Leonel Pernía takes an early lead in TCR South America

TCR South America’s season opener at Rosario’s Autódromo Juan Manuel Fangio saw Argentine veterans Leonel Pernía and Fabrício Pezzini take one race win apiece. Pernía dominated the first race, beating his teammate Nelson Piquet jr., while the 2022 champion Pezzini staked a claim on Race 2 victory with an impressive start and then took advantage from the battles behind to build a gap too big to be closed.

Third in Race 2, thanks to a penalty imposed to Juan Ángel Rosso, enabled Pernía to take an early lead in the standings, six points clear of the reigning champion Pedro Cardoso who finished twice on the podium.

Race 1 – Honda YPF Racing’s Tiago Pernía and Piquet posted the best laps in Qualifying, with the Argentine beating his Brazilian teammate by 74 thousandths, while Cardoso shared the second row with Leonel Pernía.

The pole sitter had a slow reflex at the start, while his father Leonel, Piquet and Cardoso ran abreast fighting for the lead. Leonel Pernía moved ahead of Cardoso, and Piquet defended P3 from Tiago Pernía; behind them Raphael Reis and Mariano Pernía made contact while fighting for P6 and Pernía spun off. In lap 5, the safety car was deployed to recover Fabián Yannantuoni’s Lynk & Co from the gravel after he spun from P5.

When racing resumed, Leonel Pernía kept Cardoso at bay and the leading quartet pulled away. Cardoso fell under pressure from Piquet and Tiago Pernía, until Piquet overtook Cardoso for P2 in lap 11. During the last part of the race, Piquet was on the tail of Pernía’s car, but had to settle in second place, six tenths behind his teammate. Cardoso retained the third position from Tiago Pernía while rookie Santino Balerini lost the fifth place during the last lap when his Toyota spun off with a flat tyre. 

Race 2 – On the reversed grid, Luis Ramírez and Mariano Pernía filled the front row. At the start, Pezzini sprinted from P3 on the grid and overtook Ramírez on the outside to take the lead. The Panamanian driver struggled to defend the second place as he was chased by Mariano Pernía, Juan Ángel Rosso, Reis, Cardoso and Yannantuoni, with the latter retiring with a technical issue. In lap 2, Mariano Pernía passed Ramírez who was pushed wide by Rosso and rejoined at the back. The battle helped Pezzini to build a three-second lead, while Reis began to pressure Mariano Pernía and overtook him for second in lap 5. One lap later, Rosso too overtook Mariano Pernía who then pitted and retired.

With the first three drivers separated by a few seconds from each other, Cardoso, Piquet, Leonel Pernía and Tiago Pernía were fighting for P4. In lap 12, Tiago Pernía retired, then in lap 15, Piquet pitted to replace a flat front tyre. Reis was the last to surrender, as he stopped on the track in lap 17, handing the second place to Rosso, while Cardoso finished third again ahead of Leonel Pernía.
After the race, Rosso was handed a 20-second penalty for the incident with Ramírez and dropped to sixth.

TCR South America will resume on April 18/20 at Posadas.

Race 1

1. Leonel Pernía (Honda YPF Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 16 laps
2. Nelson Piquet jr (Honda YPF Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 0.674
3. Pedro Cardoso (PMO Racing, Peugeot 308), 2.752

Race 2

1. Fabrício Pezzini (W2 Pro GP, CUPRA Leon VZ), 19 laps
2. Pedro Cardoso (PMO Racing, Peugeot 308), 9.716
3. Leonel Pernía (Honda YPF Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 19.009

Championship points

1. L. Pernía, 71 pts; 2. P. Cardoso, 65; 3. N. Piquet jr, 55

Picture: TCR South America/Hernán Capa