Only Adrien Tambay and Mattias Ekström remain in contention for this year’s FIA eTouring Car World Cup title, after Saturday’s on-track action at the Sachsenring in Germany.
Tambay, Ekström, Hyundai’s Mikel Azcona and Romeo Ferrari’s Maxime Martin all went into the weekend with the potential to be crowned champion, but after Saturday’s sessions that was reduced to just two.
Azcona’s charge came undone after qualifying, when the Hyundai driver was penalised from the Pool Furious qualifying result for having a tyre protruding beyond his car’s bodywork, in violation of the technical regulations.
Not only did that reduce his score from the single-lap sessions, but it also meant he would start on the less favourable line for his Quarter Final later in the day.
In the end it was the CUPRA drivers who dominated the qualifying sessions, which took place on Saturday morning on a decidedly cold track.
In Pool Fast, Tom Blomqvist beat CUPRA EKS team-mate and title contender Ekström by just over a tenth of a second, followed by the two Alfa Romeos of Giovanni Venturini and Maxime Martin.
Both Hyundais of Nicky Catsburg and Jean-Karl Vernay struggled more for pace, with Vernay in particular uncharacteristically off the pace and almost a second adrift.
Pool Furious saw Tambay lay down the benchmark, although times were slightly down on the earlier Pool. Norber Michelisz put in a strong effort for Hyundai to go second, ahead of the two Alfas of Bruno Spengler and Luca Filippi.
Azcona’s time was thrown out due to his aforementioned technical breach, leaving him last.
Pool Fast Qualifying combined results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 10 |  |
Tom BLOMQVIST | CUPRA EKS | CUPRA e-Racer | 4 | 1:27.837 | – |
| 2 | 1 |  |
Mattias EKSTRÖM | CUPRA EKS | CUPRA e-Racer | 4 | 1:27.951 | 0.114 |
| 3 | 21 |  |
Giovanni VENTURINI | Romeo Ferraris | Alfa Romeo Giulia ETCR | 4 | 1:27.979 | 0.142 |
| 4 | 36 |  |
Maxime MARTIN | Romeo Ferraris | Alfa Romeo Giulia ETCR | 4 | 1:28.083 | 0.246 |
| 5 | 88 |  |
Nicky CATSBURG | Hyundai Motorsport N | Hyundai Veloster N ETCR | 4 | 1:28.168 | 0.331 |
| 6 | 69 |  |
Jean-Karl VERNAY | Hyundai Motorsport N | Hyundai Veloster N ETCR | 4 | 1:28.773 | 0.936 |
Pool Furious Qualifying combined results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 27 | |
Adrien TAMBAY | CUPRA EKS | CUPRA e-Racer | 4 | 1:28.173 | – |
| 2 | 5 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | Hyundai Motorsport N | Hyundai Veloster N ETCR | 4 | 1:28.343 | 0.170 |
| 3 | 7 |  |
Bruno SPENGLER | Romeo Ferraris | Alfa Romeo Giulia ETCR | 4 | 1:28.660 | 0.487 |
| 4 | 25 | |
Luca FILIPPI | Romeo Ferraris | Alfa Romeo Giulia ETCR | 4 | 1:28.673 | 0.500 |
| 5 | 28 |  |
Jordi GENÉ | CUPRA EKS | CUPRA e-Racer | 4 | 1:29.115 | 0.942 |
| 6 | 96 | |
Mikel AZCONA | Hyundai Motorsport N | Hyundai Veloster N ETCR | 4 | Disallowed | N/A |
Martin and Catsburg bang doors in their Quarter Final. Photo: FIA ETCR
The first Quarter Final was a routine affair, with Blomqvist leading into the first corner ahead of team boss Ekström. Despite not being in contention for the title there were no team orders thereafter, with the Brit going onto win the heat ahead of the Swede.
Venturini ran third throughout, presenting no significant attempts to overtake, although he crossed the finish line less than a second from heat winner Blomqvist.
