Hyundai drivers Jean-Karl Vernay and Augusto Farfus bagged top scores in Saturday’s PURE ETCR action on the streets of Copenhagen, as CUPRA’s Mattias Ekström saw his championship lead reduced.
After two practice sessions on Friday, both held in dry conditions, the draw to split drivers into two different pools was held on Friday night.
This saw Pool A drawn to contain John Filippi, Dániel Nagy, Oliver Webb, Luca Filippi, Jean-Karl Vernay and Mattias Ekström.
Pool B was drawn with Jordi Gené, Augusto Farfus, Rodrigo Baptista, Mikel Azcona, series newcomer Philipp Eng and Tom Chilton.
In the championship battle, the draw with Ekström and Vernay in the same Pool has significance, as the two are first and second in the standings in the event and can now take points off each other.
The biggest difference for the Danish event compared to the two previous rounds is the lack of power ups, a decision taken for safety reasons due to the narrow confines of the barrier-lined circuit.
Round 1 – Battle 1/2
Pool A
Battle 1 saw Filippi, Nagy and Webb line up for the start, with the order being decided when the barriers lifted at the start as Webb shot into the lead ahead of Nagy, whilst Filippi made a particularly poor getaway.
The Bellahøj Park Street Circuit is a difficult venue to overtake at, and the order for the four-lap battle didn’t change thereafter, as Webb claimed the win.
Battle 2 initially saw Webb’s Romeo Ferraris team-mate Luca Filippi also shoot into the lead at the start, but he clipped the starting gate and ripped part of his rear wheel arch off, also damaging the gate.
That brought out the red flags, and when the action resumed it would be with the traditional red lights to get underway.
The second start was not so good for Filippi, who was slowest of all, with Vernay leaping into the lead ahead of Ekström.
Like in Battle 1, there was no further overtaking, leaving Hyundai’s Vernay to claim the win and gain the slight edge over CUPRA’s Ekström.
Pool B
With track conditions having changed after the Pool A battles, the decision was taken to hold an extraordinary additional practice session.
Other than giving drivers the chance to sample ETCR cars on their all-weather tyres for the first time, the session produced one additional drama when Filippi went straight on into the barriers at Turn 8, brining about an early end to the session.
The first battle of Pool B saw Gené take on Farfus and Baptista. Once again the battle was decided at the start, as Farfus made the best getaway in his Hyundai ahead of Baptsita’s Alfa Romeo and Gené’s CUPRA.
Battle two saw no more action, with the result again decided at the start when series newcomer Philipp Eng made the best getaway to win in his first-ever session, with CUPRA’s Azcona second and Hyundai’s Chilton in third.
Round 2 – Head-to-head battles
Later than scheduled due to the earlier rain-induced changes to timings, the first battle in Pool A saw Vernay take on Webb, as the duo had earlier won their respective Round 1 battles. Conditions had, by now, returned to being sunny and dry.
With just two laps of racing for this weekend’s format, the start proved to be crucial Vernay got the edge on Webb and went on to clinch the win, making the Frenchman unbeaten on the first competitive day of action.
The two drivers who were second in their earlier respective battles were up next, with CUPRA duo Nagy and Ekström going head-to-head.
Nagy had appeared to make a better start, but was ultimately beaten by Ekström to the first corner. Whether team orders had been a factor is unclear, but Ekström claimed the win to keep the pressure on in the title race.
Third vs third was between Hyundai’s John Filippi and Romeo Ferraris’ Luca Filippi. As expected, the order remained the same after the first corner, where Luca had edged out John, for the entire two-lap battle.
In Pool B, Farfus took on Eng in the first battle of the earlier winners. The Brazilian took the lead at the start, although Eng remained close to the Hyundai driver and made contact at the next corner whilst trying to pass.
Eng looked feisty throughout the battle but the Austrian couldn’t find a way past and Farfus claimed the win.
The next battle saw Azcona line-up with Baptista and it proved to be a more sedate affair, with the CUPRA driver eking out an advantage from the very start to win by over two seconds from the Alfa Romeo.
The final battle between Chilton and Gené saw one of the closest getaways from the line yet, with the duo going side-by-side into the first corner, with Hyundai’s Chilton having to cede to CUPRA’s Gené.
Chilton remained just two tenths behind Gené for the whole two laps, but opportunities to pass didn’t present themselves and Gené crossed the finish line in first.
Championship situation
Saturday’s action has seen Ekström hold on to his championship lead, with Vernay 17 points behind, the Frenchman having closed in by five points thanks to defeating Ekström earlier in the day. Azcona has now moved up to third, 25 points further back.
Action resumes on Sunday morning with the time trial sessions which will determine the grid order for the two six-car SuperFinals later in the day.
With not one on-track overtaking manoeuvre on Saturday, fans and spectators will hope that Sunday’s increased starter numbers will provide some more action on the streets of the Danish capital.