Although he came in second in the debut of the nascent pure ECTR, Jean-Karl Vernay made the most of his pole position, which he inherited after Mattias Ekström received a citation and was demoted to the back of the grid.
The Hyundai’s got off to a good start in the DHL Super Final and never looked back, despite late pressure from the Swede. The French driver’s goal was always to win the race.
“As a Hyundai driver, you should always have the goal of winning,” Vernay said after the match.
“We knew the Cupra was fast but it was also coming out behind, so I took advantage of my pole position and was smart with the push to pass. When I saw Mattias (Ekström) in second place, I knew that he needs even more concentration, because he knew they had a little more pace than us.”
Despite a tire problem hitting both Hyundai Elantra N ETCRs in the Group A Super Final, the Frenchman was not worried about having the same problem and simply drove more carefully.
It may also interest you: Mikel Azcona made history in the Pure ETCR
“For whatever reason it happened and I just tried to be a little more careful, we were also a little more cautious with the tire pressure, but in the end it worked well. I think what happened to him was unfortunate, and it also happened to Azcona, but it is also part of racing, sometimes things happen and you really do not know why,” he added.
Speaking of his teammate, despite sharing the cars, they are championship rivals, but Vernay believes that both he and Farfus are professional enough to focus on beating rival brand Cupra rather than fighting for them personal honors.
“We are professionals, we have to be fair and we work for a factory team, so the most important thing is that one of us wins. I will always support him when he is racing and I hope he will do the same when I race, our goal is to beat Cupra and I am sure it is the same for my teammate, and that will never change. “
Vernay occupies the second position of the championship with 72 points, 5 behind Mikel Azcona in a competition that already promises strong rivalries and with a better message in a zero emissions series.
Written by | Gabriel Sayago
