Esteban Guerrieri and Norbert Michelisz take Interlagos victories

GOAT Racing’s Esteban Guerrieri and BRC Racing’s Norbert Michelisz were victorious in Sunday’s FIA TCR World Tour races at Interlagos in Brazil, with the latter extending his championship advantage.

On Saturday, Cyan Racing’s Santiago Urrutia had claimed pole position, with Guerrieri also demonstrating very strong pace at the Sao Paolo circuit as he secured a front-row grid position alongside his fellow South American rival.

Race one

Guerrieri made a better launch from the line to beat pole-sitter Urrutia to the first corner, with the Cyan Racing driver having to defend second by moving across to block the advances of the fast-starting Honda of Marco Butti in third.

Urruti tried to re-pass Guerrieri for the lead around Turn 5, looking to the outside line and rubbing the leading GOAT Racing Honda, but the Lynk & Co driver couldn’t complete the pass.

Volcano Motorsport’s John Filippi had the shortest race of all, stalling his Audi on the line and never getting away, resulting in the safety car being called at the end of the lap to recover the Corsican’s car.

When the race resumed on lap five, Guerrieri began to pull clear from Uruguayan Urrutia, and ultimately was unchallenged on his way to a first victory of the season which hauls him back into outright title contention.

Urrutia was a distant second, ten seconds adrift, with Butti completing the podium less than a second further back, as the leading cars failed to challenge each other after the race settled down.

Having slipped back at the start, Cyan Racing’s Yann Ehrlacher was fourth, ahead of team-mate Thed Björk in fifth, who overtook BRC Racing’s Néstor Girolami for the place on lap five with a confident move at Turn 8.

Girolami was one of the main movers in the race, albeit in the wrong direction. The Hyundai driver found himself defending from a five-car train on lap seven, after team-mate Norbert Michelisz took sixth a lap prior, and Ma Qing Hua got by for seventh at Turn 8.

GOAT Racing’s Dušan Borković tried to follow at the exit, but the two made contact and Borković was sent sideways across the infield, rejoining at Turn 10. That dropped the Serbian driver to 13^th, whilst Girolami fell to eighth.

As Borković staged a recovery, passing Nelson Piquet Jr for 12^th on lap eight and then Matías Rossi and Rafael Suzuki for 11^th and tenth in succession on lap ten and eleven, Girolami fell back.

Borković finally got Girolami for ninth immediately after he passed Suzuki on lap 11, and Girolami found himself defending heavily again, this time from the Peugeot.

On the penultimate lap, Girolami went deep in Turn 8, allowing Suzuki through for tenth. Two corners later, Rossi tried to follow, but in turn left the door open to Piquet Jr, who hit the Toyota and Rossi was sent into the barriers on the exit heavily.

The dramas meant Michelisz had an untroubled run to sixth thereafter, ahead of Ma, Mikel Azcona, Borković and Suzuki completing the top ten, the latter winning the TCR South America classification.

Piquet Jr was 11^th, despite receiving a five-second penalty for the contact with Rossi, the reprimand having no effect on his classification.

