TCR South America and TCR Brasil kick off at Interlagos

TCR South America and TCR Brasil kick off together at Interlagos with an event that features a brand-new format. This will be the only endurance race of the season, but instead of the 60-minute duration with a mandatory pit stop for drivers change, the competition will be split in two parts of 40 minutes each. At the end of the first part there will be a 20-minute neutralization in the pits, then the cars will line up in the positions they finished to start the second part behind the safety car.

The 2023 TCR South America champion Ignacio Montenegro has moved to Europe, but the field of the title contenders is impressive, led by TCR Brasil’s reigning champion Galid Osman and his W2 Pro GP teammate Rafael Reis.

Squadra Martino, the team that conquered the title with Montenegro, signed Rodrigo Baptista to join Juan Manuel Casella, Fabio Casagrande and Enrique Maglione in the Honda Civic cars, while Paladini Racing confirmed Juan Ángel Rosso and Fabián Yannantuoni, adding a third Toyota Corolla for the 2022 champion Fabricio Pezzini.

Two important additions to the field are Argentine motorsport legends Matías Rossi and Norberto Fontana who will also be at the wheel of Corolla cars for Toyota Team Argentina and Cobra Racing respectively. However, Rossi will miss the season opener as TTA will join from the second event at Cascavel in May.

Among the guest drivers invited to race in Interlagos is worth to mention Montenegro himself who will join Casella, the 2023 TCR Spain champion Enrique Bordás paired to Yannantuoni, Brazilian star Carlos 'Cacá' Bueno in a Peugeot 308 of PMO Racing and Felipe Lapenna who reforms last year's Interlagos winning team with Osman.

There are 15 cars confirmed so far, but the entry list is expected to grow to 19.

Timetable

Saturday - Qualifying: 14:30 local / 19:30 CEST

Sunday - Race P1: 12:20 local / 15:20 CEST

Sunday - Race P2: 13:20 local / 18:20 CEST

Entry list

3 - Rodrigo Baptista/Diego Nunes (Squadra Martino, Honda Civic Type R FK7)

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

7 - Thiago Vivacqua/Nicolas Costa (Cobra Racing Team, Toyota Corolla GRS)

13 - Fabricio Pezzini/Juan Pablo Bessone (Paladini Racing, Toyota Corolla GRS)

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

16 - Juan Ángel Rosso/Facundo Marques (Paladini Racing/Toyota Corolla GRS)

27 – Marcos Regada/Rafael Suzuki (PMO Full Time Sport, Lynk & Co 03)

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

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

37 - Guilherme Reischl/Guilherme Salas (W2 Pro GP, CUPRA Leon Competición)

43 - Pedro Cardoso/Celso Neto (PMO Racing, Peugeot 308)

47 - Norberto Fontana/Felipe Maluhy (Cobra Racing Team, Toyota Corolla GRS)

55 - Lucas Fecury/Arthur Leist (PMO Full Time Sport, Lynk & Co 03)

60 - Juan Manuel Casella/Ignacio Montenegro (Squadra Martino, Honda Civic Type R FL5)

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

88 - Werner Neugebauer/Carlos 'Cacá' Bueno (PMO Racing, Peugeot 308)

Picture: TCR South America