Bernardo Llaver leads a Fiat 1-2 at La Pampa

Bernardo Llaver earned his second win of the season at La Pampa, after flying to victory from pole position in Toay. José Manuel Urcera followed him, while Toyota’s Esteban Guerrieri completed the podium after being dropped from second by the stewards.

The heat races held earlier in the morning helped place Llaver on pole, followed by his Fiat team-mates Urcera and Javier Merlo.

When the lights went green, Urcera battled against his team-mate Llaver to take the lead around the outside into the long and fast Turn 1, but Llaver held was able to hold on to first place. Meanwhile, Merlo was overtaken by Peugeot driver Mariano Werner for third behind them.

Chevrolet driver and championship leader Agustín Canapino climbed up to sixth during the first few laps, after already making up ground on the grid in the morning Heat races. Meanwhile, Llaver started to build a gap over the field, though Ignacio Julián had to retire after his hood opened and smashed his windscreen.

Toyota’s Matías Rossi battled with Merlo for fifth after overtaking Canapino, but the Fiat driver closed the door at the exit of Turn 1, however Rossi was able to complete the move one lap later.

On lap nine, Werner closed down Urcera in second, which allowed race lader Llaver to increase his gap to three seconds.

Esteban Guerrieri took advantage of the battle between Werner and Urcera, and overtook the Peugeot driver for third, while at this point Canapino’s rival in the title chase, Renault Sport’s Facundo Ardusso, was running in tenth place.

Ulises Armellini, Team Peugeot Total Argentina principal, rushed to the stewards to complain about Guerrieri’s overtaking move on Werner, stating there was a collision.

On the last corner, Urcera’s engine failed and he lost a place to Guerrieri, who finished second, with Llaver taking victory. Werner crossed the line in fourth, followed by Rossi.

After the race, the stewards punished Guerrieri for his move on Werner and moved him one place back, handing Fiat a 1-2 finish.

Canapino gained one place on the last lap and finished sixth ahead of Merlo, with Leonel Pernía (Renault), Damian Fineschi (Peugeot) and Facundo Ardusso (Renault) rounding out the top ten.

“It’s an amazing moment for me,” said Llaver. “’Manu’ started better than me, but I could held onto the lead. That was crucial, my car had a very strong pace. Still, the team told me on radio to take care of the tyres in case of a safety car. But thankfully, it wasn’t necessary.”

Guerrieri, who had crossed the line second before being demoted for his unsafe pass on Werner, contratulated Llaver on his victory, and touched on his plans for next year.

“’Bernie’ is a great driver and a very good guy, he deserves this win,” said Guerrieri. “It’s not the best to gain second after an opponent’s failure, but it’s fine. We couldn’t win anything when running on slipstream, I don’t know why, but here we are. It’s a great result for me in weeks in which I’m closing to define my future”, stated Guerrieri, who’s been linked with a move to the WTCC after a successful debut two months’ ago in Termas de Río Hondo.

Canapino now leads the championship on 182 points, with Ardusso in second on 145, and Pernía third with 120.

The next round of the Super TC 2000 is on October 23rd in San Juan, where the last edition in 2014 saw the famous finish where Matías Muñoz Marchesi and Leonel Pernía tied for the victory at the finish line to the same thousandth of a second.