Cacá Bueno clinched pole position for the third round of NASCAR Brasil. The driver took advantage of starting from the front in the sprint race on Saturday (30), at the Interlagos Raceway, to extract the car’s best rhythm and mount sturdy defenses of the lead.
The qualifying was split into groups. Arthur Gama, Bruna Tomaselli, Nicolas Costa, Juninho Berlanda, Dudes Castroneves, Felipe Tozzo, Alfredinho Ibiapina, Victor Andrade, Tatiana Calderón, Jorge Martelli and Tito Giaffone were the first to hit the track.
Andrade led the opening five minutes by posting 1:51.771, 0.328 seconds ahead of Costa. But the times would soon be lowered.
In his second attempt, Andrade clocked 1:50.227, while Costa reduced the gap to 1:50.279. Arthur Gama was right behind. But Andrade wasn’t satisfied and brought it down to 1:49.773, while Costa posted 1:50.157.
In the second group, the lineup included Murilo Rocha, Gustavo Bandeira, Vitor Genz, Thiago Camilo, Denis Navarro, Cacá Bueno, Ricardo Maurício, Gabriel Casagrande, Gui Backes, Galid Osman, Ricardo Zonta and Witold Ramasauskas.
Rocha led the first five minutes, posting his best lap at 1:50.676. He was eventually overtaken by Bueno, who clocked 1:50.150.
In the end, Bueno led the group with 1:49.604, followed by Casagrande by a margin of 0.222 seconds. Zonta completed the top three with 1:50.025.
Q2
Advanced to Q2: Cacá Bueno, Arthur Gama, Ricardo Zonta, Victor Andrade, Murilo Rocha, Victor Andrade, Felipe Tozzo, Nicolas Costa, Gabriel Casagrande, Jorge Martelli and Galid Osman.
Bueno posted the best time with 1:48.975, with Gama right behind. Andrade and Casagrande also qualified for the sprint, as did Murilo Rocha and Nicolas Costa.
SPRINT
The start was given and Cacá Bueno managed to keep the lead, while Casagrande attempted to overtake Andrade on the outside of the circuit. In the Curva do Sol, he succeeded and moved up to third. Costa rose to fifth.
By the end of the following lap, Costa managed to move up to fourth, while Andrade dropped to fifth. Cacá remained at the front.
With three laps remaining, the battle among the last three intensified. Rocha managed to pass Andrade, while Costa broke away from the pack. Meanwhile, at the front, Gama closed in on Bueno.
On the final lap, Bueno managed to hold the lead and win the sprint. Gama finished second, followed by Casagrande, Costa, Andrade and Rocha.
