- Hyundai Motorsport N has claimed its first Manufacturer and King of the Weekend title at the Pau-Arnos E-Circuit, which hosted the final round of the inaugural PURE ETCR season
- Jean-Karl Vernay and Augusto Farfus topped their respective Pools to secure a 1-2 finish in the King Driver standings with the Hyundai Veloster N ETCR car
- Tom Chilton claimed second place in Pool B’s Super Final and John Filippi secured important points with two second-place finishes.
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Hyundai Motorsport is celebrating its first Manufacturer and King of the Weekend titles in PURE ETCR, which the team claimed in the dramatic final round of the season in France.
In a fantastic 1-2 finish for Hyundai Motorsport N at Pau-Arnos E-Circuit, Jean-Karl Vernay topped the points standings across both Pools with team-mate Augusto Farfus alongside him in second place.
Farfus, drawn into Pool A, claimed an early victory in his Round 1 Battle on Friday, in which he moved from third place to second within the first lap. A second decisive move enabled him to claim the lead of the race in its closing moments. He went on to set the fastest lap of the weekend on his way to pole position for the Pool A Super Final, netting him the Best Lap Trophy. The Brazilian rounded off a superb weekend with victory in the Pool A Super Final.
His team-mate John Filippi was second off the line in his first Battle and powered into the lead by the end of the first lap. He managed the race from the front for another lap, but lost out as the car behind deployed Power Up to facilitate an overtake on the start finish straight. The Frenchman struggled in Round 3’s time trial, having been unable to do a 500kW lap during Friday’s free practice sessions, which compromised his flying lap. Filippi fought hard in the Super Final to progress, but ultimately finished in sixth place.
In Pool B, Vernay entered the weekend as one of five drivers in contention for the inaugural PURE ETCR drivers’ crown, but despite his best efforts, the Frenchman narrowly missed out on the title by just four points. In his first Battle of the weekend, a deft move in the closing moments saw him win a drag race to the finish line to secure in second. Vernay set the third fastest time in Round 3’s time trial, which placed him on the second row of the Super Final grid. He managed to avoid the carnage in front of him at the start as two cars came together and claimed the lead of the race, which he would never relinquish in a fantastic finish to the weekend.
Tom Chilton made a good start to his Round 1 Battle, sitting in second by the first corner. In a race-long battle for position, Chilton lost ground on the penultimate lap and crossed the line in third. His Round 3 lap placed him alongside team-mate Vernay on the grid of the Pool B Super Final. As the incident ahead of him unfolded, the Brit deployed his Power Up to move into second place and built a comfortable gap to the cars behind to bring home a Hyundai Veloster N ETCR 1-2 finish.
We had a clear target this weekend to chase down our first King of the Weekend title, and we have emphatically succeeded. With two drivers topping their respective Pools, we have shown the competitive package that is the Hyundai Veloster N ETCR around a completely unknown circuit. It is fantastic to end the season as the Manufacturer of the Weekend, and we’d like to pay thanks to each of our four drivers for their work and drive this year. The inaugural PURE ETCR season has been an electrifying challenge, one full of surprises and exciting close racing, and we could not have ended our year in a better place.
Jean-Karl Vernay (#69 Hyundai Veloster N ETCR)
- First King of the Weekend honour for French driver
- Finishes the season second overall in the standings
I am extremely happy to be crowned King of the Weekend. I think we showed really good pace with the Hyundai Veloster N ETCR this weekend, and it resulted in our strongest round of the season from all four drivers, so we can be very pleased. Everyone made a great step forward and that was really important to have the tools to fight against the two other brands. Our target was to win the weekend, and we couldn’t have expected better.
Augusto Farfus (#8 Hyundai Veloster N ETCR)
- Topped Pool A standings to finish second in King of the Weekend battle
- Brazilian is sixth in the final drivers’ standings
There was no better way to finish the year. Unfortunately it took us some time, but this weekend we have clearly shown that we have a strong package in the Hyundai Veloster N ETCR. I pretty much dominated my whole weekend, and it was a shame that the penalty I received in Round 1, which I think was unjustified, lost me some ground but it has been great to finish the year like this. I’d like to say a big thanks to Hyundai Motorsport N for our work together this season.
John Filippi (#27 Hyundai Veloster N ETCR)
- French driver claimed two second-place finishes in front of home crowd
- Secures tenth place finish in the drivers’ championship
I expected a bit better from this weekend; it was not easy as we had a big break between Hungary and this event. It was good to recharge the batteries and find gains with the car, which is exactly what we did. After a difficult event at the Hungaroring, we’ve come back and put on a good performance and this is the most important thing. I tried to fight hard in all of my Rounds and be smarter than my competitors, but unfortunately it didn’t pay off this time. I hope to learn from this season and come back fighting.
Tom Chilton (#3 Hyundai Veloster N ETCR)
- Finished second in the Pool B Super Final in Hyundai Motorsport N 1-2
- Ends the season 12th in the overall drivers’ battle
This has been our strongest weekend so far this year. The team has done an awful lot of work with the car to improve it, and it has shown. We were the fastest in qualifying, and we managed to continue forward momentum throughout the weekend, which we have struggled to do in the past. I’m really happy for the team and it is fantastic we secured multiple wins this weekend. Finally, we were the top scoring manufacturer of the weekend, and I am thrilled to have played a role in that success. It has been a long time coming, and I’m pleased to have brought home second place and solid points in the Super Final.
King Driver Classification – Pau-Arnos
- J-K. Vernay 72
- A. Farfus 63
- M. Azcona 62
- L. Filippi 58
- T. Chilton 52
- R. Baptista 51
- J. Gené 48
- M. Ekström 47
- O. Webb 42
- D. Nagy 37
- J. Filippi 31
- P. Eng 16
2021 PURE ETCR Manufacturers' Standings
After round 5
- Zengo Motorsport X Cupra 646
- Romeo Ferraris - M1RA 579
- Hyundai Motorsport N 578
2021 PURE ETCR Drivers' Standings
After round 5
- M. Ekström 320
- J-K. Vernay 316
- M. Azcona 300
- J. Gené 260
- R. Baptista 248
- A. Farfus 224
- L. Filippi 218
- D. Nagy 178
- O. Webb 177
- J. Filippi 177
- P. Eng 159
- T. Chilton 145
- L. Ferrara 36
- S. Coletti 22