Mattias Ekström, Jean-Karl Vernay and Luca Filippi claim Round 1 wins in Copenhagen
Mattias Ekström, Jean-Karl Vernay and Luca Filippi all prevailed in their Pool A Round 2 PURE ETCR battles on the streets of Copenhagen.
The Cupra X Zengo Motorsport driver claimed his first race victory of the weekend in Battle 2, benefiting from the middle of the grid to get the better of team-mate Dániel Nagy.
The Round 2 Battles stayed true to form from the Round 1 races, with the leading driver into Turn 1 maintaining the lead all race as overtaking once again proved difficult.
The prospects of passing have been limited due to an enforced yellow flag zone for the two fast chicanes around the fast Danish circuit.
In Battle 1, Vernay got the best start from the outside of the grid and seied the advantage over Romeo Ferraris driver Oliver Webb into the first corner. The pair had briefly run side by side, but Webb with the tighter apex angle had to give way to avoid contact.
Vernay then proceeded to lead for the remainder of the two-lap sprint to the flag, beating the Alfa by just over a second at the finish.
It is yet more proof that the Hyundai Velostar N ETCR is in better form this weekend than it was in Vallelunga, and Vernay reckoned the car has more potential for Sunday’s action to close in on the points lead.
“It was super quick, definitely and the key was the start,” he said. “We thought that we had taken the bad choice with the outside line but it was the good thing to do.
“I tried to push to see the balance of the car, preparing Battle 3 tomorrow will be important if want to make the most from the weekend. At least we beat [Ekström] this weekend once already. We beat him only once in Vallelunga, so we’ll see tomorrow.”
Battle 2 was fought similarly, as Ekström achieved a far better start than Nagy to lead throughout. Nagy, who has yet to win a Battle in PURE ETCR, followed his more experienced team-mate home in second, some three seconds in arrears.
Ekström had been left to rue a poor start in his opening Battle in the morning, but felt the middle lane suited his car better off the line.
“I had a good start, I feel the middle lane is probably the best,” explained Ekström. “I had a couple of starts from the outside and that probably has a little less grip, but we were pushing the limits in that one.
“I feel we have good pace in the car, we just didn’t have a good start in the first race, but we have a lot to improve on in the qualifying tomorrow because getting a good start will be important for the races.”
In the final Pool A Battle, Luca Filippi beat namesake John Filippi to back up a second-placed finish in Round 1 with a victory.
The Italian took the 12 points for the win having headed his French rival by a fraction over a second at the line.
