Osman and Casella win races, Cardoso is TCR Brasil champion
There was no glory for Argentine drivers in the joint event of TCR South America and TCR Brasil at Buenos Aires’ Autódromo Oscar y Juan Gálvez. Galid Osman from Brazil and Juan Manuel Casella from Uruguay shared the race wins, while another Brazilian, Pedro Cardoso was crowned champion in TCR Brasil at the wheel of his PMO Racing Peugeot 308. In the final standings, Cardoso topped Juan Ángel Rosso by three points only.
The situation in TCR South America, with two events to go, is quite fluid with Cardoso still in the lead, but Casella has moved into second, 23 points behind him. Raphael Reis and Rosso follow in third and fourth, still well in contention.
Qualifying – Matías Cravero claimed his first TCR South America pole in a Q2 that was briefly red-flagged after three minutes when Norberto Fontana spun off. Cravero had been clocked at 1:18.223 just before the disruption, and when the session resumed nobody was able to beat that time, although Leonel Pernía improved to 1:18.363, securing P2 on the grid. TCR debutant José María López qualified 17th after a huge shunt in Friday’s practice that resulted in the team working overnight to rebuild his Corolla.
Race 1 – As the first race featured the reversed grid, Marcos Regadas – tenth in qualifying – had the pole with Osman in P2. Cardoso and Fontana were demoted to the back following engine changes. The sixth spot was empty, as Matías Rossi started from the pit lane after his car refused to move for the formation lap. Regadas made a slow start and was passed by Osman and Rosso; during the first lap, Cravero passed Regadas for third, while Reis was sent into a spin and rejoined at the back. In lap 2, Fabio Casagrande punted Pernía into a spin, while López was climbing quickly and passed Jake Cosío for seventh. Cravero overtook Rosso in lap 3 and began to close the gap to the leader Osman. In lap 5, López advanced to sixth ahead of Thiago Vivacqua, while Casella overtook Regadas for fourth. Two pairs were formed: Osman and Cravero fighting for the lead, and Rosso and Casella for third.
In lap 8, López made a mistake and dropped from sixth to 12th, while a charging Rossi was recovering and overtook Vivacqua and Cosío climbing to eighth. Up front, Osman was able to keep a slim margin that floated between three and nine tenths. In lap 21, López and Reis collided while fighting for the 11th place and both retired, while Rossi lost the eighth place when his car broke down during the last lap. Osman won by one second over Cravero, with Rossi third ahead of Casella and Cardoso who completed an outstanding recovery from 17th on the grid.
Race 2 – At the start, Casella from P3 squeezed among Cravero and Pernía to take the lead; at the back of the field López was hit by Cosío and spun. During the first lap, Rosso overtook Rossi for fifth, while Casella kept on leading but was closely chased by Cravero and Pernía, with Cardoso in fourth place. After six laps the field was still running in close formation, with the first thirteen cars within ten seconds. Cravero was putting the pressure on Casella and the leading trio was covered by half-a-second. In lap 9, Osman spun and dropped from eighth to 11th. Focus shifted on Rosso’s attempt to close in on Cardoso, whose fourth position would grant him the title in TCR Brasil. Ahead, Casella stubbornly held on to the lead and took his first win in TCR, five tenths ahead of Cravero and nine over Pernía, with Cardoso fourth ahead of Rosso, Rossi and Reis.
TCR South America will resume on November 8/10 at Termas de Río Hondo.
Buenos Aires – Race 1
- Galid Osman (W2 Pro GP, CUPRA Leon VZ), 24 laps
- Matías Cravero (Squadra Martino, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 1.029
- Juan Ángel Rosso (Paladini Racing, Toyota Corolla GRS), 14.582
Buenos Aires – Race 2
- Juan Manuel Casella (Squadra Martino, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 20 laps
- Matías Cravero (Squadra Martino, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 0.537
- Leonel Pernía (PMO Racing, Peugeot 308), 0.958
Championship points – TCR South America
- P. Cardoso, 382 pts; 2. J.M. Casella, 359; 3. R. Reis, 342
Championship points – TCR Brasil
- P. Cardoso, 274 pts; 2. J.Á. Rosso, 271; 3. R. Reis, 248
Picture: TCR South America/Hernán Capa
