Pepe Oriola edged closer to the TCR South America title with a comfortable victory in the opening race at the Autoódromo Concepción del Uruguay, as he beat Raphael Reis and sole remaining title contender Rodrigo Baptista.
At the start, Oriola got the jump on pole-sitter and title rival Rodrigo Baptista to lead into the first corner, as Baptista had to focus on holding on to second from Oriola’s team-mate Raphael Reis.
Baptista tried to come back at Oriola’s Honda heading up to Turn 3, but couldn’t get through, whilst series newcomer Dorian Mansilla in a Squadra Martino Honda claimed third from Reis at the same corner, having a turn earlier been forced onto the grass at the exit.
Veteran racer Ernesto Bessone had been fifth in his PMO Peugeot on the opening lap, before he ran wide exiting Turn 2 and dropped to seventh.
After a few laps, Oriola began to open up a margin over Baptista, who was soon coming under pressure from Mansilla’s Honda.
On lap eight, Juan Pablo Bessone went off in the second of the Squadra Martino Honda Civic FK8s, ultimately leaving his car stopped on the infield.
By lap ten Mansilla was pressuring Baptista more than ever, whilst in turn coming under attack from Reis. Mansilla finally claimed second at the exit of Turn 7, with Reis following through, but it would be a short-lived gain as a few corners later Mansilla’s front-right tyre gave way, effectively forcing him out of the race as his tyre shredded.
That set the result, with little changing in the final three laps, as Oriola won by 1.6 seconds, his fourth win of the season, to open up a 22-point lead in the series ahead of Sunday’s finale.
Reis was second, but being 30 points behind Oriola he is now officially out of title contention, whilst Baptista completed the podium.
Ernesto Bessone recovered to finish fourth in his PMO Peugeot, ahead of Fabio Casagrande’s older-spec Squadra Martino Honda in fifth.
Adalberto Baptista was the only other driver on the lead lap in sixth in his Cobra Racing Audi.
PMO Motorsport’s Fabricio Pezzini failed to take the start after an issue with his Lynk & Co after qualifying – he would have lined up in fourth on the grid.
Race two is scheduled to get underway at 09:00 local time (12:00 GMT, 13:00 CET).
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 74 |  |
Pepe ORIOLA | W2 Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 13 | 20:12.922 | 1:30.451 | 2 | |
| 2 | 77 |  |
Raphael REIS | W2 Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 13 | 1.670 | 3 | ||
| 3 | 13 | |
Rodrigo BAPTISTA | Cobra Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 13 | 3.540 | 1 | ||
| 4 | 44 |  |
Ernesto BESSONE | PMO Motorsport | Peugeot 308 TCR | 13 | 13.444 | 6 | ||
| 5 | 16 | |
Fabio CASAGRANDE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK2 TCR | 13 | 18.637 | 8 | ||
| 6 | 10 | |
Adalberto BAPTISTA | Cobra Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 13 | 47.567 | 9 | ||
| 7 | 170 | |
Dorian MANSILLA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 10 | + 3 LAPS | 5 | ||
| R | 133 | |
Juan Pablo BESSONE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 7 | DNF | 7 | ||
| NS | 113 | |
Fabricio PEZZINI | PMO Motorsport | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 4 |