the first year of the season. We started by winning the first race with a completely new team, but I was very motivated and we showed that we were the clear winners. I want to thank Hyundai for this because in a year of changes, and it was very difficult, they took many things into account and did not need for that time to adapt.
What was the key? You won 4 races and were on the podium 11 out of 16 times.
These are numbers that I have never achieved, something incredible. I even talked about it with my engineers and my team, we looked at it and said: what a year. I think the key is that we haven’t had any mechanical failures all year; That shows that my team is very attentive and very professional. I was the winner of the championship, but behind me was a group of 45 people. In them I found very strong details, like my mechanics working on the car from 7 in the morning until 11 or 00 at night. They have everything under control, we haven’t had any mechanical failures and that shows that the team is very helpful and professional.
I want to highlight my engineer, Antar Solo, a good friend of mine. We coincided in 2013 with a team from Catalonia, then we split up and this year got together again. We worked very well, it was impeccable.
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How do you physically and mentally handle a weekend where you have a title fight ahead of you?
Physically, we work all year so that nothing happens to us and I am prepared for any physical event that occurs. Thinking for me the machine is every day, from when I get up until I go to sleep, because it’s a race, a simulator, watching races from other years … I try to prepare my himself in the best way, yes it’s true that in this last competition I was more nervous than usual, there was a lot at stake and he wanted to win it.
What happened to working with pilots with so much experience?
Unbelievable. In my team I can be proud to have Gabriele Tarquini, three times world touring car champion, as team manager. I have changed his seat and he has a lot of experience, a very important person in the team. He gave us advice and as a beginner I wanted to ask him a lot, in the end he is an encyclopedia of the sport, you can only learn from him.
In 2014 he almost stopped competing. What happened since then?
In 2013 we had a season in Spain and the result was very good, but if you want to continue you have to go up to a European championship and financially that means more costs. My family and I could not stand this jump and we decided to stop, leaving us with the fact that we already enjoyed a lot.
However, after a few months, a good friend of ours from Zaragoza, Joaquín Rodrigo, gave us the opportunity to continue. He said I had opportunities, that I was good, and he lent us his car. We went to the European Championship in Alcañiz because we didn’t have to pay for a car and with minimal resources we finished third in the first race.
The result was great and that’s when we realized we had to keep going, we almost decided to stop, but we got third place and kept going. My family made a great effort and in the end we finished runners-up in Europe.
Have you looked at other categories?
Yes, I am a huge motor fan and I love them all. Now that I’m at Hyundai, I follow the World Rally Car closely, the world of GTs, Endurance, Le Mans 24 hours… I haven’t had the chance to go there yet, but I don’t rule it out in the future. It’s a category I would love, but it’s true that now I’m comfortable where I am, with Hyundai and Motor Sport, and I have to be very focused in these three seasons ahead of me. I don’t close doors.
What is your next challenge?
Now that we have the combustion world championship, which I have been fighting for in recent years, I have decided that I will go next year with Hyundai in the electric touring car world championship. I would love to be able to achieve that title at the hands of Hyundai, this is also a championship that has only been in competition for two years, it is new, and we entered a new model. The truth is it’s so good, I’d love to have that title on the list of winners.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
