Esteban Guerrieri made his debut in the second round of TCR South America’s history, onboard the Honda Civic Type R TCR from Squadra Martino. He shared the drive of the #33 car with his compatriot Manuel Sapag after receiving the invite for the Endurance round at Curitiba.
The activity was held between Saturday and Sunday, with opposite results for the WTCR man. On the first day, together with Manuel Sapag, they conquered the Pole Position with the best times in Qualifying, as the two drivers and the team worked to perfection to set up the Honda in the Brazilian track.
“It was a nice Quali, Manu did a great job and the team a good effort. I really liked the circuit and the weekend started very well”, Guerrieri said after Quali, with a difference of 0.177s to take pole position.
“We analyzed the strategy with the team. 40 laps. We decided that I would take the start and Manu would take over in the middle of the race. The start was too close, wheel to wheel, even touching with a rival reaching turn 1. Race was looking good, we were leading, but in lap 12 we had a puncture and fell back in the order. A Safety Car period moved us closer to the pack, but mechanical problems forced us to retire”, the Argentinian driver stated.
Manuel Sapag could not make it to the drive due to the DNF, which left Guerrieri a bit disappointed too. But Esteban shared his views of the whole weekend and his insights of the series.
“TCR South America is a really interesting concept for drivers and teams to get on board. This weekend was really nice and it is a series that will grow a lot and fast. It is a great parameter of competition in the region”, Guerrieri said as the weekend came to a close.
The next scheduled activity for Esteban will be again on European soil, when the fourth event of WTCR at Hungary takes place, on August 21st and 22nd, as the race in Adria was postponed.