Photo: STC2000

Matías Rossi claims lights-to-flag victory in General Roca feature race

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Toyota Gazoo Racing Argentina’s Matías Rossi won from lights to flag in the Super TC 2000 feature race in General Roca. He was followed on the podium by Chevrolet YPF’s Agustín Canapino and Escudería Fela by RAM Racing’s Damián Fineschi.

Rossi started from pole following his qualifying race win, joined by Canapino on the front row.

Following their heavy crash on Saturday, Facundo Chapur’s Peugeot 408 and Carlos Merlo’s Fiat Linea were repaired and took start from 25th and 26th on the grid respectively.

Rossi held onto the lead at the start, however Canapino initiated his battle against him on the very first lap, trying three times to overtake him, but failing to get past.

Meanwhile Renault Sport’s Facundo Ardusso, the championship leader who had little chances of ensuring the title this afternoon, battled hard against Citroën Total Racing’s Esteban Guerrieri for fourth. On lap five, Guerrieri made contact with Ardusso and dropped back to ninth. Ardusso’s title rival Mariano Werner of Team Peugeot Total Argentina moved up to sixth thanks to the incident.

Luciano Farroni’s Ford Focus III of Escudería Fela by RAM Racing caught fire on lap nine due to a technical failure and forced the safety car out on track.

As the race had resumed, Werner spun off at the end of the longest straight on lap 17 due to a front-left puncture. He ended up stuck in the gravel trap, so the safety car came out again. Once back in pits, Werner was outraged at Renault Sport’s Luis José Di Palma, complaining about excessive roughness on track that could have caused his puncture.

Leonel Pernía retired from fifth on lap 29, something that moved up Muñoz Marchesi to finish fifth, followed by Renault Sport’s Ignacio Julián and Chevrolet YPF’s Facundo Conta and Manuel Mallo with just a few laps left of the race.

Rossi won the race ahead of Canapino, meaning they both keep their title chances alive for the last round. Fineschi completed the podium, ahead of Ardusso, who currently is the strongest candidate for the championship. Marchesi finished fifth, ahead of Julián and Conta, who claimed his season’s best result in seventh.

The final round of the season takes place on December 17th in Córdoba.