PURE #ETCR launches new chapter in electric car racing

Introducing PURE ETCR; the world’s first all-electric multi-brand touring car championship.

Promoted by Eurosport Events, the Discovery-owned promoter behind the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup and FIM Endurance World Championship, PURE ETCR promises the exhilarating battles and will unlock the incredible potential of high-performance electric vehicles.

PURE ETCR brings together the spirit of on-track competition in its purest sense and the world’s most powerful touring cars to create electrifying on-track battles that will thrill motorsport fans and provide a brand-new platform for the biggest automotive manufacturers to showcase their latest electric production cars in the intense environment of the racetrack.

REVOLUTIONARY TOURING CAR RACE FORMAT
Not only are the cars brand new; so is the event format.

To highlight the ultra-high-performance capabilities of the 500kw PURE ETCR vehicles, every car will be put through its paces in a number of short, sharp, wheel-to-wheel battles; each driver pushing their car to its limits with no need for energy-saving tactics.

A live draw will split the PURE ETCR field into Battle groups with drivers from the same manufacturer deliberately kept apart for Battle 1. Cars start side-by-side with the first-drawn driver having first choice on where they line up.

Winners progress to the top groups of Battle 2 with runners-up squaring-up against each other and the remaining drivers doing the same. All Battle 2 winners progress to the Grand Final with runners-up in the B Final and the remaining drivers in the C Final.

An increasing number of points are awarded at every stage except Battle 3; a single-car, all-or-nothing blast over one lap to determine who gets first choice of starting position in each final. The Grand Final winner is the event King or Queen and will automatically be the top points-scorer for the round.

KEY INNOVATIONS AT THE HEART OF THE SERIES
Starting gates, fightback mode and Hot Zone introduced

Uniquely among circuit-racing championships, cars will line-up side-by-side for each Battle, inside a giant starting gate, which will become one of the centrepieces of the series. When the lights go out, the gate will open and it’s time for full-throttle action. Once released, every driver will have one use of a ‘push-to-pass’ facility, unleashing extra energy and power to give them a chance to overtake the car ahead.

A ‘fightback’ mode – an additional, smaller, power boost – will give the overtaken rival an opportunity to regain the initiative.

Drivers and teams will prepare for Battle in the ‘Hot Zone’ – a connected area where they can watch the action unfold on the track as their team-mates battle for brand honours. Then they head straight to their cars in the starting gates, ensuring an ultra-fast turnover between Battles.

After crossing the finish line, cars are taken to the Energy Station; the centre of an interactive zone in the middle of the paddock, where fans can watch the vehicles re-energising up-close in safe and engaging environment.

SHOWCASE CALENDAR FOR 2020, TITLES AVAILABLE FROM 2021
Four standalone events in 2020 will kick off the series

In PURE ETCR’s inaugural season this year, two competitors per brand will go head-to-head at each event and each track to fight for individual honours. The lights will go out for the first battle at the spectacular Salzburgring, Austria, as part of a double-header event with the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup, to create a festival of touring-car racing on July 24-26. A week later, the series will move to the Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix, at which PURE ETCR competitors will battle on a street circuit for the first time.

After a summer break, competition will resume at Inje Speedium – again with WTCR – on October 16-18 with the final event held in Guangdong, China, in November. Ahead of this, a must-watch event will be hosted at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, UK, on July 9-12 with one car per brand taking part in timed runs up the iconic 1.8km hillclimb. The showcase season will end with an event that supports the 24 Hours of Daytona on January 30-31. An FIA International Series, with Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ titles available for the first time, will take place in 2021 with an eight-round calendar across Europe, Asia and North America.

2020 PURE ETCR Calendar
July 9-12 – Goodwood Festival of Speed, UK (time trial only)
Rd 1 – July 24-26 – Salzburgring, Austria*
Rd 2 – August 1-2 – Copenhagen, Denmark
Rd 3 – October 16-18 – Inje Speedium, South Korea*
Rd4 – November (TBD) – Guangdong, China
January 30-31, 2021 – 24 Hours of Daytona, USA
*Double-header with WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup

MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE FROM NEW TECHNICAL CONCEPT
Created by WSC Group, the technical concept used in PURE ETCR promises to create thrilling wheel-to-wheel action on-track with some of the world’s best drivers going head-to-head in action-

NO AIR FREIGHT AND HYDROGEN GENERATORS ARE KEY SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENTS
PURE ETCR aims to change attitudes towards electric vehicles and promote electric mobility as a matter of social responsibility. With this in mind, a series of key commitments have been made to achieve greater sustainability in motorsport.

One key action for the inaugural season is a commitment not to use air freight, and instead to rely on sea freight, which is 100 times less impactful environmentally. This is achieved by an optimised calendar that groups scheduled events together by region.

Hydrogen-powered generators will be used in the paddock because they are significantly less-impactful than traditional internal combustion-powered units.

We acknowledge that the sourcing of power is a key factor of the environmental footprint of electric vehicles so less-impactful sourcing will always be favoured. As promoter, Eurosport Events commits to changing the way events are organised to a less-impactful manner.

GOODYEAR NAMED PURE ETCR FOUNDING PARTNER AND TYRE SUPPLIER
Returning to motorsport in 2020 is Goodyear; one of the most recognisable names in the world of high-performance tyres that has assisted champions in the world of Formula 1, Indycar, the Le Mans 24 Hours and touring car racing across the world. Goodyear joins as a founding partner and as sole tyre supplier producing a bespoke all-weather product for the series ensuring fewer tyres need to be manufactured than for a traditional race series – perfectly aligning with PURE ETCR’s philosophy of creating cleaner motor racing.

Andrew Georgiou, President, Eurosport and Global Sports Rights & Sports Marketing Solutions, said: “Discovery is excited to expand its long-standing commitment to electric motorsport which began with the group’s early investment in Formula E. As PURE ETCR is unveiled today, we see the opportunity to drive the advancement of electric motorsport through Discovery’s worldwide expertise in media and broadcasting, as well as Eurosport Events’ proven track record in growing some of the most popular motorsports series in the world. Discovery brings unrivalled global scale and an expansive portfolio of platforms and channels to maximise engagement around PURE ETCR, helping to reach passionate motorsport fans as well as broader communities that enjoy motoring and sports every day.”

Francois Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events, said: “PURE ETCR aligns with the automotive industry’s rapid move towards electrification and we are extremely proud to launch this new global series today. For more than 60 years, touring car racing has been about showcasing the cars you can buy in the dealership within the intense and high-pressure environment of the racetrack. Our aspiration was to build a new category using all the ingredients that make touring car racing a favourite with fans while also promoting new electric technology that fits perfectly with our concepts of flat-out racing, wheel-to-wheel battles and high performance. PURE ETCR will have all the key ingredients to appeal to motorsport fans and to help shift the perception of electric vehicles into one that shows they are fun, aspirational and fast, while also giving the largest automotive manufacturers a racing platform on which they can showcase their latest electric cars on a global scale.”