21 cars set for TCR South America’s season opener

The third year of the TCR South America series gets underway this weekend, with a record 21-car entry and an incredible mix of manufacturers and teams competing at Córdoba’s Autódromo Oscar Cabalén.

Fabricio Pezzini will defend his drivers’ title behind the wheel of the PMO Motorsport-run Lynk & Co 03, with the team expanding to run three cars this year from the Chinese manufacturer, while the sister PMO Racing squad will continue to field a brace of four Peugeot 308 cars.

The most represented manufacturer on the grid will be Toyota, with the all-new Argentine-developed Corolla GRS available to customers for the first time. Toyota Gazoo Racing Latin America will run two cars for experienced racers Bernardo Llaver and José Manuel Sapag, while Paladini Racing will run a pair of cars for last year’s championship runner-up Juan Ángel Rosso, and his team-mate Fabián Yannantuoni.

The fifth Corolla will be run by Adalberto Baptista, with the Brazilian driver switching from the first-generation Audi RS 3 LMS, with the team running the only car from the German marque on the grid for Diego Nunes.

W2 Pro GP will continue to field a pair of CUPRA Leon Competición cars, while there are two one-car entries by Scuderia Chiarelli with a Hyundai Elantra N for Pedro Cardoso, and Alfa Racing with an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce for Gonzalo Alterio.

Four of the Honda Civic Type R FK7 models will compete, all run by Squadra Martino, with Ignacio Montenegro perhaps the team’s strongest contender after he had a sensational run at the FIA Motorsport Games last November.

The TCR South America series will therefore have a fantastic mix of talent from all the nations represented in the regional series, with 11 Argentines, seven Brazilians, and three Uruguayans in the field.

TCR South America – entry list

1 - Fabricio Pezzini (PMO Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03)

2 - Juan Ángel Rosso (Paladini Racing, Toyota Corolla GRS)

5 - Fabián Yannantuoni (Paladini Racing, Toyota Corolla GRS)

7 - Juan Pablo Bessone (PMO Racing, Peugeot 308)

10 - Adalberto Baptista (Cobra Racing Team, Toyota Corolla GRS)

15 - Enrique Maglione (Squadra Martino, Honda Civic Type R FK7)

17 - Bernardo Llaver (Toyota Gazoo Racing Latin America, Toyota Corolla GRS)

20 - Pablo Otero (PMO Racing, Peugeot 308)

23 - Ignacio Montenegro (Squadra Martino, Honda Civic Type R FK7)

24 - Frederick Balbi (PMO Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03)

27 - Walter Hernández (PMO Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03)

28 - Galid Osman (W2 Pro GP, CUPRA Leon Competición)

33 - José Manuel Sapag (Toyota Gazoo Racing Latin America, Toyota Corolla GRS)

34 - Fabio Casagrande (Squadra Martino, Honda Civic Type R FK7)

37 - Guilherme Reischl (PMO Racing, Peugeot 308)

43 - Pedro Cardoso (Scuderia Chiarelli, Hyundai Elantra N) 

55 - Diego Gutiérrez (PMO Racing, Peugeot 308)

60 - Juan Manuel Casella (Squadra Martino, Honda Civic Type R FK7)

69 - Gonzalo Alterio (Alfa Racing, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce)

70 - Diego Nunes (Cobra Racing Team, Audi RS 3 LMS)

77 - Raphael Reis (W2 Pro GP, CUPRA Leon Competición)

Picture: TCR South America