Raphael Reis and Jorge Barrio claim pole at Termas de Río Hondo

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 12^th, 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