Ekström Electrifies in Spanish Heat to Seize PURE ETCR Series Lead

Aragón, Spain – Mattias Ekström was crowned PURE ETCR’s King of the Weekend for the first time after a commanding victory in Race SP in DHL SuperFinal B at MotorLand Aragón.

CUPRA X Zengo Motorsport driver Ekström led virtually the entire distance on a sweltering day in Spain where track temperatures exceeded 50 degrees; teasing the maximum performance from his Goodyear tyres and optimising his 40 seconds of ‘Power-Up’.

After starting well, he pulled out a two-second gap over polesitter Jean-Karl Vernay’s Hyundai Veloster N ETCR by half-distance and maintaining it over the remainder of the seven-lap race.

His win ensured that he overhauled DHL SuperFinal A winner Augusto Farfus – Vernay’s team-mate – for status as King of the Weekend and TAG Heuer Most Valuable Driver and also moved into the series lead by 22 points over Vernay.

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While the win for Ekström appeared straightforward, Farfus’s success was anything but. He fought tooth-and-nail with overnight Pool A leader Mikel Azcona; a battle that was ended when minor contact put the CUPRA into the gravel and out of the race at Turn 3.

Farfus was able to hang on to victory ahead of Romeo Ferraris-M1RA driver Rodrigo Baptista and CUPRA’s Jordi Gené – who survived contact from the Guilia ETCR of Stefano Coletti, who spun out in the process and was later penalised 10 points from his championship score.

Romeo Ferraris-M1RA’s Oli Webb completed his best PURE ETCR weekend yet with third place in DHL SuperFinal B; the Briton tactially using his Power-Up – a 200kW boost that increases overtaking opportunities and increases maximum power to 500kW – the equivalent of a staggering 670bhp.

The most unlucky driver on the day was Luca Filippi. One of only two drivers – along with Ekström – who was capable of overhauling Farfus following DHL SuperFinal B; the Italian suffered a loose electrical connection and had to start several laps behind.

After the race Ekström said: “I had a good weekend so I’m very happy. Except for my too-conservative lap in qualifying, I am happy with the performance. It would have been nice to have Luca Filippi in the SuperFinal, but he had a problem. I was looking forward to that battle. I didn’t expect to like PURE ETCR this much, but every weekend I enjoy it more. I’d be very happy to see a lot more manufacturers and drivers to come and battle with us, because it’s a really cool concept and I think we’ve proved it’s very action-packed too.

Souk Al Sayarat مجلة سوق السيارات

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