Azcona administers con Zhejiang y deja el título en manos de Macao

Mikel Azcona crossed the line first and took the victory in the third race of the Zhejiang circuit. The Spanish driver, from Hyundai, was followed by Norbert Michelisz and Thed Björk. With this result, Azcona extended his lead in the FIA TCR World Tour championship to 33 points over the Hungarian rival.

The last race of the weekend was the only one held on a dry track and it was also the most intense of the three. There were frequent clashes between Hyundai and Geely cars. The race director had to issue formal warnings to Azcona, Santiago Urrutia and Björk.

A dry track and the fight for the podium

Azcona reached the top with 445 points, while Michelisz has 412. The Uruguayan had managed to reduce the gap to just 17 points after Saturday's second race, but had to enter the pits due to damage sustained during the race. This forced stoppage left him in tenth place in the Zhejiang race and third in the championship, with 406 points.

“The weekend was decided by the entries to the pits and the performance on a dry track. The title race is now heading to Macao.”Walter Villagra, Deportes

The top five was completed by Yann Ehrlacher and Ma Qinghua, both driving for Geely. The Ecuadorian Diego Morán, from Honda, lost performance due to a turbo problem and finished in eighth place.

For Azcona, this was his eighth victory in the category since his debut in 2023. The results over the weekend gave him breathing room at the top of the standings. Michelisz took advantage of Urrutia's problems to move up to second place overall, six points ahead of the Uruguayan driver.

We all saw how Urrutia had narrowed the gap on Saturday. The damage and the forced pit entry on Sunday, however, ended his recovery. From 17 points behind, he now faces a deficit of 33 with only three weeks remaining before the close of the championship.

• Azcona won in Zhejiang and leads with 445 points.
• Michelisz finished second in the race and has 412 points in the championship.
• Urrutia had to enter the pits and ended up third overall, with 406 points.
• Ehrlacher and Ma Qinghua completed the top five with Geely.
• The final round will be held in Macao, with the highest compensation factor in the field.

Macao will be the final stage and the scenario is open. Azcona and Michelisz will carry the highest compensation factor in the peloton, a factor that can level the field and allow other competitors to approach. The urban circuit and the weight of compensation could change everything we saw in Zhejiang.

Azcona arrives with a margin of 33 points. Michelisz will look to take advantage of the compensation in the final round. Urrutia needs a clean race and some help from the circumstances to stay in the fight. The championship fixture this weekend points to Macao, where the title will be decided.