Defending the title harder than winning it says Ekström

CUPRA EKS driver Mattias Ekström entered the first season of the FIA ETCR eTouring Car World Cup as the defending ETCR title winner through his glory in PURE ETCR. The Swedish driver, after the five races held so far this season, is in second place in the drivers’ standings, just 14 points behind team-mate Adrien Tambay. Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Mattias says he will give his all against the tough rivalry he has encountered this year in FIA ETCR, from his own team-mates Tambay and Tom Blomqvist to former team-mate now driving for Hyundai Motorsport N, Mikel Azcona and Romeo Ferraris driver Maxime Martin.

Ad/> This year, you are defending your title in the FIA ETCR, what is your balance of your season so far? It is always more difficult defending the title than to claim it for the first time. There is a lot more pressure from outside and your own expectations are really high. You need to balance it and keep your head cool.

So far, it’s been going quite good – I’ve had couple of wins and couple more podium finishes, and I am in the title run. For sure, I would prefer to be leading the championship right now, but I can’t complain, as it is Adrien who is at the top. We share the same car, same engineers, and mechanics, so it’s fair and square.

FIA ETCRIntense weekend for Romeo Ferraris FIA ETCR home race at Vallelunga28/07/2022 AT 13:50 How have you seen the evolution of the championship from the inside? The second season of ETCR started with a much more even field and even though we’ve had more wins than others so far, it has not come easy. There is more action on track and it is more up to the drivers to make each outing count. It is good racing and everybody wants to win it.