Next week, the Campeonato Gaúcho de Super Turismo (or, in a free translation, Super Touring Gaucho Championship) will start its 2022 season, with the 2 Hours of Guaporé on April 9th. Disputed since 2016, Super Turismo was initially created to provide a place for Touring Cars and older GT models that were no longer seen on the Endurance Brasil grids as the latter’s competitors migrated to the more powerful P1 prototypes and GT3/GT4 models. Eventually, Super Turismo also started to receive prototypes with 2 liter 8-valve engines, equivalent to the old P4 category of Endurance Brasil, but the category today is much more than that, and has a technical variety that forms one of the most beautiful and interesting grids in the Brazil.
For 2022, the category renewed the partnership with Yokohama, which enables online transmission via YouTube and Facebook, and the calendar will have 5 stages, all played on 2-hour races hosted in Rio Grande do Sul’s tracks, with the exception of the traditional 6 Hours of Guaporé:
- april-09: 2 Horas de Guaporé
- june-11: 2 Horas de Tarumã
- august-13: 2 Horas do Velopark
- october-15: 6 Horas de Guaporé
- november-26: 2 Horas de Tarumã
Currently, the grid has seven categories, which in turn allow the participation of several car designs balanced through weight, intake restrictors and size/type of tires allowed. Below we’ll know a little about the regulations for each category, the current champions and the types of cars that we can expect to see on the tracks.
GT
Usually GT is the fastest category and where the favorites compete for overall victory. GT current champion is Arthur Caleffi. Among the admitted vehicles are:
- older GTs like Maserati Trofeo and Lamborghini Gallardo GT3;
- imported touring cars such as BMW 135i and Mercedes CLA 45 AMG Cup;
- heavily modified Brazilian touring cars such as VW Gol and Ford Focus;
- cars from the Trofeo Fiat Linea, with free modifications;
- cars from the old Brazilian Touring Car championship;
- FIA TCR vehicles, such as the Audi RS3 LMS;
- heavily modified classic touring cars, such as the Ford Maverick;
- Modified Aldee RTT prototypes, with naturally aspirated engines up to 2.100 cm³;
- Brazilian Stock Cars;
- Silhouettes such as the Tubarão MC40 and Porsche 914 silhouette.
Among the new cars for the 2022 season are two Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 with V8 engines, in a way which rescue the spirit of the carreteras of the past: the LP520 from Mottin Racing, now with a Ferrari/Maserati F136 V8 engine and the LP560 of Fernando Poeta, which will use a Ford Coyote 5.0 V8 engine, similar to the MCR Grand Am prototype.
New cars come also in the form of silhouette models, which should feature two beautiful projects by MC Tubarão: the Porsche 914 by Paulo Sousa and the Tubarão MC40, which should have Franco Pasquale and Tiel de Andrade driving.
TS
The second fastest category among touring cars, where the current champions are the trio Arthur Caleffi, Fernando Poeta and Anderson Toso. The admitted vehicles are largely similar to the GT, but with a more limited preparation:
- Maserati Trofeo;
- Brazilian touring cars such as VW Gol and Voyage;
- Cars from the Trofeo Fiat Linea, in conformity with the original rulebook;
- Aldee RTT prototypes, with NA engines up to 2.100 cm³ 8V;
- Mercedes CLA 45 AMG Cup and C250 Cup, in conformity with each category original rulebook;
- Chevrolet Opala 4 and 6 cylinders;
- Silhouettes based on Aldee Spyder chassis with NA engines up to 2.100 cm³ and H-pattern gearboxes, such as Rodrigo Bonora’s Fuspyder.
Prototypes
Another of the fastest categories, admits Aldee Spyder prototypes from all generations, equipped with 4-cylinder 8V engines up to 2,150 cm³, either with a 5-speed “H” type transmission (minimum weight 650 kg) or 5 sequential transmission (minimum weight 685 kg). Current champions: Walter Konrad, Fernando Toshi and Fernando Mello.
T1
Touring cars with naturally aspirated engine up to 2,100 cm³, original transmission and slicks. The current champions are Alessandro Gandra and Pedro Ávila.
T2
Touring cars with NA engines up to 1,700 cm³, original transmission and slick, semi-slick or radial tires. Current champions: Márcio and Thiago Martins.
TR
Touring cars with NA engines up to 2,100 cm³, original transmission and radial tires. Current champions: Fábio Menegaro and Togacy Ogino.
TL
Vehicles from Turismo 1.4, Marcas 1.6 and Copa Fusca, with radial tires and without aerodynamic modifications. Current champions: Alexandre Hoerlle, Mauro Weck and Leonardo Tagliari.
Nota: the cars presented in this post are a collection of models that participated in races between 2019 and 2021 seasons, as well as some already announced for 2022. It doesn’t mean that everyone will be present during the season, as there are new cars that are on their way to championship.
