Photo: TCR South America

Nelson Piquet Jr claims Interlagos finale pole as Leonel Pernía is penalised

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Honda driver Nelson Piquet Jr. claimed pole position for the tenth and final round of the 2025 TCR South America season at the Brazilian track Interlagos as team-mate Leonel Pernía, who set the fastest time, will serve two engine penalties.

The Honda YPF Racing team dominated the session, with Leonel Pernía managing a best lap time of 1:52.652 to pip his team-mate Nelson Piquet Jr. by just seven-thousandths of a second, while Tiago Pernía was a further three tenths behind.

Reigning champion Leonel Pernía will start from the back of the grid due to two engine changes.

Leonardo Reis was the fastest Cupra driver in third place, albeit a massive 1.4 seconds behind the pole-sitter. Enzo Gianfratti (Cupra) claimed fourth, just four-hundredths adrift.

Juan Ángel Rosso was fifth with his Lynk & Co 03 TCR, 1.9 seconds from pole, with Genaro Rasetto the fastest of the Peugeot drivers in sixth.

Guilherme Reischl (Peugeot) qualified in seventh place while Maria Nienkötter rounded off the top eight.

Fabián Yannantuoni (Lynk & Co) set the eighth fastest time, but will start the race from eleventh on the grid due to a turbo change, with Honda drivers Adrian Chiriano and Mariano Pernía also facing penalties for engine changes.

The TCR South America field will return to the track on Saturday morning for Race 1 at 10:30 local time (14:30 CET).