Canapino tomó el TC Pick Up por el cuello y ahora persigue la Triple Corona

El calor no passed the championship leader, but the mud did the rest. Canapino won the second Gold Cup date and suddenly found himself exactly where he wanted: at the top of the TC Pick Up standings. The victory in La Plata changed his season, at least in the short term. The championship is not decided, but now everyone has to look at his rear-view mirror.

With his Chevrolet S10 from Canning Motorsports, the Barracas driver leads Otto Fritzler by just one point. There are still 117.5 points up for grabs over the final two dates, so this is a lead as thin as a sheet of paper. Just one bad race, one mistake or one wet track could be enough to turn the table upside down.

A lead built on paper and in the mud

Canapino had never led the TC Pick Up championship this season. Before his win in La Plata, Diego Azar had been ahead for two dates, Fritzler for three and Mariano Werner for three. That kind of background normally makes a driver cautious. Not Canapino. He arrived, won, and took the lead with the kind of timing that makes rivals check their mirrors twice.

“Otto is in a setup that we know has a first-class driver and team, so it is very difficult to beat them. We are even with him and with the rest of the guys.”Agustín Canapino

Fritzler is the immediate threat. Werner, in fourth place, is 13.5 points behind and has been the most consistent high performer in recent races. Canapino himself did not need many words to describe that situation: Werner is, in his view, clearly above the others in the latest races. The numbers support that concern. Canapino finished in the top ten in all nine sprint finals and missed the top five only twice. Since his TC Pick Up debut in 2025, he averages a victory every 3.8 races, with five wins in nineteen starts.

• TC Pick Up: Canapino leads by one point over Otto Fritzler, with 117.5 points still available.
• TN Clase 3: Canapino has a 43-point advantage over Julián Santero and could win the title one date early.
• Turismo Carretera: Canapino is third, 18.5 points behind Facundo Chapur, and does not consider himself a candidate this season.

The TN Clase 3 is the calmest front of the challenge. Canapino leads Santero by 43 points with 105 still in play. If he keeps the advantage, he could be crowned one round early in Concordia, in his first full season in the category. This is the part of the Triple Corona where the road looks less like a mud pit and more like a highway.

The Turismo Carretera is another story. Canapino is third in the Gold Cup, 18.5 points behind Chapur, and was direct when asked about the possibility of winning: he admitted the title is very difficult and said he is not currently a candidate, although he believes he can improve his position by scoring well in Rosario. He identified Torino, Mercedes Benz and BMW as the cars with the greatest rhythm.

If he wins all three championships, it will be Canapino's second consecutive Triple Corona. The difference is that in 2025 he achieved it across different brands; this time, the three titles would all come with Chevrolet. A neat picture for a marketing campaign, provided the results cooperate. Canapino has the lead in Pick Up and the comfortable advantage in TN Clase 3. The question is whether he can survive the narrow margin against Fritzler, withstand Werner's pressure and close the gap in the Turismo Carretera. My forecast is simple: it will come down to a handful of points, one wrong maneuver and a final race that may be decided by whoever refuses to panic. I reserve the right to be wrong, but not the right to take my eyes off the track.