Young Squadra Martino driver Ignacio Montenegro completed an impressive double in the TCR South America races at Rosario, including coming through from eighth in the reverse-grid race.
In the opening encounter, Montenegro – who had qualified his Honda in third, had to follow the leading Toyotas, before making his move for the lead on lap three.
At the start, pole-sitter Juan Ángel Rosso had lost the lead to Toyota Team Argentina’s Bernardo Llaver, but a lap later Llaver made a mistake and dropped to fourth, giving the Paladini Racing driver the lead back.
But Rosso would only lead for one lap, before Montenegro capitalised on his fellow Argentine’s mistake to move into a lead he would not lose.
In the end, Montenegro – already the youngest race winner in the series’ short history – went on to win by over eight seconds from team-mate Juan Manuel Casella.
Casella had been running in fourth, but when Rosso and Llaver made contact on lap nine he was able to move into second.
Llaver claimed the final podium position, ahead of the PMO Motorsport Lynk & Co of reigning champion Fabricio Pezzini, who had started from the back to a pre-race engine change.
W2 Pro GP’s Galid Osman was fifth, having run in second early on before being caught by the Toyotas again.
His team-mate Raphael Reis recovered from a poor qualifying to take sixth, ahead of Paladini Racing’s Rosso in seventh.
PMO Lynk & Co driver Rafael Suzuki was eighth, having also had an engine change which sent him to the back of the grid.
The top ten was completed by the Toyota of José Manuel Sapag and the Scuderia Chiarelli Hyundai of Pedro Cardoso.
Cobra Racing’s Diego Nunes was the only retirmeent of the race, having completed just over half the distance.
Race one result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP | GD |
| 1 | 23 |  |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 16 | 26:59.453 | 1:40.299 | 3 | |
| 2 | 60 |  |
Juan Manuel CASELLA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 16 | 8.082 | 1:40.211 | 4 | |
| 3 | 17 | |
Bernardo LLAVER | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 16 | 12.925 | 1:40.573 | 2 | |
| 4 | 1 | |
Fabricio PEZZINI | PMO Motorsport | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 16 | 13.683 | 1:40.214 | 9 | |
| 5 | 28 |  |
Galid OSMAN | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 16 | 14.911 | 1:40.014 | 5 | |
| 6 | 77 | |
Raphael REIS | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 16 | 15.373 | 1:40.323 | 14 | |
| 7 | 2 | |
Juan Ángel ROSSO | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 16 | 21.486 | 1:40.745 | 1 | |
| 8 | 8 | |
Rafael SUZUKI | PMO Motorsport | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 16 | 21.643 | 1:40.675 | 8 | |
| 9 | 33 | |
José Manuel SAPAG | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 16 | 25.620 | 1:41.300 | 10 | |
| 10 | 43 | |
Pedro CARDOSO | Scuderia Chiarelli | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 16 | 26.178 | 1:40.855 | 12 | |
| 11 | 5 | |
Fabián YANNANTUONI | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 16 | 26.987 | 1:41.514 | 6 | |
| 12 | 24 | |
Frederick BALBI | PMO Motorsport | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 16 | 27.788 | 1:40.427 | 11 | |
| 13 | 7 | |
Juan Pablo BESSONE | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 16 | 35.073 | 1:41.249 | 17 | |
| 14 | 34 | T | |
Fabio CASAGRANDE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 16 | 38.221 | 1:41.248 | 7 |
| 15 | 15 | T | |
Enrique MAGLIONE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 16 | 55.018 | 1:41.868 | 15 |
| 16 | 69 | |
Gonzalo ALTERIO | Alfa Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 16 | 1:00.269 | 1:42.646 | 18 | |
| 17 | 10 | T | |
Adalberto BAPTISTA | Cobra Racing Team | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 16 | 1:22.900 | 1:43.384 | 19 |
| 18 | 20 | T | |
Pablo OTERO | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 16 | 1:25.590 | 1:41.872 | 16 |
| 19 | 55 | T | |
Diego GUTIERREZ | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 16 | 1:40.157 | 1:43.621 | 20 |
| R | 70 | |
Diego NUNES | Cobra Racing Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 9 | DNF | 1:41.365 | 13 |
For race two, Sapag would line-up on the partially-reversed grid pole, with Pezzini alongside. At the start, Sapag was able to hold on to the lead, with Pezzini holding station in second in the opening laps.
