Matías Cravero claims maiden pole position at Buenos Aires
Squadra Martino’s Matías Cravero (Honda) scored his first-ever TCR South America pole position at Buenos Aires, host of the eighth round of the 2024 season
The Q1 session started with Leonel Pernía and Norberto Fontana (Honda Civic FL5) at the top of the time sheets.
The Toyota Corolla TCR drivers of Toyota Team Argentina waited until their competitors had completed a flying lap before taking to the track, with Matías Rossi having his first attempt followed by his team-mate and guest driver for this event, former WTCC champion José María López.
Pechito had a heavy crash in the first free practice session, missing out on the second and with the team working against the clock to get his Corolla TCR ready for the qualifying on time.
Jake Cosío (Toyota Corolla TCR from Paladini Racing) had to end the session early due to a damaged front windscreen, with the Mexican driver not able to break into the top 12.
The session ended prematurely with a few seconds left on the clock as Diego Gutiérrez (Toyota) spun off the track and touched the barriers.
López, who is making his TCR debut this weekend, struggled during the session, sliding and going wide off-track as the Argentinian tried to improve his lap time. Pechito could only be 16th, his starting spot for both races.
“I had a gearbox issue and the speed limiter also came on at times,” Pechito said after the session. “In my last attempt I could have gone onto Q2 but the double yellow flags [because of Gutiérrez’s accident] prevented me from improving.”
Pernía and Casella made it to Q2, followed by W2 Pro GP’s Raphael Reis (Cupra Leon VZ TCR), Pedro Cardoso (Peugeot 308TCR), Cravero, with Fontana and Juan Ángel Rosso (Toyota Corolla TCR) next.
Rossi was eighth, followed by PMO Racing’s Rafael Suzuki (Peugeot 308TCR) and W2 Pro GP’s Galid Osman (Cupra Leon VZ TCR).
The Q2 started with Suzuki, Pernía, Casella and Cravero alternating at the top, but the session was red-flagged with six minutes to go due to Fontana spinning off into the gravel trap. The Argentinian driver managed to recover on his own power.
Cravero managed to hold to the pole position, despite his rivals improving constantly in an intense session. Pernía was second, followed by Casella and standings leader Cardoso.
Rossi qualified in fifth place, followed by Reis, Rosso and Suzuki. Osman and Regadas completed the top ten, followed by Casagrande, who went wide in the closing stages of the session, and Fontana.
The TCR South America field returns to the track on Saturday afternoon for Race 2, scheduled for 16:30 local time (21:30 CEST).
