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Turismo Carretera
Turismo Carretera (Road racing, lit., Road Touring) is a popular stock car racing series in Argentina, and the oldest auto racing series still active in the world. The series is organized by Asociación Corredores de Turismo Carretera. HistoryThe series was established under the Argentine Automobile Club as the "Campeonato Argentino de Velocidad" in 1937 and re-named Turismo Carretera two years later, however its' roots can be traced back to the loosely-organised Grands Prix de Carretera of the 1910s. Events were held on open roads, across asphalt and dirt surfaces, and were held as both circuit and rally-style stage races. Competitors used lightly-modified production coupés, and employed navigators due to the nature of the races. Future Formula One World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio was among the first drivers to find success in the category, winning back-to-back titles in the early-1940s, before the brothers Gálvez (Oscar and Juan) shared fourteen out of fifteen titles in a row in the post-World War II period. The most infamous event during this time was the 1948 South American Grand Prix, a 9,500km stage race from Buenos Aires to Caracas. In the 1960s, competitors began to further experiment with modifications as the coupés gave way to prototype versions of locally-made sedans; examples of such include the 1967 and 1969-winning Liebre Torinos (breaking Ford and Chevrolet's duopoly on championships) and the 1968-winning Trueno Naranja. In 1970, the championship was split into two classes – one for road races, and another for events on permanent circuits – however only for the single season. In 1973, Nasif Estéfano became the series' first and only posthumous champion having died in a crash in the third-to-last event of the season. As the decade progressed, the prototypes were abandoned in favour of regulations that brought the series closer to its' production-based roots whilst retaining the domestically-built cars; a spin-off series for the prototypes was created, but slowly died out and later morphed into the TC2000 Championship. Héctor Gradassi and Juan María Traverso were the first to find success in the new formula – centred around Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge and IKA Torino – before a feud between the governing bodies ACA and CADAD led to the prolonging of the 1979 season and the formation of the ACTC in 1981; an independent body that runs the competition to this day. The 1980s saw the rise of Dodge through their new GTX model, claiming 8 of the 10 championships that decade – four of coming via Roberto Mouras. In 1989, Chevrolet and Ford were given concessions related to engine compression, putting them at a significant technical advantage to the Dodge and now-outdated IKA Torino models; this was only rectified in 1995, when competitor abandonment of the Dodge and Torino led to the homologation of Jeep Cherokee engines to keep them competitive. Following the deaths of Mouras and Osvaldo Morresi, road races were discontinued by the category; the last was held in Santa Teresita in 1997. Despite the category achieving relative parity, Traverso and Guillermo Ortelli entered the new millennium as the leading contenders in Chevrolets, interspersed with titles for Ford and Dodge in the mid-2000s. In 2007, the death of Guillermo Castellanos in a crash at Comodoro Rivadavia led to a ban on navigators – a practice which, by that point, had largely been kept purely on the grounds of tradition. In 2008, a NASCAR-style "Chase" championship format was introduced (see below). In 2015, the category introduced modernised multi-valve engines. In the late-2010s and early-2020s, the championship was dominated by Agustín Canapino of Chevrolet and Mariano Werner of Ford, a rivalry which was only broken by Canapino briefly moving to IndyCar and a title for José Manuel Urcera in 2022 – the first for a Torino in 51 years. That same year, Toyota entered the category with a modern Camry, leading to the introduction of new models based on American pony cars two years later.[1] Julián Santero won his first title in TC's new era after Ford stablemate Mariano Werner's car was sabotaged by spectators ahead of the final race of the season.[2] PyramidThere are currently four tiers on the Turismo Carretera ladder. The top rung is Turismo Carretera itself, followed by TC Pista as the second division (established in 1995), TC Mouras as the third division (established in 2004 and named after driver Roberto Mouras) and TC Pista Mouras as the fourth division (established in 2008). Pista Mouras is considered the first step for drivers from regional race series to compete nationally. A fifth category, TC Pick Up, was introduced in 2017 as an alternative rung on the ladder whilst creating a platform for manufacturers to advertise their light commercial trucks – however, this category has resulted in the Argentine equivalent of "Buschwhacking" with Turismo Carretera regulars and former champions dominating events; in 2022, all but one of the eleven Finals were won by current or former TC drivers.
