Kumho FIA TCR World Tour – Misano Race 2Ma Qing Hua scores Geely’s maiden victory

Ma Qing Hua scored victory for Geely Cyan Racing on the debut race meeting for the new Preface in the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour at Misano.

Ma was joined on the podium by Mikel Azcona, who charged from ninth on the grid to second for BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, and his own teammate Thed Björk.

With the pole position and two second places over the weekend, Azcona has taken an early leadership in the standings, 17 points clear of the reigning champion Yann Ehlracher, with Björk third, four further points adrift.

Jenson Brickley and Gabriele Covini filled the front row, and while Brickley made a good start, Covini went backwards, with Ma straight up to second ahead of Ruben Volt. Ma then attacked Brickley for the lead at the end of the second lap, but the Briton came back at him, diving down the inside at T16 to retake the lead. Ma ran wide, which allowed Volt to take second; Ma then overtook Volt again and began to close in on Brickley. Volt’s race would then unravel as he was soon passed by Azcona and began to drop down, finishing ninth overall but the winner of the ETS Guest Star Trophy.

Ma made another move on Brickley on lap 6, diving down the inside at T14 to take the lead, which he would keep to the end. Azcona passed Brickley around the inside into T1, with the British driver attacked by Björk at T14, and Aurélien Comte also coming through.

The top three would hold station until the end of the race, with Comte falling back from Björk and finishing in fourth place ahead of Ehrlacher and Santiago Urrutia; behind themEsteban Guerrieri encored yesterday’s result with seventh and was followed by Brickley, Volt and Ramiro Zago.

Race 1 winner Norbert Michelisz had a difficult race, caught in battles in the midfield after starting from tenth and would retire with a puncture on lap 3.
The series will resume at Valencia on June 12/14 for rounds 3, 4 and 5, sharing the grid with the TCR Spain championship.

Race 2 (Full Results)
1. Ma Qing Hua (Geely Cyan Racing, Geely Preface), 15 laps
2. Mikel Azcona (BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse, Hyundai Elantra N EV), 0.973
3. Thed Björk (Geely Cyan Racing, Geely Preface), 1.628

ETS Guest Star Trophy: Ruben Volt (ALM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5)

Championship points (Full Standings)
1. M. Azcona, 62 pts.
2. Y. Ehrlacher, 48
3. T. Björk, 44

Quotes from the podium finishers
Ma Qing Hua, 1st: “I think we face a good challenge this year. Our competitors are also very fast, they showed a lot of speed in qualifying, and we need to do a lot of work to improve the car. To start the year with a race win is fantastic for Geely and Cyan Racing,but we need to keep continuing with this hard work. We had fair fights with Jenson Brickley and Ruben Volt. I was trying everything to catch them, and I wanted to make it clean. It was a fun battle.” 

Mikel Azcona, 2nd: “It’s a been a great first weekend. I didn’t expect to get so far up the field starting from P9, but I made a mega-launch and passed four cars. When I was up to second, I felt some vibration, so I decided to avoid the kerbs and not to be hard on the tyres, so I’m happy with the result. To lead the championship feels great, as it’s been a long time since I’ve been leading; 2022 was the last time. With 40kg in Valencia, we will suffer a little bit, so we’ll try to think about the strategy in order to minimise the damage.” 

Thed Björk, 3rd: “The thing I enjoyed most was the work with the car and how we managed to finish all the races with all of them. No breakdowns, no issues. We’ve been learning quickly and it’s been so fun to develop the car. This track was really good for our rivals, it’s a high grip track like Monza; the next circuits at Valencia and Paul Ricard are more typical tracks and will be different playing fields, and the compensation weight will come into play.”

Ruben Volt wins the ETS Guest Star Trophy
Ruben Volt was the top of the ETS Guest Star Trophy competitors at the weekend, finishing ninth in the race after running as high as second and getting involved in the lead battle between eventual race winner Ma Qing Hua and his own ALM Motorsport teammate Jenson Brickley.

After falling away from the lead battle, Volt then ran a conservative race to the finish to secure the Trophy victory.

“The race was good. I got dived by Ma, but it was all fair-and-square,” said Volt. “After that I tried to hold on, but I was always being passed around the outside, so after that I decided to cruise until the end to make sure I got the car back in one piece, not get too high of a bill, and now I can focus on next week in TCR Europe. The pace was good, but that’s all we can do with the Honda, we can just be quick in qualifying, but in the races, we’re going to get eaten as the others are five to six-tenths of a lap faster.”

Ruben Volt wins the ETS Guest Star Trophy Ruben Volt was the top of the ETS Guest Star Trophy competitors at the weekend, finishing ninth in the race after running as high as second and getting involved in the lead battle between eventual race winner Ma Qing Hua and his own ALM Motorsport teammate Jenson Brickley. After falling away from the lead battle, Volt then ran a conservative race to the finish to secure the Trophy victory. “The race was good. I got dived by Ma, but it was all fair-and-square,” said Volt. “After that I tried to hold on, but I was always being passed around the outside, so after that I decided to cruise until the end to make sure I got the car back in one piece, not get too high of a bill, and now I can focus on next week in TCR Europe. The pace was good, but that’s all we can do with the Honda, we can just be quick in qualifying, but in the races, we’re going to get eaten as the others are five to six-tenths of a lap faster.”

Interview Aurélien Comte scores two strong finishes at Misano Aurélien Comte was the closest competitor to the BRC Hyundai and Geely Cyan Racing teams in both races at Misano, with the CUPRA driver finishing sixth in Race 1 and then fourth in Race 2. The SP Compétition driver was involved in exciting battles with the Geely of Thed Björk in both races. “For us the pace is a surprise, as the programme was so last-minute with no testing in the winter,” said Comte. “We’re happy with the pace and it’s a very good start to the season. It’s been a fantastic result for us, as we have scored good points. I hope to test before the next race for more preparation.” Comte applied the pressure to Björk throughout Race 1, while in Race 2 the positions were reversed and Comte was fighting a rear-guard action to defend against the Swedish driver, eventually relenting and following him to the finish. “In today’s race it was difficult to fight in the beginning; the pace was good, but I needed to stay very clean with the car. I had no grip and so I stayed in my place and finished P4. Thed touched me and passed two times, and then he gave the places back. With Thed it was very clean, in the end I let him pass as my car wasn’t able to fight with his.”  2026 Kumho FIA TCR World Tour – calendar 8/10 May – Rounds 1 & 2 @ Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli 12/14 June – Rounds 3, 4 & 5 @ Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia 4/5 July – Rounds 6 & 7 @ Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet 11/12 July – Rounds 8 & 9 @ Circuito Internacional de Vila Real 2/4 October – Rounds 10, 11 & 12 @ Inje Speedium 16/18 October – Rounds 13, 14 & 15 @ Chengdu Tianfu International Circuit 23/25 October – Rounds 16, 17 & 18 @ Hunan International Circuit, Zhuzhou 19/22 November – Rounds 19 & 20 @ Guia Circuit, Macau

Text Credits: WSC World Sporting Consulting Limited Photo Credits: WSC/Fastclick Video Credits: WSC World Sporting Consulting Limited