Matías Rossi leads Toyota 1-2 in decimated field at San Nicolás
Toyota Gazoo Racing Argentina celebrated a 1-2 victory with Matías Rossi heading team-mate Julián Santero at San Nicolás, followed on the podium by Renault driver Leonel Pernía.
Rossi claimed the lead at the start ahead of Pernía with an incident developing behind them.
Citroën driver Facundo Chapur collided with Fiat driver Mariano Werner as his team-mate Fabián Yannantuoni came together with Facundo Conta, also collecting Honda driver José Manuel Urcera. Only Chapur was able to rejoin the race as the other four drivers retired.
As the dust settled only 13 cars were left on track. As the race continued, Santero challenged Ardusso and overtook him for third on lap four as Pernía put pressure on Rossi for the lead, but was unable to get past.
Mariano Altuna of Toyota overtook team Chevrolet YPF driver Agustín Canapino on lap seven, while Santero passed Pernía for third.
On lap 13 Ardusso ran wide and was passed by Altuna for fourth position. Six laps later Altuna made a similar mistake and dropped a position to Ardusso. The joy was however short-lived for Renault driver Ardusso who again fell victim to Toyota driver Altuna.
Santero was close to Toyota team-mate Rossi during the second half of the race but never made a move to risk the 1-2 for the Japanese manufacturer. Pernía seemed to have the pace on the leading duo but could not get close enough to launch a serious attack.
Rossi crossed the finishing line first, two tenths ahead of Santero and 1,5 seconds ahead of Pernía. Altuna finished fourth ahead of Ardusso. Fiat celebrated their season best result with Matías Muñoz Marchesi in sixth place ahead of Renault’s Matías Milla and Canapino.
Pernía heads the standings on 112 points with Rossi second on 110 points and Ardusso third on 90 points.
The next Super TC 2000 round takes place on September 14-15th on a yet to be confirmed venue. Information to TouringCarTimes suggest it could be the Zonda circuit in San Juan.
