Choka Racing prevails in dramatic 12 Hours of Tarumã

The 2019 edition of the 12 Hours of Tarumã by Salva Craft Beer had mixed feeling in terms of what to expect, given the famous race in the south of Brazil offered a change from a multiclass grid to a single spec based in the Marcas e Pilotos touring car championship. But the race day came, an spectacle was delivered and the win went to the No. 8 Choka Racing Chevrolet Onix of Analino “Choka” Sirtule, Marcos Silveira, Juliano Fantin and Jonas Simon.

Along with the main race itself, a track day session filled the schedule along with the usual appearance of the Copa Classic machines in their final races of the year, being named the Viemar Classic Challenge, in which Leovaldo Petry and Roberto Lacombe were victors, as Petry won the races 1 and 2 and Lacombe conquered the final race, already into the night.

As for the 12 Hours, the race started with high pace as lap times were at least 1.5 seconds slower than the pole position one, and this mad dash prevailed during the night with the polesitter No. 29 Tuta Racing Celta dictating the pace by a tight margin to the No. 8 Choka Racing Onix, the No. 3 Extreme Celta and the No. 44 Usaflex Celta. At this point the reigning champions from MC Tubarão started mixing with the lead pack, and even though their pace wasn’t top notch, their tactics secured the lead to the No. 5 Corsa in the third hour, which pretty much lasted until before the dawn.

The No. 5 MC Tubarão Corsa then started exchanging positions with the No. 3 Extreme Celta and the No. 8 Choka Racing Onix as their strategies started to differ more and more, with occasional appearances of the No. 54 Leandro Motorsport Onix. The No. 3 had total control until the middle of the morning, when a series of yellow flags hindered the overall pace, which let the No. 8 close in, and with a daring move the lead came for the No. 8 with just an hour and a half to go.

The No. 8 had a comfortable lead during the final hour, and if a different pit strategy from MC Tubarão wasn’t already a thing to worry, the rain tried to spice the spectacle, even though it was quite brief as it left the track at least damp. As the second placed No. 3 had too much backmarkers to deal with and the No. 5 had its gamble to the win ruined by long Safety Car periods, the No. 8 had clear way to go straight to the win in the final 20 minutes.

The No. 3 Extreme Celta, the No. 5 MC Tubarão Corsa, the No. 54 Leandro Motorsport Onix and the No. 10 Celta completed the podium and received the prize money.

12 Hours of Tarumã - Final results

Fastest lap of the race was from the No. 14 Kaki Race Corsa with 1:21.888, and only four retirements were registered during the whole 12 hours.