Augusto Farfus and Rodrigo Baptista excited about ETCR in South America

WSC, the TCR rights holder, has announced the creation of regional championships from 2022, with a range of new series set to join PURE ETCR from next year.

Brazilian drivers in PURE ETCR – Augusto Farfus and Rodrigo Baptista – believe that could be good news for the future of motorsport in South America, where a new TCR series hs started this year.

“I think it’s great that the ETCR allows for each national championship to decide on the format,” Farfus told TouringCarTimes. “It’s not necessary that they do the battles as we are doing now, but the races can run for longer, which I think it’s a very strong point.

“I also think it’s very important to have electric cars, not only for the development and to make the planet greener, but also to show people that there can be a different kind of energy, but still give the same show because, right now, people connect that electric cars are boring.

“I think this is a process that will take long, as we still are from that generation that would like to see V12s screaming, but we also like to watch this (ETCR) because we like the show.

“So as soon as people understand that this can be fun I think it’s going to be a success.”

Baptista, who is racing the Romeo Ferraris Alfa Romeo this season in ETCR, agreed with his countryman.

“I’m a bit younger than him but I still have some friends that say the want cars with sound but, when everyone asks me about these cars, I always say they are fun to drive,” he said.

“I’ve never driven an electric car on the street and I really want to try it, and I’m sure that, when people try them, they are going to grow a lot in America.”