Leonel Pernía takes first win of 2012 at Salta

Leonel Pernía has taken the first win of the season for Renault in the 2012 Super TC 2000, fighting off José María López for the victory, whilst López extends his championship lead with one race remaining.

Pernía started from pole position after winning the Super 8 qualifying heat, with López starting alongside in the PSG16 Ford Focus.

The two were then involved in an all-race battle for victory, with Pernía beating his former team-mate from their Honda days by less than half a second, and in doing so ended a two year barron streak, with Pernía’s last win being at Oberá in October 2010.

Lopez’s second place saw him outscore his title rival Matías Rossi by seven points, with the Toyota driver now 9.5 points behind after finishing in third position, whilst Peugeot’s Néstor Girolami is now 21.5 points behind after finishing down in tenth place.

The Renault Lo Jack Team in fact enjoyed their strongest weekend of the season at the Autódromo Martín Miguel de Güemes, with three of their cars occupying the top five spots. Renault’s top placed driver in the championship, Emiliano Spataro, finished in fourth place and now has only an outside chance of the title going to Potrero de Los Funes at the end of the month.

The two Chevrolet Cruzes of Agustín Canapino and Christian Ledesma finished sixth and seventh, with Toyota’s Mariano Werner eighth, Ricardo Risatti’s Honda ninth with Girolami completing the top ten.

The season finale takes place at Potrero de Los Funes on November 25th.