What a race we just witnessed at the Gran Premio Corven de San Nicolás, where Ignacio “Nacho” Faín put on a stunning masterclass to claim his very first victory in the category. The driver from Villa Minetti swept the weekend in style at the circuit Juan María Traverso, taking his first pole position, his first heat win, and ultimately his first-ever triumph in Turismo Carretera.
Things did not look so straightforward at the lights, however. Julián Santero nailed the start from the front row, fending off Faín on the opening lap and controlling the early stages. By the halfway point, Santero had stretched his advantage to 2 seconds, leaving the rest of the field behind as he and Nacho ran a race of their own. Meanwhile, Facundo Chapur was on the move, climbing from sixth on the grid to fourth early on after clearing Matías Rossi and Otto Fritzler, before eventually passing Azar for third on lap 12.
Behind the leaders, Rossi anchored a massive train of cars that included Mariano Werner, Otto Fritzler, Manuel Urcera, Christian Ledesma, Jonatan Castellano, Agustín Canapino, and Juan Pablo Gianini. Unfortunately for Werner, his Ford suffered a transmission failure on lap 11 that knocked him out of the race and out of the lead of the Copa.
The race turned completely on lap 19. Faín had steadily chipped away at Santero's lead, bringing the gap down to under a second, when disaster struck the leader: Santero's BMW dropped onto five cylinders and bled massive amounts of power. Faín breezed past the ailing machine down the straight without trouble. By lap 23, Chapur sliced past Santero as well, sealing a historic 1-2 finish for the Trotta Racing machines built in Chacabuco.
Despite his engine failure, Santero managed to salvage a podium finish, taking third place and banking crucial points in his bid to enter the top three through the last-minute rule. Behind the podium trio, the Maquin Parts Mercedes pair of Otto Fritzler and Diego Azar finished fourth and fifth respectively. Rossi held on for sixth, followed by Ledesma in seventh, Castellano in eighth, Gianini in ninth, and Di Palma in tenth, with Canapino eleventh and Urcera twelfth rounding out a heavily congested top thirteen that featured nine Copa competitors.
The championship battle now moves to Rosario for the thirteenth round of the Turismo Carretera season, scheduled for October 25.
