Co-leader of the season alongside Thiago Camilo (Ipiranga / A. Mattheis), for whom he is overcome in the tiebreaker, Daniel Serra (RC) set the fastest lap of the only free practice session of the third stage of Stock Car, held this Friday in Santa Cruz do Sul. The trials may be marking the beginning of the turn of Julio Campos, shot down by accidents in previous races. The Prati-Donaduzzi rider set the fourth fastest time of the second stretch, indicating he should be strong in pole position in Saturday's qualifying session starting at 1:00 p.m.

Even pleased with the result, Campos told technical director Rodolpho Mattheis that there is room for improvement. "We have to advance in terms of front and rear grip," he summarized. Mattheis complimented not only him for performance but also his teammate, Antonio Pizzonia, one of the few racing drivers to refrain from using new tyres in practice. "With good tyres, the lap would be at least four tenths faster," he said. The Amazon racing driver is debuting a new chassis in place of the one destroyed in the Velopark event, and will have to drop last in the opening of the double round on Sunday due to the received punishment.

With cars within the team's expectations, the concern now turns to the weather. The rain threatened during all the two hours of training, but did not fall on the circuit of the gaucho countryside. The weather forecast, however, has been for wet track since the first of three official training sessions that will set the grid for race 1. The team is still studying the most appropriate strategy for Pizzonia, who conquered exactly this circuit in 2015 his first victory in the Stock Car. "I've loved this track since I've been here for the first time. It's been a bit difficult this year, but let's fight it", he warned.

The best times in Santa Cruz do Sul:

1 - Daniel Serra (RC), 1min20s027 (158,7 km/h)

2 - Gabriel Casagrande (Vogel), at 0s105

3 - Thiago Camilo (Ipiranga/A. Mattheis), at 0s117

4 - Julio Campos (Prati-Donaduzzi), at 0s137

5 - Galid Osman (Ipiranga/A. Mattheis), at 0s237

6 - Valdeno Brito (Carlos Alves), at 0s299

7 - Cacá Bueno (Cimed), at 0s332

8 - Felipe Fraga (Cimed), at 0s342

9 - Átila Abreu (Shell), at 0s342

10 - Allam Khodair (Full Time), at 0s368

16 - Antonio Pizzonia (Prati-Donaduzzi), at 0s673