Details of the first Pure ETCR (Electric Touring Car Racing) season has been revealed, featuring a rallycross-style elimination setup across a four-event calendar, beginning at the Salzburgring in July.
François Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events and the PureETCR promoter said, “We are going to launch a new series that is all about pure racing.
“It has all the ingredients with high-performance cars, the best touring car drivers and on-track intensity.”
“Our goal is to promote electromobility in a very spectacular way and we expect six manufacturers for the first season,” said Xavier Gavory, head of PureETCR.
“We have put together a very radical racing format. Forget everything you know about regular circuit racing.”
Race weekends will feature a rallycross-syle with no regular qualifying.”
Instead the unusual format involves a marble draw will to decide starting groups before beginning the elimination races, similar to that seen in World RallyCross events.
A live draw will split the field into ‘Battle groups’, with drivers from the same manufacturer split apart in the first round to showcase the diversity of car makes within the class.
The winners of each group then moving into the top Battle of round two, and the runners-up facing off against each other.
After each race, cars will return to a central ‘Energy Station’ where cars can be recharged by hydrogen generators in front of watching fans.
PURE ETCR will also not use any air freight for its transportation between events but rely solely on sea cargo, which the series says is “100 times less impactful environmentally.”
The inaugural season will start with a promotional event and launch during the Goodwood Festival of Speed on July 9-12, with the first round to be held during the World Touring Car Cup weekend at the Salzburgring in July.
2020 PureETCR calendar
9-12/7 – Goodwood Festival of Speed, UK (launch/time trial)
Rd 1 – 24-26/7 – Salzburgring, Austria*
Rd 2 – 1-2/8 – Copenhagen, Denmark
Rd 3 – 16-18/10 – Inje Speedium, South Korea*
Rd 4 – TBD/11 – Guangdong, China
30-31/1 – 24h of Daytona, USA
