Leonel Pernía wins puncture-riddled Race 2 at Cascavel
Honda Racing YPF driver Leonel Pernía won the second TCR South America race at Cascavel, a race which was again marked by tyre failures.
Cupra driver Enzo Gianfratti took the lead from the reversed grid pole position, followed by the Hyundais of Camilo Trappa and Néstor Girolami, who overtook Erick Schotten as the light went out.
Girolami and Raphael Reis (Cupra) came together during the first lap, with Pedro Cardoso (Cupra) and Leonel Pernía overtaking both.
Gianfratti opened a gap at the front as Trappa also fell victim to Cardoso and Pernía, with Joaquin Cafaro (Peugeot) overtaking Reis for fifth position at the same time.
Race 1 winner Pedro Cardoso suffered a puncture on lap eight and dropped down the order, with Gianfratti also coming into the pits at the end of the lap, leaving Leonel Pernía in the lead.
Lynk & Co driver Juan Ángel Rosso and Cardoso also came into the pits for tyre changes. Rosso’s team-mate Nicolas Fuca followed suit at the end of lap nine.
Tiago Pernía overtook Girolami for fifth position on lap ten.
The safety car was called into action on lap eleven as Gabriel Romano (Honda) crashed into the barriers.
The race went green again on lap 14, with Leonel Pernía leading ahead of Trappa and Cafaro.
Tiago Pernía and Reis collided on lap 18, with the Honda driver getting ahead in fourth place and received a warning for the incident.
Cafaro went past Trappa for second place on lap 19, as Tiago Pernía suffered a puncture and dropped down the order.
Schotten stopped on lap 20 due to an issue while Pezzini received a five-second time-penalty for an incident with Audi driver Gabriel Moura.
Leonel Pernía won as the chequered flag fell, with Cafaro and Trappa completing the podium.
Reis finished fourth, ahead of Ciantini, Yannantuoni and Pezzini.
Casella crossed the line in eighth place, with Girolami and Chiriano completing the top ten.
“Very important victory to stay at the top of the championship,” Pernía said after the race.
“We started from eighth on the grid, it was a great work from all the team, as we did some setup changes and it was difficult as we didn’t know when the tyres would give up, but it’s a great result.”
Trappa has taken over the championship lead on 95 points, just one point ahead of Girolami and Leonel Pernía.
The next round of the 2026 TCR South America season takes place at Interlagos (Brazil) on the 24-26th of April.