The second Pool Fast heat was more entertaining, albeit only for the opening lap. Martin had started on the favourable line in his Giulia, but went too deep into the first corner, allowing Catsburg a cutback.
The two then banged doors on the next sequence of turns, with Vernay also getting in the mix, before Catsburg emerged in the lead with Vernay behind, the Frenchman taking advantage of Martin being forced off-line.
The order stayed that way for the next three laps, giving Catsburg the win in front of his Hyundai team-mate.
Pool Fast Quarter Final 1 result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 10 | |
Tom BLOMQVIST | CUPRA EKS | CUPRA e-Racer | 4 | 6:06.725 | 1:30.961 | 1 | |
| 2 | 1 | |
Mattias EKSTRÖM | CUPRA EKS | CUPRA e-Racer | 4 | 0.500 | 1:31.070 | 2 | |
| 3 | 21 | |
Giovanni VENTURINI | Romeo Ferraris | Alfa Romeo Giulia ETCR | 4 | 0.894 | 1:30.885 | 3 |
Pool Fast Quarter Final 2 result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 88 | |
Nicky CATSBURG | Hyundai Motorsport N | Hyundai Veloster N ETCR | 4 | 6:06.883 | 1:30.865 | 2 | |
| 2 | 69 | |
Jean-Karl VERNAY | Hyundai Motorsport N | Hyundai Veloster N ETCR | 4 | 3.588 | 1:31.988 | 3 | |
| 3 | 36 | |
Maxime MARTIN | Romeo Ferraris | Alfa Romeo Giulia ETCR | 4 | 8.489 | 1:31.799 | 1 |
Tambay maintained his perfect score thus far with a lights-to-flag win in his Pool Furious Quarter Final. The CUPRA driver pulled clear at the start and extended a comfortable margin over the chasing Michelisz early on, before the Hyundai driver closed back in during the second half of the heat.
However, Tambay kept Michelisz’s challenges at bay to win by two tenths of a second, with Romeo Ferraris’ Spengler a distant third, over four seconds behind.
In Quarter Final 2, Filippi started on the inside with Jordi Gené in the middle and Azcona on the outside.
Whilst Filippi held his ground through the first corners, Azcona found himself side-by-side with Gené and the two Spaniards made contact as Azcona muscled through on the grass.
Gené soon dropped back, and his heat ultimately ended after the first lap when he developed a right-rear puncture.
Azcona, meanwhile, couldn’t claw back the time lost to Filippi and had to settle for second as the Romeo Ferraris driver won the heat by over two seconds in the fading East German light.
Pool Furious Quarter Final 1 result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 27 | |
Adrien TAMBAY | CUPRA EKS | CUPRA e-Racer | 4 | 6:09.770 | 1:31.600 | 1 | |
| 2 | 5 | |
Norbert MICHELISZ | Hyundai Motorsport N | Hyundai Veloster N ETCR | 4 | 0.261 | 1:31.166 | 2 | |
| 3 | 7 | |
Bruno SPENGLER | Romeo Ferraris | Alfa Romeo Giulia ETCR | 4 | 4.709 | 1:32.224 | 3 |
Pool Furious Quarter Final 2 result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 25 | |
Luca FILIPPI | Romeo Ferraris | Alfa Romeo Giulia ETCR | 4 | 6:18.300 | 1:31.342 | 1 | |
| 2 | 96 | |
Mikel AZCONA | Hyundai Motorsport N | Hyundai Veloster N ETCR | 4 | 2.620 | 1:31.356 | 3 | |
| R | 28 | |
Jordi GENÉ | CUPRA EKS | CUPRA e-Racer | 1 | DNF | N/A | 2 |
Going into Sunday’s Semi Finals and SuperFinals, Tambay has 470 points, 22 ahead of team-mate Ekström, with 65 points still up for grabs.
Azcona, in third with 383 points, is no longer in title contention, although Martin in fourth on 371 points and Blomqvist in fifth on 369 points could still usurp him in the overall standings.