Difficult weekend in PURE ETCR
Our team endured a difficult outing at the third round of the PURE ETCR season this weekend (August 6-8) in Copenhagen.
Despite Jean-Karl and Augusto topping their respective Pools on Saturday with their Veloster N ETCR cars, neither was able to successfully convert their points’ advantage on Sunday.
“It is frustrating to depart Copenhagen without converting a good Saturday into a better Sunday,” said our Team Principal Andrea. “The Veloster N ETCR has demonstrated its winning capabilities, but that momentum has to continue until the last lap of the Super Finals.”
Victory in battle
Jean-Karl took double victory in his Battle Rounds on Saturday, but his progress started to unravel in Round 3’s time trial. As leader of his Pool, Jean-Karl was first to face a dirty track, and his lap was only good enough to secure fourth on the Super Final grid.
From the second row, he launched his car into third at the start of the race, but with limited overtaking opportunities around the Bellahøj Park street circuit, he was unable to gain any more positions.
“Saturday started well, as I won both Battle Rounds for the first time. We all had high expectations for Sunday, but unfortunately the day started badly,” admitted Jean-Karl. “Some issues at the start messed up our day, and I lost the advantage.”
His team-mate John had shown promising pace in Free Practice, but a mistake on Saturday affected his confidence – and results – for the remaining Rounds.
“I tried to push to the limit, and even when I touched the wall slightly I was still able to do a good lap time,” said John. “In our extra practice session, I made a huge mistake on the damp track. That cost me a lot of my confidence.”
Disappointing Sunday
Augusto bettered damp conditions to claim the win in his Round 1 Battle, and went bumper-to-bumper in Round 2 to secure his second victory. After qualifying on the second row for his Super Final, a poor start dropped him down to last place.
“We came here with good hopes and after Saturday, the aim was for a strong Sunday. We didn’t execute it,” said Augusto. “it isn’t what we want and it isn’t what we deserve after everything we’ve worked for, but that’s motorsport sometimes.”
After struggling on Saturday, Tom found form in Sunday’s time trial to power his Veloster N ETCR to a front row grid slot for the Super Final. A good start saw him maintain his position in the run down to the first corner, but a puncture brought a premature end to his race.
“We had lots of mixed conditions with the weather which kept us on our toes,” added Tom. “I got the perfect start in the Super Final before my rear-right puncture, which ended my race.”
