Augusto Farfus fends off stern Philipp Eng challenge in Pool B bout
Hyundai Motorsport’s Augusto Farfus denied PURE ETCR newcomer Philipp Eng a sensational second win of the day in Copenhagen following a thrilling Pool B Battle.
Farfus, who had taken victory earlier in the afternoon during the Pool A Battles, held the advantage throughout the two-lap race but was forced to defend heavily from his Austrian rival to hang on to the win at the end.
With overtaking at a premium around the narrow circuit, and limited further due to the mandated yellow flag zones at the chicanes, Eng performed admirably in his Romeo Ferraris Alfa Romeo and looked the most likely to pull off the first on-track overtake of the weekend.
Eng ducked and dived several times in an attempt to squeeze past Farfus, most notably at the heavy braking zone of Turn 8 but astute defending from Hyundai driver ensured the Brazilian remained in front until the end.
For series rookie Eng, he felt his car had far better pace than Farfus’s throughout but his hopes were dashed by a poor start.
“That’s what touring car racing is all about, rubbing and racing and me and Augusto are good friends so it was good fun,” Eng said.
“The thing about these two-lap battles is that it’s all about how you get off the line, and unfortunately I lost the start. We took the decision to start from the inside and…yeah afterwards you’re always clever, so we’ll take it.
“The positive thing is that we have a very fast car; I had much more pace than Augusto but I lost the start so that’s not ideal.”
Mikel Azcona came out on top in the second Battle of Round 2, easily beating the Alfa Romeo of Rodrigo Baptista to the tune of over two seconds.
The Spaniard, driving a Cupra X Zengo Motorsport machine, led from the start and was barely challenged throughout as he went one better than his result in Round 1 earlier in the day.
Jordi Gené then made it two Cupra victories in succession as he resisted a stern challenge from Hyundai Motorsport’s Tom Chilton to prevail in Battle 3.
Gené led off the line and maintained his advantage over the course of the two laps, but Chilton kept the Cupra honest, finishing just over two-tenths adrift at the flag.
Next up for PURE ETCR in Copenhagen is the first of the Time Trials which will determine the grids for the Super Finals. Pool A gets underway at 08:30 CET, while Pool B is in action from 09:45 CET.
