PMO Racing’s Pedro Cardoso took victory in the opening TCR South America race of the weekend in Brazil, moving up to second in the drivers’ championship as a result.
Earlier in the day Leonardo Reis had secured pole position in his CUPRA, but at the start of the race the W2 Pro GP driver stalled at the line and dropped to the back of the pack.
That allowed Squadra Martino’s Leonel Pernía to move into the lead, but the Honda driver was only out in front for half a lap before Carodos muscled past into the lead.
The reigning champion thereafter was in a class of his own, edging away from Pernía, who as the clear championship leader appeared to be struggling a little with the compensation weight aboard his Civic.
The battle at the front was thus non-existent for most of the race, and Cardoso claimed his third victory in the series by over two seconds from Pernía.
W2 Pro GP’s Raphael Reis completed the podium, having assumed the position at the start and held it for the duration of the race.
Paladini Racing’s Fabián Yannantuoni held fourth for the early stage of the race, but on lap seven he defended into the first corner from Marcos Regada.
With his speed compromised, Regadas powered his Peugeot past the Lynk & Co exiting the corner and took fourth, which he held to the chequered flag.
Yannantuoni was fifth, whilst Leonardo Reis recovered to sixth, a position he took on the penultimate lap after a fierce battle with Enzo Gianfratti.
Nelson Piquet Jr capitalised on Gianfratti’s defensive driving late on, initially challenging Reis before following him past Gianfratti on the last lap.
Gianfratti, who switched to a new CUPRA Leon VZ for this weekend’s races, finished in eighth, with the top ten being completed by Paladini Racing’s Juan Ángel Rosso and Squadra Martino’s Mariano Pernía.
Tiago Pernía, sixth in the drivers’ standings heading into the event, is not competing this weekend due to logistical challenges getting to the Brazilian circuit.
Race two is scheduled to get underway at 15:10 CEST (14:10 BST) on Sunday.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 1 |  |
Pedro CARDOSO | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 17 | 27:05.499 | 1:33.027 | 3 | |
| 2 | 44 |  |
Leonel PERNÍA | Honda YPF Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 17 | 2.555 | 1:34.105 | 2 | |
| 3 | 77 | |
Raphael REIS | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 17 | 3.921 | 1:33.794 | 4 | |
| 4 | 27 | |
Marcos REGADAS | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 17 | 4.484 | 1:34.360 | 7 | |
| 5 | 5 | |
Fabián YANNANTUONI | Paladini Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 17 | 17.167 | 1:34.368 | 5 | |
| 6 | 293 | |
Leonardo REIS | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 17 | 18.468 | 1:34.403 | 1 | |
| 7 | 33 | |
Nelson PIQUET JR | Honda YPF Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 17 | 19.341 | 1:34.472 | 13 | |
| 8 | 19 | |
Enzo GIANFRATTI | G Racing Motorsport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 17 | 21.498 | 1:34.252 | 8 | |
| 9 | 16 | |
Juan Ángel ROSSO | Paladini Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 17 | 24.116 | 1:34.655 | 12 | |
| 10 | 55 | |
Mariano PERNÍA | Honda YPF Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 17 | 32.139 | 1:35.068 | 9 | |
| 11 | 23 | |
María NIENKÖTTER | Cobra Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 17 | 1:05.482 | 1:36.798 | 14 | |
| 12 | 66 | |
Genaro RASETTO | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 16 | + 1 LAP | 1:34.466 | 6 | |
| 13 | 84 | |
Fernando CROCE | Porthack Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 16 | + 1 LAP | 1:38.127 | 11 | |
| 14 | 88 | |
Adrián CHIRIANO | Honda YPF Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 16 | + 1 LAP | 1:37.795 | 10 |