Photo: WTCR

Zengő adds Mikel Azcona in expanded three-car line-up

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Zengő Motorsport has announced the signing of race winner Mikel Azcona and six-time national champion Gábor Kismarty-Lechner as part of an expanded three-car line-up for the new World Touring Car Cup season.

The pair will join the previously announced Bence Boldizs in a thee-car line-up made possible by a change in the rules that permit three-car entries if a team is running a driver eligible for the Rookie Award.

The Hungarian team will run the new CUPRA Leon Competición during the year ahead.

“Zengő Motorsport has been part of the WTCC and now the WTCR since 2010,” team Manager Zoltán Zengő. “We couldn’t start for the season in 2019 but we hope we can be here during the upcoming years. My dream and goal is to reach a world title again with a Hungarian driver and a Hungarian team, like we did with Norbert Michelisz when he won the WTCC Trophy. But I will not be sad if Mikel Azcona reaches this goal as well.

“We are planning to pick up our new CUPRAs on the first week of September, which makes the start of the season even harder because we will have no time to test the cars. It will be a busy season with lots of work needed on the logistics. But we are looking forward to getting on track to fight and race against the other teams.”

Azcona’s move to the team comes at a time when it looked like he would be forced to spend 2020 sitting on the sidelines, with the Spaniard pleased to have been able to put a deal in place.

“I was thinking two weeks ago that I will not drive this year in WTCR but finally we made a deal with Zengő Motorsport and I feel really, really happy,” he said. “Since I finished the last season in Malaysia, I started to prepare for 2020. I know that WTCR is the highest level of touring car with many really good drivers. But I have to use this opportunity like it’s the last one.

“We will go to the first round with no testing but all the other teams are testing like normal. I don’t feel so bad about that because the good thing for me is that I can adapt for every moment for every track, really fast. And we have the new CUPRA, a car that has been made for WTCR.”

Kismarty-Lechner meanwhile will be one of the older drivers on the grid but said he felt ready for the challenge that lies ahead.

“I am nearly 44 years old and I will make my debut in WTCR this year. I think that my example shows it’s never too late if you have a big dream,” he said. “Thank you to Zengő Motorsport for this opportunity.

“I am a driver who is able to improve and ready to learn. I still have to learn a lot to be competitive in the WTCR world. But I am ready to learn. I don’t have quite big expectations from the first year but I will do my best and support my young team-mates Mikel Azcona and Bence Boldizs.”