Jourdain wins all at Mexico GP, as Sierra is champion

The TCR México season finished in style with three sprint races at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez within the weekend of the Mexican F1 Grand Prix.

Michel Jourdain jr. was the hero of the event, as he scored three wins at the wheel of the Peralta Racing Team CUPRA Leon VZ.

As far as the championship is concerned, the title went to Juan Pablo Sierra who co-drove the #88 Centur Silen Racing CUPRA Leon VZ with Pablo Cervantes; they finished third in the first two races and second in the last one. Gerardo Nieto and Pablo Pérez de Lara were runners up in the standings with their RE Motorsport CUPRA.

Race 1 – The pair of Andrès Orea and Jerónimo Guzmán in their Orea Ross Racing Hyundai Elantra had set the pole with the time of 1:43.186 ahead of two CUPRA Leon VZ cars, the #88 Centur Silen Racing of Sierra-Cervantes (1:43.417) and the #18 Peralta Racing Team of Jourdain (1:43.530).

Orea stalled at the start, while Fabián Welter took the lead in his RE Motorsport Audi RS 3 LM from Cervantes, Franco Zanella’s Z Racing Team CUPRA and Jourdain. The tree chasers swapped positions a few times until lap 5, when Jourdain moved into the lead ahead of Zanella, Cervantes and Welter. Two laps later Welter collided with Orea who had recovered from 11^th to fourth after his poor start; they both retired. Jourdain pulled away and took the flag three seconds before Zanella, while Cervantes completed the podium.

Race 2 – Cervantes had switched to the other Centur Silen Racing CUPRA #8 and led the field at the start followed by Sierra in the #88 sister car. Behind them Jourdain quickly advanced to P3 and at the end of the first lap he passed both Sierra and Cervantes to take the lead. The three drivers continued fighting until the safety car neutralized the race that was resumed for two last laps; Jourdain kept his cool and beat Cervantes by 0.149 seconds, while Sierra finished third.

Race 3 – Jourdain led from the start ahead of Sierra, Zanella, Nieto and Roche. There were no changes until the safety car was deployed in lap 5 when Marco Montoya’s Honda Civic FK7 went off. Two laps later, racing resumed for the last three laps; Jourdain held on to the lead and won by a bit over one second ahead of Sierra, while Pérez de Lara beat Zanella in the sprint for P3.

Race 1

1. Michel Jourdain jr. (Peralta Racing Team, CUPRA Leon VZ), 9 laps
2. Franco Zanella (Z Racing Team, CUPRA Leon VZ), 2.986
3. Pablo Cervantes (Centur Silen Racing, CUPRA Leon VZ), 3.624

Race 2

1. Michel Jourdain jr. (Peralta Racing Team, CUPRA Leon VZ), 13 laps
2. Pablo Cervantes (Centur Silen Racing, CUPRA Leon VZ), 0.149
3. Juan Pablo Sierra (Centur Silen Racing, CUPRA Leon VZ), 1.823

Race 3

1. Michel Jourdain jr. (Peralta Racing Team, CUPRA Leon VZ), 9 laps
2. Juan Pablo Sierra (Centur Silen Racing, CUPRA Leon VZ), 1.179
3. Pablo Pérez de Lara (RE Motorsport, CUPRA Leon VZ), 6.242

Championship points

1. J.P. Sierra, 1963 pts; 2. G. Nieto/P. Pérez de Lara, 1750; 3. P. Cervantes, 1708

Picture: TCR México