Review: Round 1 – Misano

Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing savoured a dominant start to the 2026 Kumho FIA TCR World Tour with a 1-2 finish in the first of two races at Misano, Italy.

Norbert Michelisz took the opening race honours ahead of his BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse team-mate Mikel Azcona before Azcona finished Race 2 in second place from ninth on the reverse grid.

The race results, plus his pole position, mean that the Spanish driver leads the Drivers’ standings by 17 points, 25 ahead of Michelisz, who suffered an unfortunate retirement in Race 2 following early contact.

A new addition to the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour schedule, Misano World Circuit provided an exciting unknown quantity – and a tough early-season challenge with its combination of medium-length straights, technical braking zones and slow and fast corners.

In the first race of the weekend, Azcona led away from pole position before handing top spot to Michelisz nearing the completion of lap two in accordance with their pre-race strategy agreement. It determined that whichever driver felt the most confident of pulling clear to secure victory would be allowed to do so with the other driver focusing on keeping the chasing pack at bay to ensure a 1-2 formation finish and crucial maximum points.

With the lead now his, Michelisz made the most of the performance of his Elantra N EV TCR to take the chequered flag 1.170s ahead of Azcona, whose capture of the fastest lap earned him a one-place grid rise for Race 2.

From the fifth row, Azcona made a rapid getaway in Race 2 to move into fifth through the opening corners. He then claimed fourth place early on lap three with a fine overtake before he moved up to third one lap later. Continuing his charge, Azcona grabbed second place with an inspired around-the-outside pass on lap seven. However, despite his best efforts to challenge for the victory, he ultimately settled for a strong second place in his pursuit of a first Kumho FIA TCR World Tour title.

After the high of his Race 1 victory, Michelisz was forced to retire from Race 2 with steering damage due to contact with another competitor. 

He will aim to get his 2026 campaign firmly back on track when Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain, hosts the second event of the 2026 Kumho FIA TCR World Tour from June 12-14.

Meanwhile, there was Hyundai-powered success in the new ETS Guest Star Trophy when Gabriele Covini triumphed in Race 1 at the wheel of a BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse-entered Elantra N TCR in 10th overall. 

Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Manager Benoît Nogier said: “It’s a tremendous feeling of satisfaction when the hard work over the winter pays off with a 1-2 finish, a result that is testament to the performance of the Hyundai Elantra N EV TCR, the commitment of BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse and the skill of Norbi and Mikel. While Race 2 proved to be frustrating for Norbi, Mikel’s drive from ninth on the grid to second was excellent and he thoroughly deserves to be leading the championship. We made the decision to focus on running two cars for the full season rather than three and the increased level of focus was really apparent. Of course, a long and tough year awaits, but we can be proud and happy with the start we have made. We now turn our attentions to the next event in Valencia to ensure we are well prepared and ready for the next challenge.”

Driver Notes: #196 Mikel Azcona (ESP), Hyundai Elantra N EV TCR

• Underlined his pace and the performance of the Elantra N EV TCR with pole position
• Provided the ultimate back-up role to Michelisz by making it a team 1-2 in Race 1
• Charged through from ninth place on the reverse grid to finish Race 2 in second place
   

Azcona said: “It was target achieved, P1 and P2 for the team in the first race with me in P2 and then second position in Race 2 starting from P9. I’m so happy to score these good points that are so valuable for the championships. The start of Race 1 was very good, I was able to do a mega start, and the first lap was very clean, which was the goal at the beginning. On the second lap we decided to swap positions and that was the target, so very happy in the end for Norbi to win the race and me to be second. Race 2 was amazing, especially the start. I overtook four drivers in a couple of corners at the start, so a mega job. From this point with my pace during the race I felt so comfortable in the car. I had a strong car to go for the moves and it allowed me to go to second position in the race. I just tried not to be on the kerbs too much to save the front tyres and my second position. Two really good races and I’m really happy for the points for the championship and for the team, they really deserve it and have been working a lot to get this result. I’m just so sorry for Norbi in Race 2.”

Driver Notes: #105 Norbert Michelisz (HUN), Hyundai Elantra N EV TCR

• Secured ninth victory of his Kumho FIA TCR World Tour career with Race 1 triumph
• Lining up in second place, the Hungarian overtook team-mate Azcona and never looked back  
• Race 2 challenge ended early due to damage sustained following on-track contact
   

Michelisz said: “Race 1 was fantastic, you cannot start the season better than what we did. I was very happy with qualifying, Mikel is a fantastic team-mate and everything worked out like we planned. We swapped places, the car was perfect. I did 10 quali laps to build a small gap, it was enough and then it was all about taking care of the left-front tyre to the finish. I’m very grateful to the team for the Race 1 result, they did a perfect job. After Race 2 I had one eye crying and one eye smiling. Mikel did a fantastic job and scored a lot of points. I’m a bit sad for myself, I had a small contact on lap three, which broke the steering arm, and I needed to retire. I’m very sad because of missing some points, but still the car felt good over the race weekend. We are still early in the season with plenty of possibilities.”