Wins for Raphael Reis and Fabricio Pezzini in TCR South America opener

W2 Pro GP’s Raphael Reis and PMO Motorsport’s Fabricio Pezzini shared the victories in the season opener of the TCR South America series at the Autodrome Velo Cittá in Brazil on Sunday.

Having qualified his CUPRA Leon Competición on pole position for race one, Brazilian Reis secured a comfortable lights-to-flag victory in a race in which

At the start, Reis held the lead from Squadra Martino’s Juan Ángel Rosso, who had threatened to pass on the outside into the first corner, as behind them Pezzini slotted into third.

It only took a few more corners before Pezzini muscled his way into second, and the race settled into a rhythm thereafter.

Ultimately Reis secured victory – his second in the series – ahead of the Lynk & Co of Pezzini in third.

Rosso took the chequered flag in fourth, unable to reclaim his podium place, ahead of rookie Gabriel Lusquiños in fifth in his Crown Racing Honda, having come through from the back of the grid after a technical issue in qualifying stopped him posting a time.

Fabio Casagrande was only of only two retirements in the race, the Squadra Martino driver out after seven laps. Earlier in the race he had made contact with Adalberto Baptista’s Audi, which pitched Baptista into the tyres, although he was able to continue. Casagrande had been given a drive-through penalty for the incident.

Race one result

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP	GD
1	77			Raphael REIS	W2 Pro GP	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	15	25:13.723	1:33.081	1
2	7			Fabricio PEZZINI	PMO Motorsport	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	15	4.676	1:34.242	4
3	26			Juan Ángel ROSSO	Squadra Martino	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	15	5.125	1:34.299	2
4	61			Antonio JUNQUEIRA	W2 Pro GP	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	15	13.569	1:34.475	3
5	22			Gabriel LUSQUIÑOS	Crown Racing	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	15	13.743	1:34.684	14
6	33			José Manuel SAPAG	PMO Motorsport	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	15	14.552	1:34.663	6
7	35			Pedro AIZZA	CJ Scuderia	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	15	15.770	1:35.211	5
8	13			Pablo OTERO	PMO Racing	Peugeot 308 TCR	15	17.081	1:36.087	8
9	3			Bia FIGUEIREDO	Cobra Racing Team	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	15	19.602	1:36.057	7
10	87			Franco FARINA	PMO Racing	Peugeot 308 TCR	15	22.971	1:36.032	9
11	37			Guilherme REISCHL	Cobra Racing Team	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	15	30.858	1:37.157	12
12	84			Fernando CROCE	PropCar Racing Team	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	15	42.988	1:39.543	13
13	10			Adalberto BAPTISTA	Cobra Racing Team	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	15	43.985	1:36.555	11
R	34			Fabio CASAGRANDE	Squadra Martino	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	7	DNF	1:36.671	10
R	44			Alessandro MARCHINI	Crown Racing	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	0	DNF	N/A	15

Race two was chaotic from the start. Casagrande was drawn onto the partial reversed grid, with the PMO Racing Peugeot of débutant Franco Farina alongside.

Before the lights went on, Farina signalled he had an issue with his car and opened his door. But the start procedure went ahead, and in avoidance, Reis made contact with Rosso’s Honda, who in turn collected Sapag’s Lynk & Co.

The safety car was then required for two laps, with only Rosso dropping out by this stage (Alessandro Marchini again failed to take the start).

At the restart, Casagrande lost the lead to Pablo Otero’s PMO Peugeot. Casagrande then made contact with Antonio Junqueira’s CUPRA, resulting in the W2 driver being stranded on the circuit.

Race control did not call the safety car in time, and as the marshalls towed Junqueira’s car out of the way, the field came through and narrowly avoided another accident.

The safety car then came out on track again for several laps, as the order of the field was reinstated as it should have been.

With just six minutes left, racing resumed and PMO team-mates Otero and Pezzini diced for the lead, with Pezzini coming out in front.

Sapag then made contact with his team boss Otero, although the two race in cars from different manufacturers. Ultimately Sapag claimed second, his best finish in the series, ahead of Otero in third, although he was later given a post-race 20-second penalty for overtaking behind the safety car, along with Pedro Aizza for a false restart, who had finished in fourth.

Race results

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP	GD
1	7			Fabricio PEZZINI	PMO Motorsport	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	14	31:23.278	1:35.691	7
2	33			José Manuel SAPAG	PMO Motorsport	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	14	2.782	1:36.243	5
3	77			Raphael REIS	W2 Pro GP	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	14	7.272	1:35.952	10
4	22			Gabriel LUSQUIÑOS	Crown Racing	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	14	8.088	1:37.129	14
5	87			Franco FARINA	PMO Racing	Peugeot 308 TCR	14	8.698	1:36.644	2
6	10			Adalberto BAPTISTA	Cobra Racing Team	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	14	11.695	1:37.908	11
7	37			Guilherme REISCHL	Cobra Racing Team	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	14	13.342	1:37.794	12
8	34			Fabio CASAGRANDE	Squadra Martino	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	14	17.749	1:36.313	1
9	13			Pablo OTERO	PMO Racing	Peugeot 308 TCR	14	26.814	1:37.118	3
10	35			Pedro AIZZA	CJ Scuderia	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	14	27.701	1:36.384	6
11	84			Fernando CROCE	PropCar Racing Team	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	14	27.880	1:40.741	13
12	3			Bia FIGUEIREDO	Cobra Racing Team	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	14	28.460	1:37.725	4
R	61			Antonio JUNQUEIRA	W2 Pro GP	CUPRA Leon Competición TCR	2	DNF	3:06.532	8
R	26			Juan Ángel ROSSO	Squadra Martino	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	0	DNF	N/A	9
R	44			Alessandro MARCHINI	Crown Racing	Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR	0	DNF	N/A	15

Reis leaves the opening event with the championship lead on 86 points, seven ahead of Pezzini. The next round takes place at Interlagos for a one-hour endurance event.