Toyota’s Matías Rossi scored his first TCR South America pole position in qualifying at Villicum in San Juan, beating Squadra Martino’s Juan Manuel Casella by over three tenths of a second.
Rossi had earlier been second to Leonel Pernía in Q1, but the Argentine went even quicker in Q2 to secure the first pole of the Argentine leg of the series.
Casella had been only eighth fastest in the earlier session, but the Uruguayan found seven tenths of a second to end up in second quickest and secure his best qualifying result since the season opener.
Series returnee Matías Cravero, an occasional racer in TCR, was an impressive third, having taken over the Squadra Martino Honda Civic FK7 previously raced by Rodrigo Baptista.
PMO Racing’s Pernía was the best of the Peugeots in fourth, having only improved his pace-setting Q1 time by a tenth in Q2, ahead of the CUPRA of W2 Pro GP’s Galid Osman in fifth.
Rafael Suzuki was sixth in his Peugeot, ahead of the leading Paladini Racing Toyota of Juan Ángel Rosso in seventh and Raphael Reis’ CUPRA in eighth.
Luis Ramírez, the first Panamanian TCR driver, was ninth, whilst championship leader Pedro Cardoso could only manage tenth in his PMO Peugeot, some 1.14 seconds off the pace.
Race one is scheduled to get underway at 09:41 local time on Sunday (13:41 BST, 14:41 CEST), followed by race two at 12:41 local time.
Q2 results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 17 |  |
Matías ROSSI | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 4 | 1:44.367 | – |
| 2 | 60 |  |
Juan Manuel CASELLA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 5 | 1:44.734 | 0.367 |
| 3 | 38 | |
Matías CRAVERO | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 4 | 1:44.766 | 0.399 |
| 4 | 44 | |
Leonel PERNÍA | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 4 | 1:44.778 | 0.411 |
| 5 | 28 |  |
Galid OSMAN | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 4 | 1:44.915 | 0.548 |
| 6 | 8 | |
Rafael SUZUKI | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 4 | 1:45.032 | 0.665 |
| 7 | 16 | |
Juan Ángel ROSSO | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 5 | 1:45.158 | 0.791 |
| 8 | 77 | |
Raphael REIS | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 4 | 1:45.179 | 0.812 |
| 9 | 33 |  |
Luis RAMÍREZ | Squadra Martino Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 4 | 1:45.412 | 1.045 |
| 10 | 43 | |
Pedro CARDOSO | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 4 | 1:45.507 | 1.140 |
| 11 | 5 | |
Fabián YANNANTUONI | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 4 | 1:46.130 | 1.763 |
| 12 | 34 | |
Fabio CASAGRANDE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 5 | 1:46.220 | 1.853 |
Q1 results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 44 | |
Leonel PERNÍA | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 5 | 1:44.807 | – |
| 2 | 17 | |
Matías ROSSI | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 6 | 1:44.999 | 0.192 |
| 3 | 8 | |
Rafael SUZUKI | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 7 | 1:45.015 | 0.208 |
| 4 | 16 | |
Juan Ángel ROSSO | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 6 | 1:45.118 | 0.311 |
| 5 | 38 | |
Matías CRAVERO | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 6 | 1:45.130 | 0.323 |
| 6 | 77 | |
Raphael REIS | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 8 | 1:45.149 | 0.342 |
| 7 | 28 | |
Galid OSMAN | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 8 | 1:45.238 | 0.431 |
| 8 | 60 | |
Juan Manuel CASELLA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 5 | 1:45.407 | 0.600 |
| 9 | 33 | |
Luis RAMÍREZ | Squadra Martino Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 7 | 1:45.549 | 0.742 |
| 10 | 5 | |
Fabián YANNANTUONI | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 7 | 1:45.832 | 1.025 |
| 11 | 43 | |
Pedro CARDOSO | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 9 | 1:45.956 | 1.149 |
| 12 | 34 | |
Fabio CASAGRANDE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 8 | 1:45.970 | 1.163 |
| 13 | 7 | |
Thiago VIVACQUA | Cobra Racing Team | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 9 | 1:46.481 | 1.674 |
| 14 | 2 | |
Marcio BASSO | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 8 | 1:46.523 | 1.716 |
| 15 | 19 | |
Matías CHAS | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 9 | 1:46.872 | 2.065 |
| 16 | 15 | |
Enrique MAGLIONE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 8 | 1:46.946 | 2.139 |