Raphael Reis and Jorge Barrio have claimed pole position for the TCR South America endurance race at Termas de Río Hondo in Argentina, putting their CUPRA on pole by almost four tenths of a second.
The session was split into two parts, with the ‘guest’ drivers posting their lap times first, followed by the ‘championship contenders’ with whom they share a car for the event.
Barrio, drafted in to partner Reis in the W2 Pro GP CUPRA, topped the ‘guest’ drivers session with a lap time of 1 minute 49.231 seconds, which proved to be the fastest anyone would ultimately go in the session.
Damián Fineschi, sharing a PMO Racing Peugeot with Facundo Marques, was over three tenths of a second back as his closest challenger in the opening part of the session.
In the second part of the session, Reis ensured a pole for W2 Pro GP, continuing where his driving partner had left off to top the session, resulting in a combined time of 3 minutes 39.338 seconds, which was nearly four tenths clear of anyone else.
Fineschi and Marques qualified in second overall, with third going to the pairing of Toyota Team Argentina’s Bernardo Llaver and Gaston Iansa.
Rafael Suzuki and Matías Signorelli were the leading PMO Motorsport Lynk & Co drivers in fourth, ahead of team-mates Frederick Balbi and Matías Russo.
Championship leader Ignacio Montenegro is partnering with Lucas Colombo Russell this weekend, with the pair putting their Honda in sixth, just under two seconds off the pace.
On his first outing in a Toyota, reigning champion Fabricio Pezzini was tenth fastest, although Pezzini’s time in his part of the session had only been good enough for 12th, before the duo’s ranking improved on aggregate.
The one-hour race is due to start at 11:25 local time (15:25 BST, 16:25 CEST) on Sunday. Teams have to provide notification in advance which driver will start the race.
Combined qualifying results
| POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 77 |  |
Raphael REIS |  |
Jorge BARRIO | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 3:39.338 | – |
| 2 | 88 | |
Facundo MARQUES | |
Damián FINESCHI | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 3:39.730 | 0.392 |
| 3 | 17 | |
Bernardo LLAVER | |
Gaston IANSA | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 3:40.225 | 0.887 |
| 4 | 8 | |
Rafael SUZUKI | |
Matías SIGNORELLI | PMO Motorsport | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 3:41.059 | 1.721 |
| 5 | 24 |  |
Frederick BALBI | |
Matías RUSSO | PMO Motorsport | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 3:41.168 | 1.830 |
| 6 | 23 | |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | |
Lucas COLOMBO RUSSELL | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 3:41.176 | 1.838 |
| 7 | 33 | |
José Manuel SAPAG | |
Marcelo CIARROCCHI | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 3:41.335 | 1.997 |
| 8 | 60 | |
Juan Manuel CASELLA | |
Matías MILLA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 3:41.486 | 2.148 |
| 9 | 15 | |
Enrique MAGLIONE | |
Rodrigo ARAMENDIA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 3:41.525 | 2.187 |
| 10 | 5 | |
Fabián YANNANTUONI | |
Fabricio PEZZINI | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 3:41.760 | 2.422 |
| 11 | 7 | |
Juan Pablo BESSONE | |
Ever FRANETOVICH | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 3:41.785 | 2.447 |
| 12 | 2 | |
Juan Ángel ROSSO | |
Luciano FARRONI | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 3:41.917 | 2.579 |
| 13 | 43 | |
Pedro CARDOSO | |
Mathias DE VALLE | Scuderia Chiarelli | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 3:42.401 | 3.063 |
| 14 | 70 | |
Diego NUNES | |
Pedro NUNES | Cobra Racing Team | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 3:42.585 | 3.247 |
| 15 | 10 | |
Adalberto BAPTISTA | |
Rodrigo BAPTISTA | Cobra Racing Team | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 3:42.727 | 3.389 |
| 16 | 20 | |
Pablo OTERO | |
Leandro RAMA | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 3:42.999 | 3.661 |
| 17 | 34 | |
Fabio CASAGRANDE | |
Franco COSCIA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 3:43.170 | 3.832 |
| 18 | 87 | |
Franco FARINA | |
Michell BONNIN | Alfa Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 3:44.189 | 4.851 |
| 19 | 37 | |
Guilherme REISCHL | |
Ernesto BESSONE | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 3:44.575 | 5.237 |
| 20 | 69 | |
Gonzalo ALTERIO | |
Carlos Javier MERLO | Alfa Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 3:45.195 | 5.857 |
| 21 | 28 | |
Galid OSMAN | |
Felipe LAPENNA | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 4:23.171 | 43.833 |
| 22 | 55 | |
Diego GUTIERREZ | |
Gustavo FERNIGRINI | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | No time | N/A |