TCR World and life

26 SOUTH AMERICA PepeOriolastartsoffontherightfoot THENEWTCRSOUTHAMERICAKICKEDOFFATINTERLAGOSWITHADOUBLEVICTORYFORTHE SPANISHDRIVER Pepe Oriola won both the first two rounds of the brand new TCR South America series at Interlagos, opening up a substantial lead in the points standings in the process. Race 1 saw Oriola make a better start than polesitter Rafael Reis, beating his teammate to Turn 1; from then on Oriola was never threatened, crossing the line nearly three seconds clear. The first five cars quickly pulled away from the remainder of the pack and, apart from Oriola, spent much of the race running together. José Manuel Sapag made contact with Reis on Lap 2 but then Sapag made a slight mistake which took the pressure off Reis. Rodrigo Baptista dived up the inside of Sapag at Turn 1 on Lap 9 to take third place. The start of Race 2 was chaotic, with Guilherme Reischl’s Audi stalling on the grid and Oriola jumping from eighth to second behind Adalberto Baptista. Soon, Oriola and Paul Holton overtook Baptista and pulled away. The race was lively, with several drivers making contact and a number of passing moves. On Lap 6, there was heavy contact between Reis and Rodrigo Baptista, and both were forced to retire while the safety car was deployed. When racing resumed, Oriola defended first position from Holton and then rebuilt his lead. That’s the way things stayed, with Oriola taking his second win of the day from Holton and Ayrton Chorne. Round 1 – Sunday 27 June, Autódromo JC. Pace, Interlagos 1. Pepe Oriola (W2 Racing, Honda Civic Type R FK7); 2. Rafael Reis (W2 Racing, Honda Civic Type R FK7); 3. Rodrigo Baptista (Cobra Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS) Round 1 – Sunday 27 June, Autódromo JC. Pace, Interlagos 1. Pepe Oriola (W2 Racing, Honda Civic Type R FK7); 2. Paul Holton (PropCar Racing Team, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce); 3. Ayrton Chorne (Squadra Martino, Honda Civic Type R FK7)