Raphael Reis and Felipe Fraga claim endurance race pole at Interlagos
The W2 Pro GP duo of Raphael Reis and Felipe Fraga scored the pole position for the TCR South America endurance race at Interlagos in Brazil.
The qualifying had a different format than usual which featured two 15-minute sessions, the first for guest drivers and the second one for regular drivers, with the grid set by the best total times from both sessions.
The first 15-minute qualifying run started with Hyundai’s Alex Ley spinning off after contact with fellow Hyundai MSA/PMO driver Rodrigo Lugon. Both were able to resume the session after the incident.
Fraga set the fastest lap time of 1:41.070, pipping Jenson Brickley by just 0.053 seconds and Julian Santero (Honda) by just 0.061 seconds.
Reis continued the form set by his co-driver in the second session, setting the first reference lap time of 1:40.994. But the Brazilian would spin shortly afterwards at Bico do Pato.
Despite a very close fight for the top spot, the pair formed by Reis and Fraga remained on top, claiming pole position with an aggregated qualification time of 3:22.064.
The Honda pair formed by Leonel Pernía and Julián Santero were second, just 2-tenths off the pace, followed by Cupra drivers Enzo Gianfratti and Jenson Brickley, a further 40-thousandths further behind.
Former FIA TCR World Tour driver Néstor Girolami and Gaetano di Mauro qualified in fourth position, eight-tenths off the pace.
The Lynk & Co pair of Nicolas Fuca and Santiago Urrutia were fifth, one second off the pace, followed by the Honda pair of Tiago Pernía and Esteban Guerrieri, a further tenth behind.
Pedro Cardoso and Celso Neto shared a Cupra to qualify in seventh place, followed by the Peugeot of Juan Manuel Casella and Galid Osman.
Erick Schotten and Bruno Massa qualified in ninth place aboard a Cupra, with Juan Angel Rosso sharing his Lynk & Co with Francisco Bugliotti to complete the top ten.
“It’s very special to achieve this result in the first time I race here, so far it has been an incredible experience with the team and the car, and, of course, my team-mate Raphael Reis,” said Fraga.
“Felipe has learned very quickly and he was already fast in the second practice,” Reis said after the session. “We did a good lap time the first time around and then the track worsened, so it’s good to have this result.”
Leonel Pernía is back at the top of the championship with 101 points after the qualifying results, with Girolami just one point behind. Hyundai’s Camilo Trappa remains third with 95, after a dismal qualifying in 13th place.
The TCR South America returns to the track on Sunday at 14:30 local time (19:30 CEST) for the 58-minute plus one lap endurance race. The teams are free to choose which driver will start the race, with the compulsory driver change taking place between laps 17 and 22.
