New all‑electric Pure ETCR touring car series to debut at FOS

Electric racing has gained significant attention at the Festival over the past couple of years, with 2019 seeing both the Volkswagen ID R break the outright hill record, and the launch of the Extreme E off-road car. And what better way to follow that up than with the global dynamic debut of Pure ETCR, the World’s first all-electric multi-brand touring car championship?

Following the Festival time trial, four standalone events will feature in 2020, with the first forming a ‘festival of touring car’ event alongside the WTCR - FIA World Touring Car Cup, at the Salzburgring in Austria on July 24-26. A week later, the game will change for the drivers, as they head to the Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix and take on a street circuit for the first time.

The vehicles will use a standard drivetrain and battery, with the latter developed by Williams Advanced Engineering. However, with 680bhp coursing through their rear wheels, these will be far from EVs as the public knows them.

In keeping with the revolutionary nature of the series, a unique event format will feature, with the cars put through their paces in a number of short, sharp, wheel-to-wheel battles. Races are anticipated to be around 10km each, meaning energy saving tactics will be thrown out the window. Each driver will have access to one push-to-pass power boost per battle, which will unleash extra power to give them a chance to overtake the car ahead, and a smaller ‘fightback’ boost will give the overtaken rival an opportunity to, quite literally, fight back.

Each of the five expected manufacturers will enter three drivers, and a random draw ahead of the event will split the field into ‘battle groups’. The first chosen driver will receive the pick of the starting positions, with all starting in motocross style, waiting for a gate to drop. By process of elimination, the winners will progress through to the top groups of Battle 2, while the remainders will square-up against each other in subsequent rounds. The whittling down will continue until a Grand Final, supported by B and C Finals. The Grand Final winner will be dubbed the “King or Queen of the Weekend”. Drivers will earn an increasing number of points at every stage except Battle 3, in which a single-car timed lap will determine first choice of starting position in the final.

The pits will be known as the ‘Hot Zone’, while finished cars are taken to the Energy Station, an interactive zone where fans can get up close and personal with the recharging vehicles. With the ongoing climate crisis, it’s important to note that these cars will be charged by hydrogen generators, which are both sustainable and suited to the rapid-fire racing, allowing a 90% charge (from 10%) in just one hour. And when the championship kicks off in 2021, the calendar will be organised to allow cars and equipment to be transported around the world by sea freight, which creates 1% of the environmental impact of air freight.