Esteban Guerrieri puts Squadra Martino Honda on Curitiba pole

Esteban Guerrieri’s guest run in the Squadra Martino Honda Civic Type R helped put the team on pole position for tomorrow’s endurance race at the Curitiba circuit in Brazil, outqualifying the Scuderia CJ Hyundai Elantra of Sergio Jimenez and Beto Monteiro.
In the first part of qualifying, it was the W2 Racing Honda of Rafael Reis that set the pace, with a time of 1:23.116, leading Jimenez’s Hyundai (1:23.193) and his W2 teammate Pepe Oriola (1:23.234), the championship leader.
José Manuel Sapag set the fourth fastest time (1:23.405) in his Squadra Martino Honda, just three-tenths of a second off the pace.
No time was set by the PropCar Racing Alfa Romeo Giulietta of Roy Block due to a fuel pump failure, nor by the Cobra Racing Team Audi RS 3 LMS of Rodrigo Baptista, with the team suffering with an electronics issue, which kept activating the pit lane speed limiter while on the track.
In Q2, the Number 2 drivers took over the cars, and it was Guerrieri who immediately shone in the #33 Honda; he was the only driver to break the 1:23 barrier, setting a time of 1:22.776 to take the pole position on aggregate away from the Hyundai duo of Jimenez and Monteiro who was clocked at 1:23.165.
Valdeno Brito’s time in the #77 Honda (1:23.308) was fast enough to ensure he and Reis will start from P3 for tomorrow’s race, while Oriola will have to start from fifth, with his co-driver Marcelo Costa only able to set the seventh fastest time in the second qualifying group.
With the Cobra Racing unable to resolve the #13 Audi’s speed limiter issue, Tom Coronel did not post a time in Group B, and so him and Rodrigo Baptista will be forced to start last for tomorrow’s race. As for the #17 Alfa Romeo Giulietta, the fuel pump issue solved, Tim Lewis posted the sixth fastest lap in Group B. 
Live streaming of the race tomorrow at www.tcr-series.com, from 12:00 local time (17:00 CEST); the race distance will be one hour or 40 laps.

Curitiba – Qualifying 
2:46.181 JM. Sapag/E. Guerrieri (Squadra Martino, Honda Civic Type R FK7)
2:46.358 S. Jimenez/B. Monteiro (Scuderia CJ, Hyundai Elantra N)
2:46.424 R. Reis/V. Brito (W2 Racing, Honda Civic Type R FK7)
2:47.358 A. Chorne/P. Aizza (Squadra Martino, Honda Civic Type R FK7)
2:48.114 P. Oriola/M. Costa (W2 Racing, Honda Civic Type R FK7)

Championship points
1. P. Oriola 55 pts; 2. P. Holton 34; 3. JM. Sapag 30 

Picture: TCR South America