Heroic Pezzini loses victory on last lap in Termas de Río Hondo
TCR South America’s fourth event that closed the Argentine part of the season in Termas de Río Hondo delivered two breathtaking races that were won by the reigning champion Pedro Cardoso and Fabián Yannantuoni. The points leader Leonel Pernía put in two solid performances to stretch his advantage in the standings to 44 points over Cardoso.
However, the hero of the day was Fabrício Pezzini who lost a well-deserved win – the third for him in the season so far – on the last lap of Race 2, when the bonnet flipped open half-blinding him.
Race 1 – Nelson Piquet jr. had claimed his maiden pole beating Leonel Pernía by a quarter of a second, with Cardoso and Yannantuoni on the second row; Tiago Pernía was placed at the back following an engine change. At the end of the warm-up lap, Pezzini retired with an engine issue.
Cardoso started better than Piquet and led, while Leonel Pernía stalled and set off at the back of the field. A contact between Raphael Reis and Mariano Pernía helped Yannantuoni to climb to third, while his teammate Juan Ángel Rosso retired in lap 5 with an engine problem.
Up front, Cardoso and Piquet had begun a fight that would last for ten laps, with the pair driving abreast on several occasions, but Cardoso was able to retake the lead every time Piquet had moved ahead. Their battle helped Reis, Yannantuoni and the Pernías to catch up; Piquet then had to focus on defending the second place and lost contact with Cardoso.
The final laps were less lively, as Cardoso had built a small margin and went to take his first win of the season ahead of Piquet, while Reis had a puncture on the last lap and dropped to 15th, promoting Yannantuoni and Leonel Pernía to third and fourth.
Race 2 – Once again, Pezzini was able to exploit the reversed grid system and sat on pole with Genaro Rasetto alongside him. Luis Ramírez from P3 squeezed between Pezzini and Rasetto into the lead but during the first lap both the Panamanian driver and his teammate Rasetto made mistakes, which left Pezzini in the lead ahead of Yannantuoni and Rosso. At the beginning, the two Lynk & Co cars were catching the leading CUPRA, but from lap 6, Pezzini began to build a gap, while Rosso retired once again with an engine issue in lap 10. Behind the leaders, Leonel Pernía and Piquet advanced to third and fourth, while Cardoso was struggling in the middle of the field.
With six laps to go, when Pezzini held the race in his hands, the front bumper of his car that had been hit by Ramírez’s Peugeot at the start began to vibrate. As vibration increased, affecting the handling, Yannantuoni closed the gap. Eventually, on the last lap, the front bonnet of the CUPRA flipped open. Half-blinded, Pezzini was easily passed by Yannantuoni, Leonel Pernía and Piquet, finishing fourth.
Uruguay will host the next two events, beginning with the one in Mercedes on 11/13 July.
Race 1
- Pedro Cardoso (PMO Racing, Peugeot 308), 15 laps
- Nelson Piquet jr. (Honda YPF Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 1.200
- Fabián Yannantuoni (Paladini Racing, Lynk & Co 03), 2.794
Race 2
- Fabián Yannantuoni (Paladini Racing, Lynk & Co 03), 18 laps
- Leonel Pernía (Honda YPF Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 3.220
- Nelson Piquet jr. (Honda YPF Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 3.407
Championship points
- L. Pernía, 283 pts; 2. P. Cardoso, 239; 3. N. Piquet jr., 189
Picture: TCR South America/Hernán Capa
