Camilo Trappa takes maiden TCR South America win at Curvelo
Camilo Trappa claimed his and Hyundai MSA’s maiden TCR South America win in the second and final race of the season opener at Curvelo.
Audi driver Gabriel Moura started from the reversed grid pole position but lost the lead at the green lights to Trappa.
The safety car was called into action on lap two as Enrique Maglione (Peugeot) spun off the race track and was stranded on the gravel trap after an incident with team-mate Juan Manuel Casella and Fabrizio Pezzini (Lynk & Co).
The race went green again on lap three.
Juan Angel Rosso overtook Netto for third place on lap four, with Nelson Piquet Jr. following suit soon after.
Rosso driver had superior speed and overtook Moura for second place on lap six, with the Audi driver also falling victim to Piquet Jr and Neto.
Race 1 winner Leonel Pernía (Honda) climbed up to eighth place on the same lap, having started tenth on the reversed grid.
Leonel Pernía would soon lose a place to Cupra driver Pedro Cardoso, but the safety car was called into action a second time as the 2024 champion stopped on the track following contact with Pernía.
The race was restarted on lap 13.
Rosso went wide on lap 17, with Piquet Jr. taking advantage to overtake for second place.
Trappa managed to hold Piquet Jr. off to claim his first victory in the series ahead of the Brazilian, with Rosso completing the podium.
Neto was fourth, ahead of Moura and Reis, with Leonel Pernía in seventh place. Cafaro crossed the line in eighth, followed by Néstor Girolami (Hyundai) and Enzo Gianfratti (Cupra).
“The first race this morning was complicated, but this was different,” said Trappa after the race.
“I knew the race would be longer and that there would be a safety car, so I had to manage the tyres and, in the last five laps, hold off Nelson Piquet Jr. and keep the temperature in the tyres.”
After the first round of the season, Leonel Pernía leads the drivers’ championship with 65 points, seven ahead of Rosso and 12 over Trappa and Girolami.
The next round of the 2026 TCR South America season takes place at Cascavel (Brazil) on the 27-29th of March.
