Augusto Farfus and Philipp Eng take Pool B wins in Copenhagen
Augusto Farfus and Philipp Eng came out on top in a pair of delayed Pool B Round 1 PURE ETCR Battles in Copenhagen.
Eng, who is making his first start in electric touring cars this weekend, continued his strong practice form by leading from start to finish in the second Battle, after Hyundai Motorsport’s Augusto Farfus took victory in the opener.
The Pool B races had been pushed back from the planned morning running following a heavy rain shower in the Danish capital, which was the first wet driving any of the six cars had done.
Farfus lined up on the grid alongside Rodrigo Baptista (Romeo Ferraris) and Jordi Gené (Cupra X Zengo Motorsport) for the first Battle, minus the customary gates which had been damaged by Luca Filippi in the morning, and got a superb start to lead.
Baptista slotted into second ahead of Gené and that was how the order remained until the end of the four-lap affair. Gené had closed up to the back of Baptista but could not get close enough to make a move around the tight and twisty 2.4km street circuit.
Farfus duly came home to win, just nine-tenths clear of Baptista, who put in a spirited final-lap charge, while Gené was third, a further quarter of a second adrift.
Speaking about his Battle victory, Farfus said: “I had good grip [off the start] and that’s what ETCR is all about, getting a good start.
“It’s always difficult because I saw the drops [of rain] coming and you don’t know how slippery it will be so it was a case of managing it.
“There is no room for mistakes and you are the first car, so I’m happy with that.”
In Battle 2, Eng, starting in the middle of the grid, got the jump to lead Azcona into the first corner, the latter making the most of a poor getaway from Tom Chilton off the line.
Chilton and Azcona were then engaged in a lively scrap for second as Eng leapt away to a 1.5s advantage, with the Briton closing onto the back of the Cupra after getting a better run out of the final chicane.
Azcona kept form and maintained his position, showcasing the difficulty of overtaking around the Copenhagen track, as Eng won by just over eight-tenths of a second.
With Round 1 complete, the draw for Round 2 – three heats of two cars each – was therefore set, with Eng and Farfus facing off against each other in Battle 1.
Battle 2 will feature Azcona against Baptista, while Chilton and Gené duke it out in Battle 3.
The Pool A Round 2 races are scheduled to start at 17:25 CET.
