PMO Racing’s Pedro Cardoso took pole position in qualifying for the TCR south America series at Velo Città – but it will be team-mate Leonel Pernía starting from pole in Sunday’s opening race due to a penalty for Cardoso.
Brazilian Cardoso was the class of the field in qualifying, not only topping Q1 with a lap of 1 minute 33.846 seconds, but going on to secure the top time in Q2 with a lap of 1:33.653, over half a second clear of Pernía.
That gave Cardoso an additional ten points for taking pole, moving him to the top of the drivers’ championship standings.
However, the 25-year-old will only start from sixth for Sunday’s opening race, due to receiving a grid penalty at the last round at Cascavel for an on-track incident with the W2 Pro GP drivers Galid Osman and Raphael Reis.
“It was a very good Saturday,” said Cardoso. “The car is very fast, it is perfect. I think I was the only one who lapped in the 1:33s. I’m very happy.
“Unfortunately, I won’t start from pole because I have a penalty from the last event, but it doesn’t really matter much. What we really wanted were the pole position points and we are going to the second race to try to win.”
Thus, Pernía inherits pole in only his second TCR South America event, although the Argentine was nowhere near Cardoso’s time.
Squadra Martino’s Rodrigo Baptista was third in his Honda, ahead of the Toyota of Matías Rossi in fourth.
W2 Pro GP’s Osman and Reis were fifth and sixth fastest respectively in their CUPRAs, followed by the leading Paladini Racing Toyota of Juan Ángel Rosso in seventh.
Rafael Suzuki, who has now switched from a Lynk & Co to a Peugeot with PMO Racing following the team’s split with Full Time Sports, was eighth, 1.2 seconds from pole.
The top ten was completed by Sqaudra Martino’s Juan Manuel Casella and PMO Racing’s Marcos Regadas.
Race one is scheduled to get underway at 10:10 local time (14:10 BST, 15:10 CEST).
Q2 Results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 43 |  |
Pedro CARDOSO | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 4 | 1:33.653 | – |
| 2 | 44 |  |
Leonel PERNÍA | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 4 | 1:34.194 | 0.541 |
| 3 | 3 | |
Rodrigo BAPTISTA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 5 | 1:34.237 | 0.584 |
| 4 | 17 | |
Matías ROSSI | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 4 | 1:34.348 | 0.695 |
| 5 | 28 | |
Galid OSMAN | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 4 | 1:34.464 | 0.811 |
| 6 | 77 | |
Raphael REIS | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 5 | 1:34.524 | 0.871 |
| 7 | 17 | |
Juan Ángel ROSSO | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 5 | 1:34.543 | 0.890 |
| 8 | 8 | |
Rafael SUZUKI | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 4 | 1:34.929 | 1.276 |
| 9 | 60 |  |
Juan Manuel CASELLA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 4 | 1:35.014 | 1.361 |
| 10 | 27 | |
Marcos REGADAS | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 4 | 1:35.342 | 1.689 |
| 11 | 37 | |
Guilherme REISCHL | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 5 | 1:35.961 | 2.308 |
| 12 | 34 | |
Fabio CASAGRANDE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 5 | 1:36.275 | 2.622 |
Q1 Results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 43 | |
Pedro CARDOSO | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 7 | 1:33.846 | – |
| 2 | 77 | |
Raphael REIS | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 6 | 1:33.963 | 0.117 |
| 3 | 17 | |
Matías ROSSI | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 6 | 1:34.283 | 0.437 |
| 4 | 8 | |
Rafael SUZUKI | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 5 | 1:34.301 | 0.455 |
| 5 | 28 | |
Galid OSMAN | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 8 | 1:34.420 | 0.574 |
| 6 | 3 | |
Rodrigo BAPTISTA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 5 | 1:34.478 | 0.632 |
| 7 | 16 | |
Juan Ángel ROSSO | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 9 | 1:34.685 | 0.839 |
| 8 | 44 | |
Leonel PERNÍA | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 9 | 1:34.703 | 0.857 |
| 9 | 27 | |
Marcos REGADAS | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 8 | 1:35.170 | 1.324 |
| 10 | 60 | |
Juan Manuel CASELLA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 6 | 1:35.542 | 1.696 |
| 11 | 34 | |
Fabio CASAGRANDE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 9 | 1:35.653 | 1.807 |
| 12 | 37 | |
Guilherme REISCHL | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 8 | 1:35.661 | 1.815 |
| 13 | 15 | |
Enrique MAGLIONE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 9 | 1:35.722 | 1.876 |
| 14 | 7 | |
Thiago VIVACQUA | Cobra Racing Team | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 8 | 1:35.726 | 1.880 |
| 15 | 73 | |
Diego GUTIERREZ | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 8 | 1:36.593 | 2.747 |
| 16 | 5 | |
Fabián YANNANTUONI | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 0 | No time | N/A |