Esteban Guerrieri narrowly claimed victory in the second FIA TCR World Tour race of the weekend at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in México, ahead of Cyan Racing’s Yann Ehrlacher.
BRC Hyundai’s Mikel Azcona had started the reverse-grid race from pole position, but the Spaniard was swallowed by six cars before he even got to the first corner, as the Elantra N drivers continued to struggle with top speed at the high-altitude circuit.
Azcona then appeared to be nudged from behind by Urrutia, whilst SP Compétition’s Aurélien Comte assumed the lead after squeezing by TCR Mexico’s Rodrigo Rejón and Michel Jourdain under braking.
Guerrieri, meanwhile, had made a good start to go from seventh to second on the opening lap, and wasted little time in getting by the leading CUPRA, going around the outside of Comte’s CUPRA at Turn 1 on the third lap to give him the inside line for the second corner.
Comte, though was in a comfortable second at this stage, as behind him the leading Lynk & Co was that of Ma Qing Hua.
On lap seven, Ma allowed team-mate Thed Björk into third after having been unable to get onto the back of Comte for a pass, and two laps later Ehrlacher was also allowed through into fourth.
On lap 11, Ehrlacher overtook Björk for third, and the charging Frenchman set about closing the gap to Comte for second.
It took him longer this time but Ehrlacher caught and passed Comte on lap 18, leaving him just two laps to close in on leader Guerrieri, who had a lead of over three seconds at this stage.
Despite that, Ehrlacher closed in on the Honda and by the final lap was all over the back of the Argentine.
However, Guerrieri held on to win ahead of Ehrlacher, with Comte completing the podium.
Ma took fourth after repassing Björk late in the race, with the Swede finishing in fifth ahead of Uruguayan team-mate Urrutia in sixth.
GOAT Racing’s Ignacio Montenegro got by Jourdain for seventh on the penultimate lap, with the latter being the best TCR Mexico regular in eighth.
Rodrigo Rejón was ninth, whilst his ProRally Mothers team-mate Julio Rejón dropped out of the top ten at mid-distance when he went off the circuit twice in quick succession.
SP Compétition’s john Filippi completed the top ten, whilst the BRC Hyundais struggled significantly, as Néstor Girolami was the best-placed driver in only 11th. Norbert Michelisz was just 16th, whilst Azcona plummeted down to 17th by the end of the race.
Race three gets underway at 17:20 local time (00:20 BST, 01:20 CEST).
Race results
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 186 | WT |  |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 19 | 32:06.767 | 1:34.842 | 7 |
| 2 | 168 | WT |  |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 19 | 0.131 | 1:35.020 | 8 |
| 3 | 107 | WT | |
Aurélien COMTE | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 19 | 2.020 | 1:35.395 | 6 |
| 4 | 155 | WT |  |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 19 | 8.287 | 1:35.529 | 5 |
| 5 | 111 | WT |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 19 | 8.669 | 1:35.083 | 10 |
| 6 | 112 | WT |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 19 | 12.555 | 1:35.795 | 9 |
| 7 | 123 | WT | |
Ignacio MONTENEGRO | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 19 | 26.563 | 1:36.342 | 14 |
| 8 | 18 | WT |  |
Michel JOURDAIN | Peralta Racing Team | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 19 | 27.430 | 1:36.592 | 3 |
| 9 | 55 | WT | |
Rodrigo REJÓN | ProRally Mothers | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 19 | 40.420 | 1:36.904 | 2 |
| 10 | 127 | WT | |
John FILIPPI | SP Compétition | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 19 | 40.957 | 1:36.817 | 12 |
| 11 | 129 | WT | |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 19 | 43.231 | 1:37.072 | 11 |
| 12 | 2 | MX | |
José Carlos SANDOVAL | RE Motorsport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 19 | 44.285 | 1:37.201 | 18 |
| 13 | 34 | MX | |
Carlo ZESATI | Zesati Racing VP Garage 34 | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 19 | 59.153 | 1:37.132 | 15 |
| 14 | 88 | MX | |
Pablo CERVANTES | Centur Silen Petrol Racing | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 19 | 59.627 | 1:37.118 | 16 |
| 15 | 12 | MX | |
Gerardo NIETO | RE Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 19 | 59.893 | 1:37.563 | 21 |
| 16 | 105 | WT |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 19 | 1:03.640 | 1:38.213 | 13 |
| 17 | 196 | WT |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 19 | 1:04.228 | 1:36.935 | 1 |
| 18 | 33 | MX | |
Jerónimo GUZMÁN | Orea Ross Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 19 | 1:27.116 | 1:39.001 | 20 |
| 19 | 44 | MX | |
César Tiberio JIMÉNEZ | Orangino Racing Team | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 19 | 1:40.634 | 1:39.514 | 19 |
| 20 | 43 | MX | |
Bruno ZESATI | Zesati Racing VP Garage 34 | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 18 | + 1 LAP | 1:39.357 | 22 |
| 21 | 35 | MX | |
Paul ABED | Apycsa Racing Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 18 | + 1 LAP | 1:40.541 | 24 |
| R | 45 | MX | |
Franco ZANELLA | Z Racing Team | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 15 | DNF | 1:37.562 | 17 |
| R | 7 | MX | |
José Luis HERNÁNDEZ | M&M Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 12 | DNF | 1:43.669 | 23 |
| R | 1 | WT | |
Julio REJÓN | ProRally Mothers | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 9 | DNF | 1:36.387 | 4 |