However, the safety car was required at the end of the opening tour after PMO’s Frederick Balbi crashed out with an issue on his Lynk & Co.
Racing resumed on lap five, with Sapag still holding the lead, whilst Casella passed Pezzini for second on lap six.
The Squadra Martino driver then passed Sapag for the lead on lap ten and held that place for five laps, but by lap 12 Montenegro had already risen to second and set about catching his team-mate.
On lap 15, the youngster made his move on his Uruguayan team-mate and led for the final four laps to complete a memorable double victory – and another 1-2 for the Squadra Martino team.
Sapag was third – scoring his first podium since switching to Toyota machinery – ahead of team-mate Llaver in fourth.
After losing second to Casella, Pezzini then dropped behind Montenegro to fourth on lap ten, before ultimately stopping on lap 12 due to an issue on his Lynk & Co.
That allowed Rosso to claim fifth, although contact with Rafael Suzuki late in the race ultimately resulted in the exclusion from the result for the Brazilian Lynk & Co driver.
Rosso’s team-mate Fabián Yannantuoni took sixth, ahead of the leading W2 CUPRA of Raphael Reis in seventh.
The top ten was completed by Cardoso, Squadra Martino’s Fabio Casagrande and Cobra’s Audi driven by Nunes.
A souble win for montenegro sees him extend his championship lead to 155 points, ahead of Llaver (113) and Casella (95).
The next event is an endurance race to be held at Termas de Río Hondo on 29 – 30 April.
Race two result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP | GD |
| 1 | 23 | |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 18 | 33:00.062 | 1:40.159 | 8 | |
| 2 | 60 | |
Juan Manuel CASELLA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 18 | 1.134 | 1:40.383 | 7 | |
| 3 | 33 | |
José Manuel SAPAG | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 18 | 8.869 | 1:40.501 | 1 | |
| 4 | 17 | |
Bernardo LLAVER | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 18 | 11.371 | 1:40.501 | 9 | |
| 5 | 2 | |
Juan Ángel ROSSO | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 18 | 11.856 | 1:40.356 | 10 | |
| 6 | 5 | |
Fabián YANNANTUONI | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 18 | 17.632 | 1:41.279 | 5 | |
| 7 | 77 | |
Raphael REIS | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 18 | 18.081 | 1:40.026 | 14 | |
| 8 | 43 | |
Pedro CARDOSO | Scuderia Chiarelli | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 18 | 18.774 | 1:41.105 | 12 | |
| 9 | 34 | T | |
Fabio CASAGRANDE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 18 | 26.127 | 1:40.634 | 4 |
| 10 | 70 | |
Diego NUNES | Cobra Racing Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 18 | 32.581 | 1:40.855 | 13 | |
| 11 | 69 | |
Gonzalo ALTERIO | Alfa Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 18 | 46.203 | 1:42.443 | 18 | |
| 12 | 10 | T | |
Adalberto BAPTISTA | Cobra Racing Team | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 18 | 47.272 | 1:42.602 | 19 |
| 13 | 55 | T | |
Diego GUTIERREZ | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 15 | + 3 LAPS | 1:43.445 | 20 |
| R | 1 | |
Fabricio PEZZINI | PMO Motorsport | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 12 | DNF | 1:40.713 | 2 | |
| R | 15 | T | |
Enrique MAGLIONE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 12 | DNF | 1:42.316 | 15 |
| R | 28 | |
Galid OSMAN | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 9 | DNF | 1:40.701 | 6 | |
| R | 7 | |
Juan Pablo BESSONE | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 8 | DNF | 1:41.932 | 17 | |
| R | 20 | T | |
Pablo OTERO | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 7 | DNF | 1:43.286 | 16 |
| R | 24 | |
Frederick BALBI | PMO Motorsport | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 2 | DNF | 1:42.036 | 11 | |
| EX | 8 | |
Rafael SUZUKI | PMO Motorsport | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 18 | EXC | – | 3 |