Montenegro and Suzuki share victories in Uruguay

The TCR South America and TCR Brazil event at Rivera’s Autódromo Eduardo P. Cabrera in Uruguay saw Ignacio Montenegro and Rafael Suzuki sharing race victories. At the wheel of his Squadra Martino Honda Civic Type R FK7, Montenegro took a lights-to-flag win from the pole in Race 1; this was his fourth win that helped him to increase his lead in TCR South America to 44 points over Raphael Reis who is now only four points ahead of Bernardo Llaver. Reis has retained the first position in TCR Brazil, although his leading margin is only of four points ahead of Montenegro, with Juan Manuel Casella three further points adrift. In the second race, Suzuki claimed his maiden win in the PRO Motorsport Lynk & Co 03, recovering from two engine issues in Qualifying and Race 1.

Race 1 – Montenegro had claimed a last-gasp pole, outpacing Damián Fineschi by 47 thousandths, with Pedro Cardoso and Juan Pablo Bessone in P3 and P4. The pole sitter led at the start from Fineschi and Cardoso; behind them there was contact between Galid Osman and Casella, which offered Llaver and Reis the opportunity to move up to fourth and fifth. Further down the field another incident eliminated Enrique Maglione, Juan Ángel Rosso and Fabián Yannantuoni. In lap 4, the engine of Suzuki’s Lynk & Co that had been changed after Qualifying spilled oil on the track; Osman skidded on the patches and stopped in the run-off area before the safety car was deployed. Racing resumed in lap 11, with Montenegro closely chased by Fineschi, Cardoso and Llaver, while Reis defended the fifth place from Casella and Frederick Balbi. In lap 13, the trio fighting for P5 joined the leading quartet. Fineschi rejected a first attempt from Cardoso, and Montenegro benefited from the situation to pull away. Cardoso tried again but to no avail and Fineschi finished second to Montenegro; it was the first podium result for both Fineschi and Cardoso. Llaver retained the fourth position ahead of Reis and Casella, while Balbi pulled out on the pit straight in the penultimate lap. Casella was then dropped four places, to 10^th, for the incident with Osman at the start.

Race 2 – The Lynk & Co cars of Suzuki and Balbi shared the front row; Suzuki started well, while Llaver from P3 jumped into second ahead of Balbi, Casella, Reis and Bessone. Suzuki tried to build a gap, while Llaver struggled to keep Balbi behind. In lap 4 the top five were running nose to tail. Soon Casella and Reis lost contact from the leading trio, while Suzuki began to pull away from Llaver and Balbi. Bessone, Fineschi and Montenegro joined Casella and Reis as they were fighting for P4. Halfway through the race, Suzuki’s margin went up to 3.5 seconds over Llaver who has left Balbi behind. In lap 12, Reis tried to overtake Casella; they came together, and Reis dropped three places, as Bessone, Fineschi and Montenegro all benefited from the commotion to pass him. In laps 16, Fineschi made a mistake, opening the door to Montenegro and Reis who moved up to sixth and seventh. One lap later, PMO Racing’s teammates Diego Gutierrez and Guilherme Reischl crashed; with their heavily damaged Peugeot cars stranded along the track, the safety car was deployed when six minutes were left on the clock and neutralized the race until the end.

TCR South America will race again in Uruguay, at El Pinar on August 18/20 in a joint event with the Kumho TCR World Tour, while TCR Brazil will return into action at Santa Cruz do Sul on 22/24 September, again together with TCR South America.

Rivera – Race 1

1. Ignacio Montenegro (Squadra Martino, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 18 laps

2. Damián Fineschi (PRO Racing, Peugeot 308), 0.753

3. Pedro Cardoso (Scuderia Chiarelli, Hyundai Elantra N), 1.016

Rivera – Race 2

1. Rafael Suzuki (PRO Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03), 22 laps

2. Bernardo Llaver (Toyota Team Argentina, Toyota Corolla GRS), 1.065

3. Frederick Balbi (PRO Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03), 2.074

Championship points – TCR South America

1. I. Montenegro, 256 pts; 2. R. Reis, 212; 3. B. Llaver, 208

Championship points – TCR Brazil

1. R. Reis, 96 pts; 2. I. Montenegro, 92; 3. JM. Casella, 89

Picture: TCR South America/Hernán Capa