In Panamá, Pflucker returns to victory in TCR after five years

Rodrigo Pflucker emerged as the most competitive driver in TCR Panama’s third event. At the wheel of a TZ Motorsport CUPRA Leon Competición, the Peruvian claimed his first pole position and then his maiden win in Race 2, finishing a close second to Emilio Valverde in Race 1. This was Pflucker’s first TCR victory since the 2021 TCR South America in Río Cuarto

With another commanding win, the fourth for him in six races, Valverde has stretched his lead in the standings to 29 points over Mario Bárcenas, while Sebastian Ng remained third, but with a gap of 55 points.

Race 1 – Pflucker sat on pole after having outpaced Valverde by only five hundredths of a second, with newcomer Marcos Vento in P3. Valverde made a better start and led from Pflucker and Vento; the Costa Rican driver began to push trying to leave his Peruvian rival behind and managed to build a small advantage. However, Pflucker reacted posting the fastest lap and reducing the gap to seven tenths.

In lap 10, the safety car was deployed to move Iván Salerno’s Hyundai Veloster that had stopped along the track; when racing resumed, two laps later, Valverde increased his lead up to 1.4 seconds then controlled the pace during the last two laps winning by less than nine tenths, while Vento completed the podium and Carlos Rubén Herrera was the first of the local drivers in fourth position.

Race 2 – Bárcenas had the pole on the reversed grid, with Luis Ramírez in P2; Bárcenas started well, but by the end of lap 1 he had dropped to fourth behind Pflucker who had sprinted from P6 on the grid, Ramírez and Ng. Pflucker’s pace was much faster, and he pulled away while there was a fierce battle for the second position.

Ramírez was under pressure from Bárcenas, then Vento joined them and finally Valverde passed Ng for fifth and completed the quartet. In lap 9, Vento overtook Bárcenas and attacked Ramírez who managed to reject the assaults until lap 16, when Vento muscled his way past him. Meanwhile, Pflucker had built a 14-second lead that went down to 11 under the chequered flag, with Vento and Ramírez joining him on the podium.

The championship will resume on 16/17 August for rounds 7 and 8.

Race 1

1. Emilio Valverde (CHM Motorsports, Hyundai Elantra N), 18 laps
2. Rodrigo Pflucker (TZ Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Competición), 0.898
3. Marcos Vento (AP Racing, Hyundai Elantra N), 2.453

Race 2

1. Rodrigo Pflucker (TZ Motorsport, CUPRA Leon Competición), 20 laps
2. Marcos Vento (AP Racing, Hyundai Elantra N), 11.306
3. Luis Ramírez (Hyundai Petroautos, Hyundai Elantra N), 14.273

Championship points

1. E. Valverde, 176 pts; 2. M. Bárcenas, 147; 3. S. Ng, 121

Picture: TCR Panama