The ETCR, the first multi-brand category for electric-powered touring cars enters in a new era with the inaugural season of the FIA ETCR - eTouring Car World Cup that kicks off this weekend on the street circuit of Pau.

Following a successful prologue, last year with the Pure ETCR series, the three brands that have embraced the ETCR concept from the beginning - CUPRA Racing, Hyundai Motorsport and Romeo Ferraris - will return for a new campaign. Both will field two cars each, with EKS, BRC Team and Romeo Ferraris running the CUPRA eRacer, Hyundai Veloster ETCR and Giulia ETCR respectively.

The driver lineups are impressive, with the 2021 Pure ETCR champion Mattias Ekstrõm leading the CUPRA EKS team that is completed by Jordi Gené, Adrien Tambay and Tom Blomqvist.

Hyundai Motorsport has named three drivers for the whole season: the 2019 WTCR champion Norbert Michelisz, last year's Pure ETCR runner up Jean-Karl Vernay and the double TCR Europe champion Mikel Azcona. The fourth seat will be filled alternatively by Kevin Ceccon and Nicky Catsburg.

The Romeo Ferraris quartet is made up of Luca Filippi, Giovanni Venturini, Maxime Martin and former DTM champion Bruno Spengler.

The format of the event follows that of last year, but with some innovations. The twelve drivers will be divided in two pools of six; each group will compete in two ten-minute Qualifying sessions using the 500kW full power. The Quarter Finals and Semi Finals will follow, with three drivers in each heat, and the schedule will culminate with the two Super Finals with six drivers each. From the Quarters to the Finals, competitors will use 300kW of power and will be allowed to use the Power-Up – a 200kW boost of energy that takes the car up to its 500kW peak power – the equivalent of 670bhp.

FIA ETCR - entry list
1 Mattias Ekstrom (CUPRA EKS, CUPRA eRacer)
5 Norbert Michelisz (Hyundai Motorsport N, Hyundai Veloster N ETCR)
7 Bruno Spengler (Romeo Ferraris, Giulia ETCR)
10 Tom Blomqvist (CUPRA EKS, CUPRA eRacer)
21 Giovanni Venturini (Romeo Ferraris, Giulia ETCR)
25 Luca Filippi (Romeo Ferraris, Giulia ETCR)
27 Adrien Tambay (CUPRA EKS, CUPRA eRacer)
28 Jordi Gené (CUPRA EKS, CUPRA eRacer)
31 Kevin Ceccon (Hyundai Motorsport N, Hyundai Veloster N ETCR)
36 Maxime Martin (Romeo Ferraris, Giulia ETCR)
69 Jean Karl Vernay (Hyundai Motorsport N, Hyundai Veloster N ETCR)
88 Nicky Catsburg (Hyundai Motorsport N, Hyundai Veloster N ETCR)
96 Mikel Azcona (Hyundai Motorsport N, Hyundai Veloster N ETCR)

Picture: Pure ETCR