Guillermo D’Aguanno takes first TN victory for Alfa Romeo in 27 years
San Luis had hosted the sixth TN event of the season along its 4.500-kilometre layout during the past weekend. In Class 2, Lucas Bagnera had taken his Renault Clio to pole position. He then won the first heat, followed in the other two by Nicolás Posco (Ford Fiesta) and Andrés D’Amico (Volkswagen Gol).
Matías Rossi and his Citroën C4 were again on pole in the two-litre division in a circuit which is considerably faster than San Jorge last month. It was a close 1-2 as Rossi’s young team mate Diego Mungi was second, a mere 0.068s behind.
The championship leader beat the Mitsubishi Lancer of Pablo Merayo in the opening heat, while Matías Muñoz Marchesi (Chevrolet Cruze) won the second and Leonel Larrauri the third in his Honda Civic.
Back to Class 2, the 16-lap race was dominated by D’Amico, who started first and had a trouble-free event. There was a tough fight for second and the runner-up sport finally went to Posco, with Bagnera in third, all three of them crossing the finish line in just a few meters. There were three different makes on the podium.
Lucas Mohamed (Volkswagen Gol) heads the standings on 137 points, followed by Lucas Bagnera on 124 points and Adrián Percaz (Peugeot 207) on 123 points.
On the 23rd November 1987, Alfa Romeo had last seen on top of the Class 3 podium when the late Jorge Maggi clinched victory in the penultimate round of that year at the Cabalén circuit in Córdoba, at the wheel of a GTV 2000. 27 years later, Guillermo D’Aguanno drove a car from Milan to a new success in the category.
D’Aguanno started fifth, but his car was blindingly fast this weekend and he was able to gain positions thanks to a solid job which included overtaking with clean moves on the likes of Merayo, Muñoz Marchesi, who had been chasing the leading Citroën before, Larrauri and Rossi in lap 12 out of 20. This was his first win in 68 races.
Matías Rossi finished second and Matías Muñoz Marchesi third. Other title contenders like Facundo Chapur and Bruno Bosio had a tougher Sunday. The reigning champion started 25th in his Peugeot 308 and climbed to ninth, the Ford Focus driver just one position ahead of him.
Exactly halfway through the season and Rossi has a 28-point advantage (140 points) over Chapur (120 points), while Bosio is third (109 points).
The next round will be held at Termas de Río Hondo together with the World Touring Car Championship on August third.
