The reigning champion left no doubt for his opponents in the first qualifying of the year for TCR South America: Leonel Pernía took pole position at the Circuito dos Cristais, in Curvelo (MG), this Saturday (7), after clocking 1min22s787. However, the challenge was not easy, as the grid proved to be balanced, with the top-7 within the same second as him. The TCR Brazil pole also belongs to the Argentine.
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Q1
The clock was started in Curvelo and the cars headed out under cloudy skies. The first ten minutes were for track recognition and tire warm-up.
The first split times began to appear. Pedro Cardoso set himself as the fastest in the first half of qualifying with 1min24s301, but a few moments later Leonel Pernía managed to lap in 1min23s579.
The cars returned to the pits for final adjustments and went back out with about 5 minutes still on the clock. Tiago Pernía surpassed Leonel by clocking 1min23s521, but was soon left behind by Joaquin Cafaro, who set a 1min23s395.
In the following moments, it was Néstor Girolami’s turn to take the lead with 1min23s145. However, Raphael Reis pushed hard and finished the first part in front with 1min23s053.
Qualified for Q2: Raphael Reis, Néstor Girolami, Juan Ángel Rosso, Joaquin Cafaro, Tiago Pernía, Leonel Pernía, Enzo Gianfratti, Nelson Piquet Jr., Camilo Trappa, Celso Neto, Erick Schotten and Gabriel Moura.
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Eliminated: Diego Ciantini, Pedro Cardoso, Fabricio Pezzini, Bruno Massa, Juan Manuel Casella, Adrian Chiriano, Enrique Maglione, Fernando Croce, Fabian Yannantuoni, Enzo Falquete and Nicolas Fuca.
Q2
The drivers had already left the pits focusing on gaining temperature for their fast laps. Reis opened the times with 1min23s003, but Girolami soon dropped it to 1min22s972. At that moment, all 11 cars on track were already within less than a second of Girolami. Again, the cars went to the pits for tire rotation.
Leonel Pernía achieved two purple sectors and clocked 1min22s787, taking the lead and securing pole position. Girolami took the second lap with 1min22s934, while Raphael Reis qualified third after completing his lap in 1min22s970. Tiago Pernía finished in fourth place with 1min23s066, while Nelson Piquet Jr. will start fifth after achieving 1min23s113.
Joaquin Cafaro was the best driver in the Junior class with sixth place overall, followed by Juan Angel Rosso. Celso Neto secured eighth place, while Camilo Trappa was ninth. Gabriel Moura, Enzo Gianfratti and Erick Schotten rounded out the top-12.
TCR holds its first races of the 2026 season this Sunday. Race 1 starts at 9h00, while Race 2 is scheduled for 13h00.
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