Photo: Super TC2000

Fabian Yannantuoni wins in El Cabalen

Fabian Yannantuoni was the final winner at the 11th round of the Super TC 2000, celebrated this weekend at El Cabalen circuit, in Cordoba, Argentina. The Peugeot driver won a difficult race in which the weather conditions played an important part.

After the two classification races, Franco Vivian and Facundo Chapur shared the front row, with Facundo Ardusso and Agustín Canapino on the second row. All the drivers aspiring to the title were further back in the pack.

At the green light, Vivian had a strong start and took the lead, with Chapur in second place. Ardusso and Canapino came side by side, with the Peugeot driver taking third at the first corner.

The race would soon be neutralised, after Lucas Benamo and Carlos Javier Merlo came together on the second corner, forcing the safety car into action.

Action was restarted on lap three, with the Chevrolet man keeping the lead and lapping faster than Chapur. Ardusso was third and keeping Canapino behind, despite the Peugeot being faster.

The positions remained stable until, on lap 11, rain started to fall over El Cabalen. The conditions favoured the more seasoned drivers, with Leonel Pernía and Néstor Girolami recovering positions. Esteban Guerrieri was the first driver to change onto wet tyres, on lap 15.

Two laps later, Franco Vivian, who had a comfortable lead, had a spin on the track, but managed to recover and maintain the first position. On lap 18, Yannantuoni and Sirvent changed onto wet tyres.

The leaders tried to stay on track with slicks, but Vivian was having increasing troubles to keep Chapur behind. The Fiat driver was seeking the victory to keep his championship options open, and made a mistake, losing several positions. Facundo Ardusso also spun on track, collecting Franco Vivian in the process, with the incident calling the safety car into action for the second time in the race.

The race was relaunched on lap 23, with the race director then communicating three further laps would be run. With the heavy rain now dictating the conditions, several drivers had trouble to keep their cars on the track. Christian Ledesma collided with Néstor Girolami, but the reigning champion returned to the track, trying to score points.

With just two laps to go, Germán Sirvent overtook Facundo Ardusso for the lead. But Fabian Yannantuoni was faster than the pair, and soon got through both of them to become the new race leader. Ardusso lost positions, and Esteban Guerrieri went past Manuel Mallo to take third position.

At the chequered flag, Yannantuoni took his first win of the season, followed by Sirvent and Guerrieri. Norberto Fontana was fourth, followed by Leonel Pernía, emilianto Spataro, Matías Muñoz, Ricardo Risatti and Agustín Canapino.

Fabian Yannantuoni: “This will be an unforgettable victory for me. I came into the pits because the wiper wasn’t working, and did a tyre change as well. We took advantage of the safety car. The track was complicated, as there was poor visibility. We tried to take advantage of the other drivers’ mistakes. It was a dream race, as only in these circumstances we could win over our rivals. This gives me strength to end the year in the best way possible. Definitely, this is my best ever win.”

After the post race scrutineering race, Germán Sirvent’s Fiat was excluded from the results for having an illegal rear wing, with all drivers moving up on place in the classification.

Néstor Girolami leads the standings with 154 points, followed by Leonel Pernía with 153.5 and Matías Rossi with 143.

The final round of the 2015 season will take place at San Luis on the 20th of December.