Before Pau-Arnos action on track, Mattias Ekström looked like the strongest candidate to take Pure ETCR first champion title. His unmistakable talent behind the CUPRA X Zengo Motorsport steering wheel was the point to consolidate at his favor by crossing the finish line as first 100% electric touring car series winner.
The Swede wrote his name in the historical books of the division as the inaugural champion of the sustainable category. Ekström started from pole position in the DHL SuperFinal B, knowing that besides going first, he only had to finish the race in fifth position to be first King of the Season. However, the worst possible scenario was present at the start of the competition in Pau-Arnos when he and his teammate, Phillip Eng, touched.
“What i saw on the replay was Philip gave up and lifted wanted to probably to go in behind but run out of talent and instead of going behind running to my left rear and cut the tire, so once the tire was having no air the car just spun, so. I know before the race i have to finish P5 to be champion, so that was de minimium i had to achieve, but i don’t see any reason to go into race and back off and finish P5, so i was going to race as good as i can. But, i didn’t expect Philip to do this, but, yeah”, said Ekström in post-race press conference.
However, when he was into the race final meters, the Swede knew what he was about to achieve. “I had good information from the team, they told me what pace i had to carry and so, i was quite excited because the car was not in good conditions. The steering wheel wasn’t straight and it was a lot of vibrations. The front right tire i didn’ know was nearly on the rim”, he concluded
This raised the hopes of Mikel Azcona and Jean-Karl Vernay, the other two drivers fighting for the championship. Tensions grew up in Cupra when Ekström was on boxes and his mechanics changed the flat tire as a result of the incident with Vernay. In addition, the vehicle had suffered damage on bottom, but fortunately it was able to get back on the track.
Related content: Mattias Ekström Unveils all that Lies Behind an Extreme E Team
In addition to the Swede’s title, the CUPRA X Zengo Motorsport team was crowned as 2021 Constructors’ Champion, showing absolute dominance throughout the season, which will undoubtedly put pressure ahead of the next season, but it’s not that time now, because they have to enjoy the victory of hard work.
Written by | Ronald Ortega
