Jordi Gené was appointed as the development driver for the Cupra E-Racer from the beginning. The Spaniard, who also races with the Cupra León Competición TCR in the FIA World Touring Car Cup and has been involved in the development of the Pure ETCR, believes that there is no point in comparing the two due to the huge differences.
“Basically the differences you feel are the weight, which is much higher in ETCR, and the tires, which have grooves. This makes the reactions of cars so different, especially when braking. The braking zones are longer and if you make a small mistake it is much more expensive, because it struggles to regain grip, which makes driving difficult,” he said.
Jordi Gené stressed that there is a lot of power, but that the ETCRs are faster in the corners and easier to handle than a car with rear wheel drive, so they are easier to push to the limit.
The Spaniard believes that the use of slick tires would make driving easier due to the enormous forces involved in electric vehicle racing.
It may also interest you: The other side of the coin: Jean-Karl Vernay feeling good after his debut in Pure ECTR
“An electric car puts an immense amount of energy through the tires, there is a lot of torque, a lot of power and a lot of weight, so they are always under stress. Then we also use grooved tires so they obviously fight harder and are always on the edge. However, it is part of the challenge of driving these cars!” told to Touring Car Times.
For Gené the power of 500 kW makes driving fun and pleasant for the driver because he steers with the steering wheel but also with the accelerator. Likewise, he mentioned that the driver also needs to manage the battery, the increase in power, the temperatures and that running that way requires “communication with the car”.
For the Spaniard it is not just about pushing the vehicle to the limit, but also about learning how and where to save it for better results later in the race.
“You need to think while driving. Despite the short races, you have to make decisions all the time. We also have different traction control mappings, and you always have to balance if you want it to be fast right then and there or if you want to save the tires for later in the race. You also talk a lot on the radio, so you have information about the use of the extra energy by others,” he added.
Written by | Gabriel Sayago
