Fabricio Pezzini nets Race 2 victory at San Juan Villicum
W2 Pro GP driver Fabricio Pezzini dominated the second race at San Juan Villicum, host of the third round of the 2025 TCR South America season, to take his second victory of 2025.
Pezzini started from the reversed grid pole position, but would lose under braking to Turn 1, with Lynk & Co’s Juan Angel Rosso taking the lead ahead of the Cupra driver, with Mariano Pernía (Honda) following close behind in third place.
Pezzini didn’t give up however and overtook Rosso for the lead on lap three as Leonel Pernía (Honda) complained on the radio about having a bent steering wheel after a first-lap contact with his son Tiago.
The safety car came into action on lap five as Santino Balerini (Toyota) spun off and was stuck in the gravel trap.
The race was relaunched on lap seven, with Pezzini holding the lead ahead of Rosso and Mariano Pernía. The leader quickly opened a gap over his pursuers as Nelson Piquet Jr. overtook Tiago Pernía for eighth place on lap nine.
Fabian Yannantuoni (Lynk & Co) attacked Mariano Pernía on lap ten and snatched third place. The Lynk & Co driver continued moving forward, overtaking his team-mate Rosso for second place on lap ten in an attempt to close the gap to the leader.
The effort would however prove futile, as the Paladini Racing driver was three tenths of a second slower than the leader per lap.
Reis and Mariano Pernía came together while going side-by-side on lap 15, with Reis overtaking for fourth position. The move enabled Leonel Pernía and Piquet Jr. to go past their team-mate as well.
Pezzini claimed his second victory of the season at the chequered flag, with Rosso recovering second place from his team-mate Yannantuoni who completed the podium.
Reis was fourth, followed by Leonel Pernía and Piquet Jr. Mariano Pernía crossed the line in seventh place, with Pedro Cardoso fending off Tiago Pernía in the closing stages to finish in eighth place. Genaro Rasetto (Peugeot) completed the top ten.
“I didn’t start very well and I tried to not exasperate myself,” said Pezzini after the race. “I overtook Rosso and moved forward from then.”
After the races at San Juan Villicum, Leonel Pernía leads the championship with 219 points, 44 over Cardoso and 75 ahead of Reis, with Pezzini in fourth place, 76 points adrift.
The next round of the 2025 TCR South America season will take place at Termas de Rio Hondo, from the 30th of May to the 1st of June.
