Tiago Pernía charges to victory in Autódromo Velocitta opener

Tiago Pernía charged from third on the grid to win the first TCR South America race of the weekend at Autódromo Velocitta.

The Honda Racing driver made a lightning start as the lights went out, passing Cupra driver Raphael Reis and pole-sitter Nelson Piquet Jr. heading into Turn 1.

The safety car was called into action following a serious crash at Turn 1 when Eric Schotten lost brake pressure in his Cupra and hit the barriers hard.

The safety car remained on track for several laps while the barriers were repaired.

G Racing Motorsport driver Pedro Cardoso was a man on the move from fifth on the grid, battling hard with Reis and Leonel Pernía for the podium positions.

Cardoso came out on top and was just under 1.5 seconds behind race winner Tiago Pernia in the end.

Leonel Pernía, who briefly went off track during the fight for second place with Cardoso, made it two Hondas on the podium in third place, while Cupra driver Reis, who started second, had to settle for fourth.

Pole man Piquet Jr dropped down to finish fifth ahead of the Paladini Racing duo of Fabricio Pezzini and Juan Ángel Rosso.

Néstor Girolami made his way up from eleventh on the grid to finish eighth ahead of Hyundai MSA team-mate Camilo Trappa.

The second reversed-grid race starts at 14:10 local time/20:10 CEST.