Valverde scores a double win in TCR Panama inaugural event

Emilio Valverde dominated the inaugural event of the TCR Panama championship. The Costa Rican driver scored the whole of the points on offer at the wheel of his CHM Motorsports Hyundai Elantra N; he set pole position beating Sebastián Ng’s AP Racing-run Honda Civic Type R FL5 by three tenths and then won both races ahead of Ng, with an impressive recovery in Race 2 from P6 on the reversed grid.

Race 1 – Valverde started from the pole and led the way, while Ng held on to the second place and Luis Ramírez dropped from third to fourth behind Mario Bárcenas.

Valverde maintained control throughout the race, keeping a safe distance from Ng, while Bárcenas was under constant pressure from Ramírez. On lap 16, Ramírez made his move, diving down the inside at the hairpin to reclaim third, which he would hold on to up until the finish. Valverde won the race by 1.4 seconds over who was later excluded from the first race for a ride height infringement, which promoted Ramírez and Bárcenas to second and third.

Eleven of the twelve cars finished on the lead lap, with the ART Honda Civic Type R FK7 of Gianni Alessandria the only retirement, stopping on lap 4.

Race 2 – Alessandria’s Honda and Parker Chase’s Hyundai shared the front row of the top six reversed grid. At the start, Alessandria lost the lead, while Ramírez and Valverde jumped to first and second from P4 and P6. The pair fought for the lead, while Chase was up to third ahead of Alessandria and Ng. At the start of lap 2, Ng passed both Chase and Alessandria for third, and then Valverde took the lead from Ramírez at the end of the same lap.

Ramírez was soon under threat from Ng, who overtook him on lap 6; Ramírez tried to fight to keep the position, retaking second into T1, before the two drivers made side-to-side contact at T2. As a result, Ramírez dropped behind Ng and Alessandria. Ramírez was struggling with tyre rub on the front right of his car and lost one more spot on lap 12 to Bárcenas who eventually overtook Alessandria in lap 16 to claim the third position behind Valverde and Ng.

The championship will resume on 5/6 April for rounds 3 and 4.

Race 1

1. Emilio Valverde (CHM Motorsports, Hyundai Elantra N), 18 laps
2. Luis Ramírez (Hyundai Petroautos, Hyundai Elantra N), 9.094
3. Mario Bárcenas (Bárcenas Racing, CUPRA Leon VZ), 9.849

Race 2

1. Emilio Valverde (CHM Motorsports, Hyundai Elantra N), 19 laps
2. Sebastian Ng (AP racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 1.670
3. Mario Bárcenas (Bárcenas Racing, CUPRA Leon VZ), 7.541

Championship points

1. E. Valverde, 75 pts; 2. M. Bárcenas, 50; 3. L. Ramírez, 49

Picture: WSC/Massimo Garbin