Leonel Pernía won Race 2 of TCR South America and TCR Brasil this Sunday (29), at the Zilmar Beux Autodrome, in Cascavel (PR). High tire wear drew attention in the race, which saw a change of leaders precisely because of this factor.
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Enzo Gianfratti, who started on pole, managed to maintain his position at the start. The biggest loser was Juan Ángel Rosso, who had problems and remained stationary for a few moments. Pedro Cardoso managed to climb to third place, with Leonel Pernía right behind him. Néstor Girolami lost positions and fell to the middle of the pack.
On lap 2, Cardoso and Pernía managed to overtake second-place Camilo Trappa. Despite falling to fourth place, the Argentine remained in the lead of the Junior category. In the following laps, the race settled down, with Gianfratti opening up a two-second lead. On lap 5, Fabian Yannantuoni overtook Erick Schotten for 10th place.
On lap 7, the tire of Cardoso, who was in second, punctured in the Bacião area. He lost several positions and had to go to the pits. Then, the same situation happened with the leader, Gianfratti. With this, Leonel Pernía took the lead.
With 18 minutes still on the clock, Gabryel Romano went off track and hit the barriers. The Safety Car was deployed to remove the car.
The race resumed five minutes later, with Leonel Pernía in front, Camilo Trappa in second, and Joaquín Cafaro in third.
In the middle of the pack, Fabian Yannantuoni managed to climb to seventh, overtaking Néstor Girolami. Right behind, Fabricio Pezzini passed Gabriel Moura for ninth place.
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At the front, Cafaro and Trappa began to compete more fiercely. The closing gap between them allowed the pack to close in, shaking up the race. Among the cars was Tiago Pernía, in fifth, trying to overtake Raphael Reis. He took the position on lap 18, but the battle continued. The two had contact and Pernía’s car was damaged with a tire puncture and he lost several positions.
With four minutes remaining, Erick Schotten stopped in a runoff area but managed to return to the track.
The final lap brought victory for Pernía, who gained a good advantage over the second-placed Cafaro. Trappa rounded out the podium. Brazilian Raphael Reis finished in fourth place, followed by Diego Ciantini.
Fabian Yannantuoni was sixth, while Fabricio Pezzini was seventh. Juan Manuel Casella finished the race in eighth. Right behind came Néstor Girolami, while Adrian Chiriano rounded out the top 10 with a victory in the Trophy class.
The next round of TCR South America will be at Interlagos (SP), between April 24 and 26.
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