Altuna takes pole position for opening round

Equipo Petrobras driver Mariano Altuna has taken pole position for the first round of the TC2000 championship at the General Roca circuit, denying Guillermo Ortelli a debut pole with the new Renault Fluence.

The 28-year-old driver took pole position with a time of 1:33.494 in the Honda Civic, beating Ortelli in the Renault by just eight-thousandths of a second.

José María López, who had been fastest in the morning practice session, qualified third in his new ride at the Scuderia Fiat Oil Combustibles team, whilst 2010 champion Norberto Fontana put his Ford-YPF Focus in fourth.

Leonel Pernía was the second qualifying Honda, and will start fifth, just ahead of the top Toyota of Mariano Werner.

Altuna will not line up on pole however for the first race tomorrow, with the championship’s handicap system dropping drivers based on their 2010 championship standings for the first race of the day.