Buenos Aires 200km this weekend
The penultimate round of the 2010 3M Argentinean TC2000 Championship takes place this weekend, with a strong 34 car field including two WTCC champions taking part.
The famous endurance event takes part at the Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez in the Argentinean capital, and championship leader Leonel Pernía will be aiming to extend his lead from Norberto Fontana, who is just 11.5 points behind, enjoying a strong first season with the Ford-YPF team.
Fontana won the 200km race last year whilst driving for Toyota Team Argentina, and will be aiming to repeat that feat as he pairs up with Brazilian Stock Car series leader Ricardo Mauricio this weekend.
Fontana’s former team, TTA, will be hoping it is they who repeat the win, having not won a race in over a year since Mariano Werner won at Neuquén in September 2009. Werner will be joined by World Series by Renault driver Esteban Guerrieri, who finished third in the Formula Renault 3.5 championship despite not competing in the full season.
Much like the Australian V8 Supercars championship’s Bathurst 1000km race, the Buenos Aires 200km is attracting more interest from international drivers, especially since the World Touring Car Championship will visit the circuit in April 2011. UPDATE: The WMSC has confirmed on 3rd Nov that the WTCC will not be visiting Argentina in 2011 after all
Former WTCC champions Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini will compete, as well as two-time BTCC champion Alain Menu.
Menu and Muller will complete a third consecutive weekend of races in different series; driving at the Gold Coast 600 two weeks ago, Japan for the WTCC last weekend and now TC2000. Both drivers will race for the Chevrolet Elaion team alongside regulars Christian Ledesma and Guillermo Ortelli, whilst Tarquini will drive for the Equipo Petrobras Honda team, partnering reigning champion José María López.
López’s team-mate, Leonel Pernía will have former GP2 racer and TC2000 Chevrolet driver Ricardo Risatti as co-driver, whilst former FIA GT2 driver Matías Russo will drive for the team with Nestor Girolami.
In addition to Mauricio, two other drivers from the Brazilian Stock Car series will also take part. Daniel Serra will partner Gabriele Ponce de León at Ford-YPF, and Felipe Maluhy will join the Renault Lo-Jack team with Juan Manuel Silva.
Two unlikely guest drivers will also compete at Buenos Aires. Former Formula 1 driver Stefan Johannsson will drive for Scuderia Fiat alongside Leandro Carducci, whilst Le Mans specialist Nicolas Minassian will join the Peugeot Cobra Team, partnering with Juan Cruz Alvarez.
2011 TC2000 Buenos Aires 200km Entry List
1 – José María López/Gabriele Tarquini – Equipo Petrobras – Honda Civic
2 – Mariano Altuna/Jorge Trebbiani – Equipo Petrobras – Honda Civic
3 – Leonel Pernía/Ricardo “Caito” Risatti – Equipo Petrobras – Honda Civic
4 – Néstor Girolami/Matías Russo – Equipo Petrobras – Honda Civic
37 – Santiago Ventana/Germán Suárez – Equipo Petrobras – Honda Civic
5 – Matías Rossi/Guido Falaschi – Renault Lo Jack Team – Renault Mégane
6 – Juan Manuel Silva/Felipe Maluhy – Renault Lo Jack Team – Renault Mégane
7 – Norberto Fontana/Ricardo Mauricio – Ford YPF – Ford Focus
8 – G. Ponce De León/Daniel Serra – Ford YPF – Ford Focus
35 – Martín Basso/Lionel Ugalde – Ford YPF – Ford Focus
9 – Mariano Werner/Esteban Guerrieri – Toyota Team Argentina – Toyota Corolla
10 – Facundo Ardusso/Agustín Canapino – Toyota Team Argentina – Toyota Corolla
31 – Fransico Troncoso/ Rafael Morgerstern – Toyota Team Argentina – Toyota Corolla
32 – Bernardo Llaver/Mauro Gialombardo – Toyota Team Argentina – Toyota Corolla
11 – Guillermo Ortelli/Alain Menu – Chevrolet Elaion – Chevrolet Vectra
12 – Christian Ledesma/Yvan Muller – Chevrolet Elaion – Chevrolet Vectra
13 – Emanuel Moriatis/Diego Aventín – Scuderia Fiat – Fiat Linea
14 – Emiliano Spataro/Ezequiel Baldinelli – Scuderia Fiat – Fiat Linea
39 – Ezequiel Bosio/Marcelo Bugliotti – Scuderia Fiat – Fiat Linea
40 – Leandro Carducci/ Stefan Johansson – Scuderia Fiat – Fiat Linea
51 – Ignacio Char/Juan Manuel López – Scuderia Fiat – Fiat Linea
15 – Fabián Yannantuoni/José Yannantuoni – Vittal DTA – Peugeot 307
16 – M. Muñoz Marchesi/Guillermo Albertengo – Vittal DTA – Peugeot 307
43 – Franco Coscia/Lucas Benamo – Vittal DTA – Peugeot 307
17 – Josito Di Palma/Franco Vivian – Peugeot Cobra Team – Peugeot 307
18 – Juan Cruz Alvarez/Nicolas Minassian – Peugeot Cobra Team – Peugeot 307
20 – Javier Manta/Gustavo Fontana – Fineschi Racing – Honda Civic
23 – Fabricio Pezzini/Hanna Abdallah – E. Rio De La Plata – Honda Civic
24 – Leonel Larrauri/Oscar Larrauri – E. Rio De La Plata – Honda Civic
25 – Daniel Belli/Adrián Chiriano – Lanus Motorsport – Honda Civic
27 – Rubén Salerno/Gustavo Der Ohanessian – JM Motorsport – Volkswagen Bora
28 – Gonzalo Fernández/Alejandro Berganza – JM Motorsport – Volkswagen Bora
45 – Jorge Cersósimo/Gastón Ricardo – JM Motorsport – Volkswagen Bora
47 – Nicolás Ursprung/Ignacio Moreira – Riva Racing – Honda Civic
