- Mikel Azcona takes his second win in the inaugural season of the PURE ETCR at the wheel of the CUPRA e-Racer
- Mattias Ekström, third in Hungary, keeps the championship lead with one round to go: Ekström, Azcona and Gené, among the drivers who will fight for the title in France
- Azcona is the driver who has scored the most points in both PURE ETCR and WTCR over the weekend
Hungaroring, 23-08-2021 - Mikel Azcona claimed his second victory in the inaugural PURE ETCR season and the third of four possible for the CUPRA X Zengő Motorsport team to date. The Spanish driver scored as many points as possible at the Hungaroring and was crowned "King of the weekend", after winning each and every one of the battles in which he took part, scoring Pole Position and taking victory in the Super Final of his group.
CUPRA X Zengő Motorsport has once again proved that the CUPRA e-Racer is the car to beat in the PURE ETCR. Right from the start of the Hungarian event, Mattias Ekström and Mikel Azcona became the benchmarks in their respective groups. The Swede won his first battle against Luigi Ferrara and John Filippi, and fought for the victory in the second one with Augusto Farfus, who would be penalised after an incident that left Mattias with no winning chances. Mikel, in "Pool B", won both the first and second rounds, beating Jean-Karl Vernay, Luca Filippi and Rodrigo Baptista.
On Sunday, Ekström and Azcona squeezed the CUPRA e-Racer's 500 kW of maximum power to take Pole Position in their respective groups. Mikel's lap time (2:26.309) was slightly faster than Mattias' (2:26.341), which helped the Spaniard to win the trophy for the best lap, before starting the fight for the final victory.
In the Super Final A, Ekström finished second, just four tenths behind Philipp Eng (King of the weekend at Copenhagen), while Jordi Gené took the chequered flag third, behind his team-mate. In the Super Final B, Azcona gave no option to his rivals and won by more than five seconds over Jean-Karl Vernay. Dániel Nagy, in his home race, finished third.
Azcona, unbeatable throughout the event, scored as many points as possible and was crowned "King of the weekend" for the second time this season, after winning at Vallelunga (Italy). Philipp Eng was second overall and Mattias Ekström, who has been on the podium in every single race so far, was third again. The other two CUPRA X Zengő Motorsport team drivers, Jordi Gené and Dániel Nagy, finished sixth and eighth respectively.
"I am very happy to be the "King of the weekend" again in the PURE ETCR. It was very special to have achieved a victory for CUPRA X Zengő Motorsport at their home track," said Mikel Azcona. "I am very proud of the work we are doing as a team. We are growing and improving the car, something necessary to continue in the fight, because the rest of the teams are also improving and constantly pushing us. I am ready to fight for the victory in Pau-Arnos, I will give it my all as I always do."
The first season of PURE ETCR will come to an end on the weekend of October 15-17th at the Pau-Arnos circuit (France), which replaces South Korea on the calendar. CUPRA X Zengő Motorsport will arrive at the final round of the championship in first position in both the drivers' championship, where Ekström has a 29-point lead over Vernay, and the manufacturers' championship, where CUPRA leads with 66 points. Up to five drivers can become champions in France, and among them are Ekström, Azcona and Gené.
Azcona also on the WTCR podium with the CUPRA Leon Competición
Mikel Azcona not only competed in the PURE ETCR at the Hungaroring. The Spanish driver, as did his team-mate Jordi Gené, combined the competition in the PURE ETCR with his participation in the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR).
Mikel's ability to adapt to all kinds of conditions, having to constantly switch from the electric CUPRA e-Racer to the combustion CUPRA Leon Competición, was absolutely demonstrated. In addition to being crowned "King of the weekend" of PURE ETCR in Hungary, Azcona was on the podium of both WTCR races, after finishing second in the first race and third in the second. Mikel was the driver, tied with Santiago Urrutia, who scored the most points (41) over the weekend.
