Z Racing Team CUPRA wins TCR México 24-hour race

The Z Racing Team-run CUPRA Leon VZ won the 24H at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez, that counted as penultimate event of TCR México.

Brothers Franco and Santos jr. Zanella shared the winning car with Michel Jourdain jr. and Salvador de Alba, completing 596 laps in a race that was briefly red-flagged in the evening when torrential rain flooded the track.

Before the disruption, the Z Racing Team CUPRA had fought for the lead with the Audi RS 3 LMS cars of RE Motorsport and Apycsa Racing. When the race resumed, the winners-to-be faced strong competition from two other CUPRA teams, Juan Pablo Sierra, Pablo Cervantes and Luis Cervantes in the Centur Silen Racing car and the Rejón family – brothers Julio, Rodrigo and Gerardo jr, with their father Gerardo – in the ProRally Mothers Leon.

Form the ninth hour onwards, the Z Racing Team began to open a gap; the ProRally Mothers car retired, and the Centur Silen Racing dropped to fourth, which promoted the RE Motorsport Audi of Axel Matus, Esteban Roche, Nico Rivas and Fabián Welter to second, five laps below. Jorge Abed, Yusif Abed, Rubén Rovelo and Oscar Chávez completed the podium in the Apycsa Audi.

The fourth position helped Sierra to further stretch his lead in the standings over Pablo Pérez de Lara and Gerardo Nieto who finished fifth in the RE Motorsport CUPRA.   

TCR México season finale will be a three-sprint-race event within the frame of the F1 Mexican Grand Prix at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez on October 24/26.

24H Race

1. S. Zanella jr./F. Zanella/M. Jourdain jr./S. de Alba (Z Racing Team, CUPRA Leon VZ), 596 laps
2. A. Matus/E. Roche/N. Rivas/F. Welter (RE Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 591 laps
3. Y. Abed/J. Abed/R. Rovelo/O. Chávez (Apycsa Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 586 laps

Picture: México Racing Cup