Top three on qualifying from Buenos Aires 200km

Three marques occupy the top three spots for today’s Buenos Aires 200km, with José Manuel Urcera and Valdeno Brito starting from pole position in the Equipo Petronas Fiat Linea, with the YPF-backed Chevrolet of Agustín Canapino and Guillermo Ortelli second and the factory Peugeot 408 of Damián Fineschi and Galid Osman third.

All three have high hopes to win the landmark round of the Argentinian Super TC 2000 Championship’s calendar, but know it’ll be tough.

“Valdeno had done really well in yesterday’s practice sessions, but we had a bit of understeer in the morning,” said Urcera. “We tried some set-up changes which really did work, so I’m extremely happy to have the pole position. We’ve been really strong in sector three (the Mixtos section), that’s the point where car’s performance will improve tomorrow as the race goes on. We can do really well if rain doesn’t mix things up. Just like I’ve shared the pole with Valdeno, I hope as well to share the victory tomorrow.”

Urcero’s co-driver added:
“I will have a huge responsibility on my shoulders tomorrow, but anyone would like to have it too,” said Brito. “I knew we were in condition to fight for the pole, but I also knew it was not going to be easy. We ran with quite used tyres, so we have a lot of potential tomorrow.”

Championship contender Agustín Canapino qualified second in the Chevrolet Cruze, and is yet to win the event himself, with Chevrolet not having won the endurance event since 2006 when Matías Rossi won the event sharing a Chevrolet Astra with Alain Menu.

“It was hard to get the car’s balance, but our Cruze has much better pace during the race than in qualifying, so we have a great chance for result tomorrow,” said Canapino. “If there is rain, everything will change, but the race is very, very long.”

Canapino’s co-driver Ortelli added: “I just tried to help with my experience in order to give Agustín all the best for tomorrow. We decided to prioritise the pace in sector three, which is the toughest of all, it was the key that allowed Agustín to do such a good lap. I’d like to start the race if I had to, but I even more, I would like to win.”

Fineschi was the best-placed of the factory Peugeot contingent, with the experienced pair of Mariano Werner and Néstor Girolami qualifying two spots behind in fifth, and also suffered similar handling issues to his rivals, and is also wary of the weather forecast for Sunday.

“I suffered a bit of understeer, if we could have solved that, perhaps our lap time could have been better,” said Fineschi. “Things are really uncertain for tomorrow, it will depend everything on the weather we have at the moment of the race.”

“It’s really important to do well in such a competitive series,” said Fineschi’s co-driver Galid Osman. “I want to battle for the victory tomorrow, but mainly, in order to help Damián. He is the best Peugeot driver in the championship, and I want to go back home in Brazil knowing that I gave him a hand.”

Interviews by Francisco Aure