Ekström enjoys the ride to end first day on top in Pau 08.05.2022: FIA ETCR eTouring Car World Cup Circuit de Pau Ville Saturday, May 7th 2022 CUPRA EKS driver Mattias Ekström got his 2022 FIA ETCR eTouring Car World Cup campaign to a fantastic start at the Infinite Reality Race FR on the Circuit de Pau Ville.

FIA ETCR eTouring Car World Cup
Circuit de Pau Ville
Saturday, May 7th 2022

CUPRA EKS driver Mattias Ekström got his 2022 FIA ETCR eTouring Car World Cup campaign to a fantastic start at the Infinite Reality Race FR on the Circuit de Pau Ville.

 

The winner of FIA ETCR’s predecessor PURE ETCR title didn’t put a wheel wrong all day as he proceeded through the day’s qualifying and Quarter Final sessions in his Pool FURIOUS group to end the day with 35 points, eight ahead of nearest Pool FURIOUS rival, Mikel Azcona (Hyundai Motorsport N).

 

Azcona had lined up next to Ekström for their quarter final together but the pair with Romeo Ferraris’ driver Giovanni Venturini proved that three could not go into one at Turn 1 and the result was a punctured tyre for Azcona and a parked car for Venturini. This left Ekström unchallenged to the finish line.

 

Elsewhere in Pool Furious, it was a strong Quarter Final for Romeo Ferraris’ Bruno Spengler with a great start and almost flawless race until a late mistake allowed his pursuers to catch him at the finish line. Those pursuers were CUPRA EKS’s Jordi Gené – who bounced back from a qualifying contretemps with the barriers - and Hyundai Motorsport N’s Kevin Ceccon.

 

The Pool FURIOUS points tally heading into Semi Final and DHL Super Final Sunday sees Blomqvist two points ahead of his CUPRA EKS team-mate Tambay, with Martin third in the standings six points further back.

 

For Pool FAST it looked like Frenchman Jean-Karl Vernay would rule the roost for Hyundai Motorsport N after a dominant performance in his Quarter Final where he looked to be in another league from his rivals. Unfortunately, at the end of the day his victory was overturned after a disqualification from the session’s results for using a power level higher than the maximum allowed.

 

Vernay’s DSQ meant CUPRA EKS’s Tom Blomqvist gained the points and leads the Pool heading into Sunday, with team-mate Tambay two points shy.

 

In the other Pool Fast Quarter Final Maxime Martine drove impeccably for Romeo Ferraris to take the win from Hyundai Motorsport N’s Norbert Michelisz, with Martin’s team-mate Luca Filippi coming come third.

 

Sunday sees the FIA ETCR action start with the Semi Finals commencing at 08:05 local time, culminating with the DHL Super Finals from scheduled from 14:18.

 

Pool Fast Points

Blomqvist        29
Tambay           27
Martin              21
Vernay            15
Michelisz         13
Filippi               5
 

Pool FAST Semi Final 1 Grid

Blomqvist
Tambay
Martin
 

Pool FAST Semi Final 2 Grid

Vernay
Michelisz
Filippi
 
 

Pool Furious Points

Ekström           35
Azcona            27
Spengler         21
Gené               10
Venturini          9
Ceccon            8

 

Pool FURIOUS Semi Final 1 Grid

Ekström
Azcona
Spengler

 

Pool Semi Final 2 Grid

Venturini
Gené
Ceccon

 




 Andy Stobart, photos ETCR