Fabián Yannantuoni leads Peugeot 1-2 in qualifying race at Mendoza

Peugeot claimed a 1-2 victory as Fabián Yannantuoni won the Super TC 2000 qualifying race in San Martín, Mendoza, followed by his team-mate Mariano Werner. Pole sitter Damián Fineschi, from privateer Escudería Fela by RAM Racing, claimed the final podium position.

The qualifying session leading up to the qualifying race saw Fineschi claiming pole position, beating Renault Sport’s Facundo Ardusso and Yannantuoni of Team Peugeot Total Argentina.

One of the front runners in the form of Luis José Di Palma from Renault Sport was eliminated in Q1, a session dominated by Yannantuoni. Q2 knocked out Esteban Guerrieri of Citroën Total Racing, finishing in 11th place, Matías Rossi of Toyota Gazoo Racing Argentina, finishing in 12th place, and last race winner Gabriel Ponce de León of Toyota Gazoo Racing Argentina.

Yannantuoni pushed hard at the start of the qualifying race and took the lead from the outside, with Fineschi dropping to third behind Werner. Meanwhile, Agustin Canapino overtook both factory Renault Fluences of Emiliano Spataro and Facundo Ardusso for fourth.

Leonel Pernía of Renault Sport spun off track during the first lap and forced the safety car out. The restart saw Ardusso moving up to fifth after overtaking Spataro and Chevrolet YPF’s Bernardo Llaver.

There were no further position changes after the restart and Yannantuoni took the victory by 1.2 seconds over his team-mate Werner and 1.7 seconds over Fineschi.

Ardusso’s fifth place, behind Canapino, means that he is in the championship lead ahead of the feature race of tomorrow, climbing up to 36 points, with Citroën Total Racing’s Urcera just a single point behind on 35 points. Rossi is third on 32 points, Pernía fourth with 31 and Fineschi fifth with 28.

The feature race starts at 12:05 local time, scheduled to 32 laps, featuring two joker lap shortcuts for each driver.