Race one result

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	186	WT		Esteban GUERRIERI	GOAT Racing	Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR	14	26:50.568	1:42.950	2
2	112	WT		Santiago URRUTIA	Lynk & Co Cyan Racing	Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR	14	10.040	1:43.112	1
3	199	WT		Marco BUTTI	GOAT Racing	Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR	14	10.860	1:43.589	4
4	168	WT		Yann EHRLACHER	Lynk & Co Cyan Racing	Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR	14	11.594	1:43.848	3
5	111	WT		Thed BJÖRK	Lynk & Co Cyan Racing	Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR	14	12.605	1:44.372	6
6	105	WT		Norbert MICHELISZ	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	14	13.198	1:44.378	10
7	155	WT		MA Qing Hua	Lynk & Co Cyan Racing	Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR	14	14.662	1:43.851	9
8	196	WT		Mikel AZCONA	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	14	14.842	1:44.714	13
9	62	WT		Dušan BORKOVIĆ	GOAT Racing	Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR	14	16.783	1:44.495	11
10	8	SA		Rafael SUZUKI	PMO Racing	Peugeot 308 TCR	14	21.677	1:44.850	8
11	9	SA		Nelson PIQUET JR	Squadra Martino	Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR	14	30.640	1:45.030	14
12	16	SA		Juan Ángel ROSSO	Paladini Racing	Toyota Corolla GRS TCR	14	38.954	1:44.900	12
13	129	WT		Néstor GIROLAMI	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	14	41.211	1:45.572	5
14	5	SA		Fabián YANNANTUONI	Paladini Racing	Toyota Corolla GRS TCR	14	43.896	1:45.420	21
15	43	SA		Pedro CARDOSO	PMO Racing	Peugeot 308 TCR	14	44.732	1:45.270	16
16	60	SA		Juan Manuel CASELLA	Squadra Martino	Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR	14	45.274	1:44.955	18
17	77	SA		Raphael REIS	W2 Pro GP	CUPRA Leon VZ TCR	14	46.070	1:45.140	7
18	7	SA		Thiago VIVACQUA	Cobra Racing Team	Toyota Corolla GRS TCR	14	46.372	1:45.768	22
19	47	SA		Norberto FONTANA	Cobra Racing Team	Toyota Corolla GRS TCR	14	47.382	1:46.457	26
20	37	SA		Guilherme REISCHL	W2 Pro GP	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	14	48.680	1:46.022	27
21	73	SA		Diego GUTIERREZ	Paladini Racing	Toyota Corolla GRS TCR	14	49.808	1:46.356	28
22	44	SA		Leonel PERNÍA	PMO Racing	Peugeot 308 TCR	13	+ 1 LAP	1:45.757	20
23	17	SA		Matías ROSSI	Toyota Team Argentina	Toyota Corolla GRS TCR	12	+ 2 LAPS	1:45.013	19
R	28	SA		Galid OSMAN	W2 Pro GP	CUPRA Leon VZ TCR	9	DNF	1:44.948	17
R	27	SA		Marcos REGADAS	PMO Racing	Peugeot 308 TCR	9	DNF	1:45.590	24
R	15	SA		Enrique MAGLIONE	Squadra Martino	Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR	1	DNF	N/A	23
R	127	WT		John FILIPPI	Volcano Motorsport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR II	1	DNF	3:28.591	15
R	34	SA		Fabio CASAGRANDE	Squadra Martino	Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR	0	DNF	N/A	25

Race two

The reverse-grid race saw BRC’s Michelisz start from pole position, alongside Cyan Racing’s Ma, with the leading TCR South America starter being the PMO Racing-run Peugeot of Suzuki in third.

At the start, Michelisz made a good launch to lead, as Suzuki quickly dropped behind Cyan Racing’s Björk away from the line.

The biggest drama came into Turn 4, as Girolami went wide and allowed both Ehrlacher and Raphael Reis inside his Hyundai.

Three-into-one didn’t go, and Ehrlacher came off worst following contact, dropping to the back of the pack and then pitting at the end of the lap along with Girolami.

The close-quarters racing continued into the second lap, when Galid Osman spun at Turn 2 as Piquet went wide with damage to his Honda.

Further around the lap, contact between Cobra Racing’s Thiago Vivacqua and Squadra Martino’s Juan Manuel Casella pitched the latter off into the barriers heavily, and out of the race, his stricken Honda also requiring a single-lap safety car pause.

As racing resumed on lap four, Ma sought to apply heavy pressure to Michelisz, but the Hungarian stood firm, and as the race went on Ma just couldn’t find a way through.

Five laps from the finish, Ma ceded ground to both team-mates Björk and Urrutia who had caught up to him, but the positions at the front went unchanged, giving Michelisz a second win of the season.

Björk took second, over two-and-a-half seconds back, with Ma completing the podium after Urrutia was given a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits during an earlier overtake.

That penalty for Urrutia also saw him lose out to his race one rival Guerrieri, who had gone from ninth to fifth on the opening lap. Guerrieri was ultimately fourth as the leading GOAT Racing Honda in the field.

