Pezzini leads a Lynk & Co 1-2 in TCR South America Qualifying

The PMO Motorsport Lynk & Co cars dominated the TCR South America Qualifying at Alta Gracia’s Autódromo Oscar Cabalén. Fabricio Pezzini claimed his first pole position in the series, beating his teammate Santiago Urrutia by 41 thousandths of a second.
W2 Racing’s Raphael Reis was the best of the title contenders, posting the third fastest lap ahead of Ernesto Bessone who drove for the first time the PMO Racing-run Peugeot 308. Rodrigo Baptista and Pepe Oriola – second and first in the standings – qualified fifth and seventh respectively.
José Manuel Sapag was the first to clock a competitive lap of 1:35.149, that was soon beaten by Bessone’s 1:35.041, but soon the Lynk & Co pair of Urrutia and Pezzini made clear they could set a much faster pace. The Uruguayan set a provisional fastest lap of 1:33.123 ahead of his Argentine teammate’s 1:33.341.
Oriola, Reis and Rodrigo Baptista joined in the second half of the 20-minute session; Reis’ 1:34.772 placed him third, while Baptista (1:35.136) and Oriola (1:35.461) ranked fifth and seventh. Later, Baptista improved his time to 1:35.125, but not his position.
In the session’s dying moments Urrutia failed to improve, but trailed Pezzini to claim the pole with a lap of 1:33.082. The only other driver to improve was Reis (1:34.512) who consolidated his third place.
These results made the positions on top of the standings even closer: Reis scored three points and Rodrigo Baptista one, meaning that they both closed the gaps from Oriola to 13 and 7 points respectively.
Race 1 will start tomorrow at 08:00 local time (12:00 CET); live streaming at www.tcr-series.com. 

Alta Gracia – Qualifying 
1:33.082 Fabricio Pezzini (PMO Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03)
1:33.123 Santiago Urrutia (PMO Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03)
1:34.512 Rafael Reis (W2 Racing, Honda Civic Type R FK7)
1:35.041 Ernesto Bessone (PMO Racing, Peugeot 308)
1:35.125 Rodrigo Baptista (Cobra Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS)

Championship points
1. P. Oriola 198 pts; 2. R. Baptista 191; 3. R. Reis 185

Picture: TCR South America/Hernán Capa