Juan Manuel Casella closed in further on the TCR South America championship lead with victory in the opening race at Termas de Río Hondo, with Leonel Pernía also keeping his title chances alive with a win in race two.
Race one
At the start of the opening race, pole-sitter Rodrigo Baptista made a good start, but from third on the grid Casella immediately tucked in behind the older Honda and went to the outside line for the first corner with good momentum.
That allowed him to hold the line and have the inside for the second turn, handing Casella the lead from his Squadra Martino team-mate.
W2 Pro GP’s Raphael Reis assumed third, with fourth-placed Matías Rossi aggressively defending his position early on from Leonel Pernía’s Peugeot behind.
On the second lap, Reis tried to take second from Baptista, but the Honda immediately reclaimed the place, with the battling allowing Rossi’s Toyota up to third.
Rossi was defending from Reis when the safety car was called for on lap six after Fabián Yannantuoni clumsily made contact with Bautista Damiani’s CUPRA at the Turn 4 hairpin, after the latter had passed both him and Galid Osman under braking.
Racing resumed after two laps behind the safety car, but no one could catch and pass Casella, who secured his second successive victory ahead of Baptista.
Rossi completed the podium, whilst Pernía took fourth from Reis on the penultimate lap with a well-judged move around the outside at the second corner, leaving Reis to take fifth.
PMO Racing’s Pedro Cardoso kept his championship lead intact by finishing in sixth after a race featuring heavy defending from Osman’s CUPRA, the latter following his Brazilian compatriot home in seventh.
Series rookie Tiago Pernía was eighth for Squadra Martino, with Paladini Racing’s Juan Ángel Rosso and Squadra Martino’s Matías Cravero completing the top ten.
Rafael Suzuki retired from the race after just one lap with an engine issue which would also rule him out of race two later on.
Race one result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 60 |  |
Juan Manuel CASELLA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 14 | 28:38.815 | 1:50.176 | 3 | |
| 2 | 3 |  |
Rodrigo BAPTISTA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 14 | 0.609 | 1:50.454 | 1 | |
| 3 | 17 |  |
Matías ROSSI | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 14 | 3.477 | 1:50.386 | 4 | |
| 4 | 44 | |
Leonel PERNÍA | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 14 | 4.699 | 1:50.892 | 6 | |
| 5 | 77 | |
Raphael REIS | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 14 | 5.647 | 1:50.573 | 2 | |
| 6 | 43 | |
Pedro CARDOSO | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 14 | 7.353 | 1:50.651 | 8 | |
| 7 | 28 | |
Galid OSMAN | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 14 | 7.593 | 1:50.744 | 9 | |
| 8 | 85 | |
Tiago PERNÍA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 14 | 8.177 | 1:51.412 | 7 | |
| 9 | 16 | |
Juan Ángel ROSSO | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 14 | 13.001 | 1:51.443 | 12 | |
| 10 | 38 | |
Matías CRAVERO | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 14 | 16.032 | 1:51.460 | 11 | |
| 11 | 7 | |
Thiago VIVACQUA | Cobra Racing Team | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 14 | 16.628 | 1:52.184 | 14 | |
| 12 | 15 | |
Enrique MAGLIONE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 14 | 52.315 | 1:52.259 | 15 | |
| 13 | 99 | |
Bautista DAMIANI | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 4 | DNF | 1:51.238 | 13 | |
| 14 | 5 | |
Fabián YANNANTUONI | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 4 | DSQ | 1:51.506 | 10 | |
| 15 | 8 | |
Rafael SUZUKI | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 1 | DSQ | N/A | 5 |
Race two
Paladini Racing’s Yannantuoni started the reverse-grid race from pole, but the Toyota driver made a poor start and it was Osman and Cardoso battling for the lead into the first corner from second and third on the grid.
However, as they battled into Turn 2, Leonel Pernía caught them both by surprise, diving inside to take the lead, having started in fifth.
Further around the lap, contact between Pernía’s son Tiago and Reis’ CUPRA saw the latter spin across the grass backwards, but both were able to rejoin the field at the back of the pack.
That incident prompted a nervy race control to quickly send out the safety car for a lap, and after a slow second tour, racing resumed on lap three.
Race one winner Casella was at this stage running in sixth, but he quickly passed Yannantuoni for fifth heading into the Turn 4 hairpin, and then took Rossi’s Toyota at the same corner two laps later.
By this stage, Rossi had been handed a drive-through penalty for an out of position start, and when he eventually served it on lap eight he dropped to near the back of the field anyway.
At the front, Leonel Pernía and Osman ran close throughout the race, but the Brazilian couldn’t get by the Argentine, who claimed his third win of the season by just over a second.
Cardoso completed the podium; finishing one place ahead of main title rival Casella means that the duo are separated by just two points heading into the season finale at Rosario.
Yannantuoni was fifth, moving up a place after Rossi’s penalty, ahead of series rookie Damiani in sixth.
Rosso took seventh after a quiet race which nonetheless kept his increasingly slim title chances alive, ahead of a determined recovery drive from Reis in eighth, who also heads into next month’s finale still in with a shot at the title.
Reis had to battle hard for the place, though. He made contact with Cravero on lap 11, temporarily allowing Baptista into seventh, before getting back past his fellow Brazilian.
Reis and Baptista then made contact at the same place as Reis had his earlier incident when battling for sixth late in the race, the resulting damage ending Baptista’s race whilst Reis dropped behind Damiani and Rosso in the process.
Cardoso continues to lead the championship with 430 points, ahead of Casella (428), Reis (382), Rosso (365) and Leonel Pernía (342) as the only drivers still in overall title contention.
The season finale is at Rosario on 30 November – 1 December.
Race two result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 44 | |
Leonel PERNÍA | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 17 | 33:07.631 | 1:51.016 | 5 | |
| 2 | 28 | |
Galid OSMAN | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 17 | 1.007 | 1:50.959 | 2 | |
| 3 | 43 | |
Pedro CARDOSO | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 17 | 10.611 | 1:51.268 | 3 | |
| 4 | 60 | |
Juan Manuel CASELLA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 17 | 14.451 | 1:51.524 | 8 | |
| 5 | 5 | |
Fabián YANNANTUONI | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 17 | 14.945 | 1:52.346 | 1 | |
| 6 | 99 | |
Bautista DAMIANI | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 17 | 26.248 | 1:52.568 | 13 | |
| 7 | 16 | |
Juan Ángel ROSSO | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 17 | 27.321 | 1:52.800 | 12 | |
| 8 | 77 | |
Raphael REIS | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 17 | 28.059 | 1:51.965 | 9 | |
| 9 | 7 | |
Thiago VIVACQUA | Cobra Racing Team | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 17 | 33.408 | 1:52.699 | 14 | |
| 10 | 38 | |
Matías CRAVERO | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 17 | 33.851 | 1:52.740 | 11 | |
| 11 | 17 | |
Matías ROSSI | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 17 | 39.522 | 1:51.829 | 7 | |
| 12 | 15 | |
Enrique MAGLIONE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 17 | 40.682 | 1:52.508 | 15 | |
| 13 | 85 | |
Tiago PERNÍA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 17 | 1:05.591 | 1:53.514 | 4 | |
| 14 | 3 | |
Rodrigo BAPTISTA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 14 | + 3 LAPS | 1:52.588 | 10 | |
| NS | 8 | |
Rafael SUZUKI | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 0 | DNS | N/A | 6 |