Mattias Ekström “did not expect” protest from Hyundai

Mattias Ekström had taken pole position for the Vallelunga PURE ETCR DHL Super Final after setting the fastest time in the Pool B Time Trial. But the Cupra driver was disqualified for breaching the parc fermé regulations after a protest from Hyundai and had to start from the back of the grid.

“I must admit I did not expect the protest from Hyundai that triggered my disqualification,” said Ekström to TouringCarTimes.

“(Head of Hyundai Motorsport Andrea) Adamo is always so interested in winning and having that spirit. Anyway, I will not change and I will not do the same, he will not get a protest from me. He will not have that pleasure from me.”

But the Cupra driver then provided a spectacular recovery from sixth to second.

“It’s always difficult to read the others’ race, so I did my best to try and get past them, but they were good at defending. My team-mate (Daniel Nagy) was very kind, but I had to battle the other drivers hard to overtake them,” said Ekström.

“After that there wasn’t enough time to catch up with Jean-Karl (Vernay) and pass him, but I think that starting last it was always going to be difficult with so few laps. Anyway I’m happy with my driving this weekend.”

The Swede’s move at turns 6-7-8 was the most nail-biting moment of the race, as Ekström made full use of his rallycross experience to put the car sideways under braking and just narrowly keeping it on track to complete a spectacular move on Alfa Romeo’s Luca Filippi.

“I knew that I had to pass right there and then, so I took action and I have to say it worked out. I was a little bit sideways, but all in all I stayed on track, so no reason to worry about it. Actually, in my opinion it was the coolest move on track.”