Urrutia was thus classified in fifth, ahead of the second Honda of Marco Butti in sixth. It could have been Borković in sixth, but the Serbian driver retired to the pits after ten laps with a front-right wheel issue.

After failing to start race one, Volcano Motorsport’s Filippi was seventh, ahead of the leading TCR South America driver for the second race in a row, Suzuki in eighth.

The top ten was completed by BRC’s Mikel Azcona and W2 Pro GP’s Reis, whilst Girolami was 11^th in another challenging race for the Hyundai driver.

Michelisz has now extended his points tally to 196 points, ahead of Guerrieri (181), Ehrlacher (164), Björk (159) and Azcona (150).

The next TCR World Tour event is at El Pinar in Uruguay on 6 – 8 August.

Race two result

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	105	WT		Norbert MICHELISZ	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	18	32:24.174	1:43.952	1
2	111	WT		Thed BJÖRK	Lynk & Co Cyan Racing	Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR	18	2.618	1:43.969	5
3	155	WT		MA Qing Hua	Lynk & Co Cyan Racing	Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR	18	8.698	1:43.905	2
4	186	WT		Esteban GUERRIERI	GOAT Racing	Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR	18	8.950	1:43.865	9
5	112	WT		Santiago URRUTIA	Lynk & Co Cyan Racing	Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR	18	10.224	1:43.680	10
6	199	WT		Marco BUTTI	GOAT Racing	Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR	18	14.210	1:44.555	7
7	127	WT		John FILIPPI	Volcano Motorsport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR II	18	15.006	1:44.500	15
8	8	SA		Rafael SUZUKI	PMO Racing	Peugeot 308 TCR	18	19.601	1:45.171	3
9	196	WT		Mikel AZCONA	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	18	22.168	1:44.753	13
10	77	SA		Raphael REIS	W2 Pro GP	CUPRA Leon VZ TCR	18	28.569	1:45.407	4
11	129	WT		Néstor GIROLAMI	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	18	33.056	1:45.359	6
12	5	SA		Fabián YANNANTUONI	Paladini Racing	Toyota Corolla GRS TCR	18	44.405	1:45.848	21
13	15	SA		Enrique MAGLIONE	Squadra Martino	Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR	18	55.539	1:46.430	23
14	73	SA		Diego GUTIERREZ	Paladini Racing	Toyota Corolla GRS TCR	18	56.053	1:46.354	27
15	34	SA		Fabio CASAGRANDE	Squadra Martino	Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR	18	57.366	1:46.780	24
16	47	SA		Norberto FONTANA	Cobra Racing Team	Toyota Corolla GRS TCR	18	1:00.219	1:46.941	25
17	16	SA		Juan Ángel ROSSO	Paladini Racing	Toyota Corolla GRS TCR	18	1:15.002	1:47.179	12
18	43	SA		Pedro CARDOSO	PMO Racing	Peugeot 308 TCR	18	1:38.972	1:45.382	16
19	9	SA		Nelson PIQUET JR	Squadra Martino	Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR	16	+ 2 LAPS	1:45.078	14
20	168	WT		Yann EHRLACHER	Lynk & Co Cyan Racing	Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR	15	+ 3 LAPS	1:43.248	8
R	28	SA		Galid OSMAN	W2 Pro GP	CUPRA Leon VZ TCR	11	DNF	1:44.871	17
R	62	WT		Dušan BORKOVIĆ	GOAT Racing	Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR	9	DNF	1:44.270	11
R	7	SA		Thiago VIVACQUA	Cobra Racing Team	Toyota Corolla GRS TCR	2	DNF	1:55.142	22
R	60	SA		Juan Manuel CASELLA	Squadra Martino	Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR	1	DNF	1:55.419	18
NS	37	SA		Guilherme REISCHL	W2 Pro GP	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	–	DNS	N/A	26
NS	17	SA		Matías ROSSI	Toyota Team Argentina	Toyota Corolla GRS TCR	–	DNS	N/A	19
NS	44	SA		Leonel PERNÍA	PMO Racing	Peugeot 308 TCR	–	DNS	N/A	20
NS	27	SA		Marcos REGADAS	PMO Racing	Peugeot 308 TCR	–	DNS	N/A	28