Leonel Pernía wins Autódromo de Mercedes finale
PMO Racing driver Leonel Pernía (Peugeot) won the second and final race of the TCR South America weekend at Autódromo de Mercedes.
Title contender Juan Ángel Rosso (Toyota Corolla TCR) was unable to participate in the race after his engine troubles in Race 1, a serious setback for his championship hopes.
Series newcomer Diego Noceti (Toyota) was slow off the blocks from the reverse grid pole position, with Pernía taking the lead at the start ahead of Juan Manuel Casella (Honda) and Rodrigo Baptista (Honda).
Galid Osman (Cupra Leon VZ TCR) recovered ground from further down the grid, climbing up to fourth place on lap five as the Brazilian set the fastest lap of the race.
Casella let through Baptista on lap seven, as Osman closed the gap to the Squadra Martino duo ahead of him.
Baptista ran wide on lap 13, losing three positions, with Osman following suit a bit further on. The incidents allowed Pedro Cardoso (Peugeot 308TCR) to climb up to third place.
Further back, Rafael Suzuki (Peugeot), who was forced to sit out the first race due to an issue, was already up to ninth place from the back of the grid, but came under fire from Noceti on lap 15, with the Uruguayan driver overtaking the Brazilian for ninth.
Suzuki also lost to Fabio Casagrande (Honda) on lap 17. Matias Rossi took advantage of the scrap between the two to overtake the pair and take ninth place.
Baptista came into the pits with five minutes to go with a puncture, returning to the track after a tyre change from the Squadra Martino mechanics. Another driver to hit trouble was Fontana who retired to the pits a lap later with a mechanical issue.
Pernía took the victory at the chequered flag with a six-second advantage over Casella while Cardoso claimed the final podium spot.
Osman was fourth, followed by Fabian Yannantuoni (Toyota Corolla TCR) and Raphael Reis (Cupra Leon VZ TCR). Noceti was seventh, ahead of Rossi and Casagrande. Gilherme Reischl (Cupra Leon VZ TCR) completed the top ten.
“It was a great race,” said Pernía after the race. “I don’t have so much experience here but we had a good start and had a good pace from then on. I’m very happy for the people around me and for being able to deliver good results for the team who trusted me.”
“This was a very important weekend for me,” said Cardoso, the highest scoring points driver of the weekend. “I managed to be constant and stay in good positions when I was not winning.”
After the sixth round of the season, Cardoso has a strong lead in the championship with 317 points, 34 ahead of Reis and 68 over Rosso.
