Juan Manuel Casella scored his first TCR South America victory in race two in Buenos Aires, with Matías Cravero a close second in what was ultimately a sedate race.
Cravero had qualified his older-spec Honda on pole position on Saturday, but at the start it was Casella who got away better from the lights, leading before the first corner.
Cravero and third-placed Leonel Pernía kept Casella honest for the entire distance of the race, with rarely more than a second covering the trio.
However, no one mounted any serious overtaking moves for the duration of the 20-lap race, resulting in Casella winning his first race in the category at the 44th time of asking. Victory moves him closer to the top of the championship lead, with two rounds to go.
Cravero was second, whilst third place for Pernía was the Argentine’s fifth podium finish of the season.
PMO Racing’s Pedro Cardoso was fourth, and with it the Brazilian clinched the TCR Brazil title this year whilst also maintaining his championship lead in TCR South America.
Paladini Racing’s Juan Ángel Rosso was fifth as the leading Toyota, ahead of the red Corolla of Matías Rossi in sixth.
W2 Pro GP’s Raphael Reis was seventh, whilst eighth went to PMO Racing’s Rafael Suzuki, who overtook W2’s Galid Osman for the place on lap nine, as the latter lost three places on the same lap.
Squadra Martino’s Enrique Maglione was ninth, whilst race one winner Osman took tenth.
The most notable incident in the race came on the opening lap when Paladini Racing’s Jake Cosío hit José María López on the opening lap, dropping the latter to 16th and earning Cosío a drive-through penalty for the incident.
López fought back to claim 12th at the flag on his TCR début.
Marcio Basso ran in last before retiring to the pits just past the mid-distance.
Race 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 | 20 | 26:27.331 | 1:19.349 | 3 | ||
2 | 38 | Matías CRAVERO | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 20 | 0.537 | 1:19.344 | 1 | ||
3 | 44 | Leonel PERNÍA | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 20 | 0.958 | 1:19.254 | 2 | ||
4 | 43 | Pedro CARDOSO | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 20 | 3.150 | 1:19.378 | 4 | ||
5 | 16 | Juan Ángel ROSSO | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 20 | 5.051 | 1:19.556 | 7 | ||
6 | 17 | Matías ROSSI | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 20 | 5.889 | 1:19.671 | 5 | ||
7 | 77 | Raphael REIS | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 20 | 8.410 | 1:19.615 | 6 | ||
8 | 8 | Rafael SUZUKI | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 20 | 10.334 | 1:19.700 | 8 | ||
9 | 15 | Enrique MAGLIONE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 20 | 12.119 | 1:19.641 | 13 | ||
10 | 28 | Galid OSMAN | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 20 | 12.811 | 1:19.569 | 9 | ||
11 | 34 | Fabio CASAGRANDE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 20 | 17.003 | 1:19.808 | 11 | ||
12 | 42 | José María LÓPEZ | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 20 | 17.631 | 1:19.150 | 15 | ||
13 | 47 | Norberto FONTANA | Squadra Martino Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 20 | 20.010 | 1:19.726 | 12 | ||
14 | 7 | Thiago VIVACQUA | Cobra Racing Team | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 20 | 20.895 | 1:20.196 | 18 | ||
15 | 73 | Diego GUTIERREZ | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 20 | 43.819 | 1:21.002 | 16 | ||
16 | 27 | Marcos REGADAS | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 20 | 45.449 | 1:20.499 | 10 | ||
17 | 51 | Jake COSÍO | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 20 | 1:03.431 | 1:20.626 | 14 | ||
R | 2 | Marcio BASSO | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 12 | DNF | 1:21.342 | 17 |