Photo: TCR South America

Néstor Girolami takes dominant first TCR South America victory at Cuiabá

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Hyundai MSA’s driver Néstor Girolami controlled race one at Cuiabá, host of the fourth round of the 2026 TCR South America season, to score his first victory in the championship.

The race was originally scheduled to take place on Friday night, but was postponed due to visibility issues because of the rain. On Saturday afternoon, the track was dry and the entire field mounted slick tyres.

Hyundai driver Néstor Girolami took the lead from the pole position at the rolling start, with Leonel Penía racing side-by-side to overtake W2 Pro GP’s Raphael Reis for second place.

The Brazilian also lost to Tiago Pernía and Camilo Trappa, with Pedro Cardoso also taking fifth position before the end of the first lap.

Juan Angel Rosso settled in seventh place with Gabriel Moura next, having sustained damage damage to the front end of his Audi RS 3 LMS after a contact with Fabián Yannatuoni, a concern for Moura as he’s on the reverse grid pole position for Race 2. The Audi driver was also significantly slower than his predecessors.

Nelson Piquet Jr. finally overtook Moura for eighth place on lap five, with the Audi driver also losing to Joaquín Cafaro. Moura received a drive-through penalty for the incident with Yannatuoni, retiring to the pits and the end of the sixth lap.

The positions remained stable at the front, with Girolami opening a comfortable three-second gap over Leonel Pernía, and with third-placed Tiago Pernía busy defending from Trappa.

Girolami scored his first series’ victory at the chequered flag, with Leonel Pernía and Tiago Pernía completing the podium.

Trappa crossed the line in fourth, followed by Cardoso and Reis. Rosso finished the race in seventh place, ahead of Piquet Jr. and Cafaro. Enzo Gianfratti completed the top ten.

“First of all, congratulations to all the team and thank you for trusting me,” Girolami said after the race. “I knew if I started well I could control the race, the pace was good and we could take the victory.”

The TCR South America will return to the track at 17:10 local time for Race 2 (23:10 CEST).