Matías Rossi devastated after losing title chance following retirement

Toyota Gazoo Racing Argentina’s Matías Rossi was devastated after his retirement in the Super TC 2000 race at Buenos Aires that saw him lose his chance on fighting for the title.

His co-driver and triple WTCC champion Jose ‘Pechito’ María López was battling for the lead of the race before the race came to an end following an off after the pit stop.

“I stalled twice – an oil sensor indicated ‘zero’ when ‘Pechito’ came out and I entered the car, so when I went back on track the engine started stalling,” said Rossi to TouringCarTimes.

“I was trying to reset everything and keep going, so I was dealing with buttons and displays… and when I looked ahead, I was over the turn, so I braked late and spun off. Then, I rejoined and stalled again.”

The retirement meant that Rossi, who claimed the 2013 title of the Argentinian championship, is out of contention for the 2018 title.

“It’s frustrating, we did an exhaustive planning for the race, it was expected that López was right behind Mariano Altuna, so our gamble was to overtake them in a quicker pitstop. It worked, but then I had this issue. It’s part of racing… I can only congratulate my team for the hard work they did,” said Rossi.