At 17 years old, Ignacio Montenegro anticipated the future of Argentine motorsport. The driver from Chubut won the TC2000 race held from end to end at the San Nicolás racetrack (province of Buenos Aires) aboard a Renault Fluence and became the youngest winner of the category in the last 23 years, leaving Agustín Canapino (Chevrolet) and Jorge Barrio (Toyota) behind, another of the teenagers who have dominated the division. Bernardo Llaver (Chevrolet) from Mendoza qualified fourth and fifth, the current leader of the championship, Mariano Pernía (Renault Fluence) who had to bear 60 kilos of ballast after winning Saturday’s sprint that harmed his competitive chances.
Born on November 23, 2004 in Rada Tilly (Chubut)outstanding pupil of the instructors Lucas Benamo and Lucas Colombo Russell and already with experience in European motorsports (during the pandemic he ran two races in Formula 4 in Spain), Montenegro, who had already reached the podium in Rafaela, rounded off an end of almost flawless week: he had the best qualifying time on Saturday and although he qualified 7th in the sprint, he handled the race with the poise of a veteran.
He withstood initial harassment from Canapino, who tried to overtake him in the first corner of the 3,950km circuit, and once he stabilized differences above two seconds, he managed the power of his car without making mistakes or allowing approaches. Only in the final four laps did Canapino reduce the lead, but Montenegro’s victory was never in jeopardy. His final time was 37 minutes 44 seconds 258/1000, 0.832/1000 from Canapino and 15 seconds 860/1000 from Barrio.
Matías Milla (Renault Fluence), Franco Vivian (Citroen), Fabián Yannantuoni (Honda), Julián Santero (Toyota) and the Uruguayan Tomás Reilly (Fiat) completed the scoring positions in the eighth round of the TC2000 calendar. The ninth will take place on September 11 at the Villicum circuit in San Juan.
