Esteban Guerrieri has claimed his first win in the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour in Race 1 at Interlagos, and the Argentine driver moved up to second in the standings, just five points behind Norbert Michelisz in the drivers’ championship.
Rafael Suzuki won in TCR South America and TCR Brasil at the wheel of his Peugeot 308 run by PMO Racing.
Guerrieri got the jump on pole-sitter Santiago Urrutia’s Cyan Racing Lynk & Co at the start and took the lead, and though he was briefly challenged at T6, he managed to hold the lead until the end of the first lap when the safety car was called to recover the stalled Audi John Filippi and Enrique Maglione’s Honda that had stopped along the track.
Behind the top two, Guerrieri’s teammate Marco Butti had got past Ehrlacher’s Lynk & Co, and Néstor Girolami also made a strong start, forcing his way up to fourth at T1, but Ehrlacher was able to retake the spot a few corners later. The race restarted on lap five, and Girolami soon proved to be a bottleneck, struggling for pace in his Hyundai Elantra, and was soon passed by Thed Bjork’s Lynk & Co. Girolami then allowed his championship leading teammate Michelisz through into sixth and began to defend against Ma Qing Hua’s Lynk & Co. Ma eventually was able to get through on lap seven at the inside at Turn 6, while Dušan Borković, who was making fast progress after a difficult qualifying session, tried to make his way past Girolami but the two drivers made light contact Borković running wide and dropping down to 13th.
Girolami now had team-mate Azcona on his tail and let him through into eighth position. The Hyundai driver was soon caught by a recovering Borković, who made his way through at T5 on lap 11, while there was further drama two laps later as the leading TCR South America driver Rafael Suzuki made his move on Girolami at T6, with the chasing pair of Matías Rossi and Nelson Piquet jr. also trying to make their way through, but Rossi’s Toyota and Piquet’s Honda made contact, with Rossi flung into the barriers. The safety car was called on what was now the final lap, leaving Guerrieri to take the win ahead of Urrutia and Butti, while Suzuki secured the TCR South America and TCR Brasil class victory with tenth overall.
Guerrieri’s maximum score moved him up to second in the championship, just five points away from Michelisz, while Ehrlacher remains in close contention, ten points behind Michelisz.
Michelisz starts Race 2 from the reversed grid pole position which gets underway at 14:40 local time (19:40 CEST).
Interlagos – Race 1
- Esteban Guerrieri (GOAT Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 14 laps
- Santiago Urrutia (Lynk & Co Cyan Racing, Lynk & Co 03 FL), 10.040
- Marco Butti (GOAT Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 10.860
Championship points – TCR World Tour
- N. Michelisz, 166 pts; 2. E. Guerrieri 161; 3. Y. Ehrlacher, 156
Interlagos – Race 1 TCR South America/TCR Brasil
- Rafael Suzuki (PMO Racing, Peugeot 308), 14 laps
- Nelson Piguet jr. (Squadra Martino, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 8.963
- Juan Ángel Rosso (Paladini Racing, Toyota Corolla GRS), 17.277
Championship points – TCR South America
- J.Á. Rosso, 165 pts; 2. P. Cardoso 152; 3. R. Reis, 149
Championship points – TCR Brasil
- R. Reis, 210 pts; 2. J.Á. Rosso, 208; 3. P. Cardoso, 208
Further information and images @ www.fiatcrworldtour.com
Schedule
Sunday – Race 2: 14:40 (19:40 CEST) live streaming
Picture: TCR South America/Rafael Gagliano
