Mattias Ekström has called on more manufacturers to enter into the electric touring car series PURE ETCR, after admitting that he is enjoying the racing more than he expected in the new series.
Ekström, currently racing for Spanish brand CUPRA in the series, emerged as the top-scorer from the latest round at MotorLand Aragón in Spain, to claim the title of ‘King of the Weekend’ in Round 2.
The Swede won all of his battles on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with the only ‘blot’ on his copybook being that he did not top his Pool B time trial, instead losing out to both Hyundai’s Jean-Karl Vernay and Romeo Ferraris’ Luca Filippi.
Ekström won his SuperFinal B, with his task made slightly easier by the fact that Filippi did not take the start due to earlier damage to his car.
The top score means Ekström now leads the drivers’ standings with 146 points, 22 points ahead of Vernay in second.
“I had a good weekend, so I am happy with this,” said the two-time DTM champion. “Except for my too-conservative lap in the qualifying yesterday evening am happy with the weekend.
“Today also it would have been nice to have Luca Filippi in the race, because he was also very strong, so it would have been probably a bit more of a battle in this race, but in general I am super happy.”
Ekström, who has extensive experience in rallycross as well as high-performance touring car racing, is enjoying competing in the series and has called on more brands to get involved.
“I enjoy it a lot and I didn’t expect that I would enjoy it this much. Every weekend I feel like I enjoy it more.
“Now my biggest wish is that we will see some more car manufacturers and some more strong drivers.
“I would be happy to see Audi, Mercedes, BMW and all these guys who are motorsport regulars that they would also come and battle with us, because it’s a cool concept – something in the middle of rallycross and classic circuit racing.
“I think we have proven that it is quite entertaining and action-packed as well.”