FormatChampionshipSince 2008, Turismo Carretera has held a NASCAR-style "playoff" format alongside its regular championship to decide the champion. Called the Copa de Oro ("Gold Cup"), the playoffs are typically held over the final five events of a season (three in the COVID-affected 2020 season). The top twelve drivers in the championship after the final round before the playoffs make the cut. All drivers start on zero points, however the championship leader will receive a bonus 15 starting points, and every driver that won an event 'Final' (see below) will receive an additional 8 starting points per win. Ahead of the final round of the season, the top three drivers in the regular standings that did not qualify for the playoffs will be admitted along with the points they scored over the previous four rounds (two in 2020). No bonus points will be awarded to these "last chance qualifiers". Drivers that qualify for the Copa de Oro are differentiated from regular competitors by running gold numbers on the rear-passenger windows and gold paint on the front undertray.[3] EventIn modern Turismo Carretera, there are "normal races" and "special races" in each season. The "normal races" have a format of one qualifying session (held on Saturday) and four races (held on Sunday) per weekend. The first three races – called Series (Heats) – split the field into three separate groups, which are formed from the results of qualifying. The fastest qualifier occupies first place in Heat 1, the second-fastest qualifier occupies first place in Heat 2, and third in Heat 3. The fourth-fastest driver in qualifying occupies second place on the grid in Heat 1, and so on until the entire field is divided into three.[4] Each heat race is a five-lap sprint and defines the grid positions for the final race (or Final), usually held over 25 laps held in the afternoon. The winners of the three heats occupy the first three positions on the grid, in order of fastest to slowest race time. This process is then followed for the rest of the grid, with the order determined by first a drivers' heat position and then their race time. Drivers who did not finish on the lead lap in their heat race will be moved to the rear of the field for the Final, and their order will be determined by how many laps they complete in the Heats, followed by their race position and then their race time.[4] In addition, there can be up to four "special races" (carreras especiales) held in the regular season before the playoffs. In 2023, three special races were held: one with a mandatory pitstop for refueling in La Pampa, the Carrera de los Milliones in Rafaela with a special monetary prize for the winner, and the Desafío de las Estrellas in Villicum where the grid is determined by a lottery and there are two mandatory stops to change tyres and refuel. Additionally, there is a Special Races Tournament (Torneo de Carreras Especiales) that gives the winner the opportunity to qualify for the playoffs if they have not made it through via their position the regular season standings.[5][6] Gallery
CircuitsThe circuits in 2023:
Vehicle overviewTurismo Carretera cars are built by individual teams and constructors to a set of regulations designed to create parity between the various manufacturers involved.[7] Since the 1970s, four manufacturers have been concurrently represented in Turismo Carretera using Argentine-built models – Chevrolet with the Nova, Dodge with the GTX, Ford with the Falcon, and Industrias Kaiser Argentina with the Torino; Toyota joined in 2022 with the Camry XV70. The Dodge GTX and IKA Torino were originally equipped with Slant Six and Tornado engines respectively, but both moved to Chrysler Cherokee engines in the mid-1990s – the Toyota has exclusively run with a Cherokee engine since its original homologation in 2022. In 2024, the vehicles were upgraded to their modern counterparts with a focus on retaining OEM styling; the previous cars had all evolved to look very similar. Chevrolet, Dodge and Ford switched to American pony cars in the form of the Camaro, Challenger and Mustang respectively, whilst Toyota retained the still-new Camry but redesigned the front end; a concept Torino was created as IKA went out of business in 1975.[1] Technical regulations
Champions References
External links
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