Photo: Franco Carnero

Results after Heat 1 at La Plata stadium

The first heat of the special Super TC 2000 race at La Plata stadium has been completed, with championship leader Matías Rossi safely through, whilst all three of the Hondas have fallen at the first hurdle.

Ignacio Julian of Escuderia FE was the first out on track facing points leader Matías Rossi’s Toyota. Julian won the first run, but after winning the second start it was Matias Rossi the winner after the time calculation.

In the second match, Renault’s Guillermo Ortelli was pitted against Equipo YPF Chevrolet driver Franco Vivian. A broken drive shaft for the Vivian’s Cruze however saw Ortelli progress to the second round.

The third clash saw the Renault Fluence of Fabian Yannantuoni take on Equipo Petrobras Honda’s Christian Ledesma, with Yannantuoni winning the duel.

The fourth match was between Honda’s Ricardo Risatti and Chevrolet’s Agustín Canapino. Canapino won both runs, safely securing a spot in the second heat and secured two points in the standings.

The fifth battle was between Toyota Team Argentina driver Mariano Werner and PSG16’s Gerardo Salaverría. Although the #100 Ford Focus of Salaverría moved before the green, the Corolla of Werner narrowly won the first and second heat in what was the closest run so far.

Facundo Ardusso of Equipo Petronas Fiat took on Agustín Calamari of Toyota for the sixth fight, and they ran close during the first run until Calamari’s Toyota crashed out. Calamari was able to win the second run however, but with no time set on the first run, Ardusso was declared the winner of the round.

Reigning champion José María López for Fiat took on Daniel Belli’s Lanús Motorsport Chevrolet for the seventh fight, but the Belli failed to get away at the start, handing an easy victory to López. Belli managed to defeat López in the second run, but López progressed to heat 2 on aggregate.

Scuderia FE’s Facundo Chapur lost out to Peugeot’s Néstor Girolami in round eight, thanks in part to a clutch failure on Chapur’s Volkswagen Vento, whilst Toyota’s Bernardo Llaver defeated Honda’s Damian Fineschi in the ninth round.

Peugeot driver Matías Muñoz Marchesi beat Renault’s Emiliano Spataro in the tenth round, whilst his Renault team-mate Leonel Pernía was able to win his bout against Franco Riva’s Peugeot 308 in the 12th and final round of the first heat to progress to heat 2, with Riva earning a one minute penalty due to a faslst start/

The drivers progressing to Heat 2 are:
Matías Rossi (Toyota) vs. Guillermo Ortelli (Renault)
Fabian Yannantuoni (Renault) vs. Agustín Canapino (Chevrolet)
Mariano Werner (Toyota) vs. Facundo Ardusso (Fiat)
José María López (Fiat) vs. Néstor Girolami (Peugeot)
Bernardo Llaver (Toyota) vs. Matías Muñoz Marchesi (Peugeot)
Franco Girolami (Chevrolet) vs. Leonel Pernía (Renault)