BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse’s Mikel Azcona followed up on his victory in Race 1 with another lights-to-flag win in Race 3, holding off Thed Björk to claim a key win and extend his lead to 41 points over teammate Norbert Michelisz.
Azcona started on pole after scoring the most points over the first two races, and made a strong start to lead the way into Turn 1 ahead of Björk, with Michelisz holding on to third place.
Race 2 winner Viktor Andersson was passed into the first corner by the Hyundai of Junesung Park, but the South Korean driver soon slowed with a broken driveshaft and became the first retirement of the race.
Geely Cyan Racing’s Ma Qing Hua stalled at the start and fell to the back of the pack, but quickly recovered ground, and was back into the top ten by the end of the opening lap.
The race was briefly suspended behind the safety car when Li Jia Jun’s Audi stopped at Turn 4, but after one lap the race was soon restarted.
Yann Ehrlacher was running in sixth place, and was soon joined by teammate Santiago Urrutia, who was being closely chased by the SP Compétition CUPRA of Aurélien Comte. The two teammates’ battle allowed Comte to get past Urrutia and split the two Preface TCRs.
Comte then maintained pressure on Ehrlacher, who closed up on Andersson’s CUPRA and made his way past at Turn 3 on lap 12 after the Swedish driver made a small mistake and ran wide, with Comte following him through into fifth.
Up front, Azcona’s lead started to fade in the final laps, with Björk mounting a charge on the final lap, almost getting a nose ahead at one point, but the Spanish driver was able to hold on to take his third victory of the season.
Azcona and Michelisz are now first and second in the standings, while Urrutia has slipped to third, 49 points away from Azcona heading to Geely’s home circuit at Chengdu on October 17/18.
Race 3
1. Mikel Azcona (BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N EV), 18 laps
2. Thed Björk (Geely Cyan Racing, Geely Preface), 0.311
3. Norbert Michelisz (BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra EV), 10.433
ETS Guest Star Trophy: Viktor Andersson (SP Compétition, CUPRA Leon VZ)
Championship points
1. M. Azcona, 309pts; 2. N. Michelisz, 268; 3. S. Urrutia, 260
Picture: WSC/Paddocker
