2024 El Calafate Turismo Carretera round

The 2024 El Calafate Turismo Carretera round (commercially titled Gran Premio Shell Helix) was a motor race for Turismo Carretera held on the weekend of 23–25 February 2024. The event was held at the Autódromo Enrique Freile in El Calafate, Argentina and consisted of four races – three 'heats' of 19 kilometres, and a 'final' of 95 kilometres. It was the opening round of fifteen in the 2024 Turismo Carretera championship.

Background
The event was notable as the debut of the series' five new models. Having almost exclusively run versions of the Chevrolet Coupé SS, Dodge GTX, Ford Falcon and Torino Cherokee for the last 50 years, as well as the Toyota Camry from 2022, versions of the Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Challenger and Ford Mustang were admitted to the grid, along with a facelifted Camry and a 'concept' Torino.

43 competitors were entered in the event, however Martín Vázquez withdrew. Ten of the entries were new models – three Camaros and Mustangs apiece, two facelifted Camry models, one Challenger and one new Torino.

Qualifying
Juan Cruz Benvenuti crashed in practice and withdrew from the remainder of the weekend.

Heat 3

 * – Emiliano Spataro was given a five-second post-race penalty for colliding with Nicolás Trosset.
 * – Nicolás Cotignola was given a ten-second post-race penalty for colliding with Mauricio Lambiris.

Final
The first race of Turismo Carretera's new era was filled with chaos and controversy. Facundo Ardusso led the pack from the start, whilst Nicolás Bonelli spun out in front of the pack at the first corner. At the end of the first lap, Juan José Ebarlín spun out Marcelo Agrelo, causing a chain-reaction crash that included Andrés Jakos, Christian Ledesma, Juan Tomás Catalán Magni, Kevin Candela and Valentín Aguirre, resulting in a safety car period and Ebarlín's post-race disqualification. On the restart, Ardusso and Otto Fritzler lightly clashed wheels at the opening corner – however Ardusso later backed off with a slow puncture, resulting in a five-second penalty for Fritzler. Mariano Werner then inherited the lead in his new Mustang, but "the Fox of Paraná" spun out four laps later and was stationary for just long enough to cause a safety car. Marcos Landa in the older model Torino claimed the lead, and maintained a comfortable gap to Diego Ciantini (who passed Ebarlín for second) before a safety car came out with three laps to go as Jakos pulled off the circuit with mechanical issues. A one-lap shootout would determine the winner between Landa and Ciantini, and with three corners remaining Ciantini unloaded Landa in front of the pack – dropping the Uruguayan outside the top ten. Ciantini crossed the line first followed by Ebarlín and Fritzler, but Ciantini would receive a post-race penalty for the contact with Landa, leaving fourth-placed rookie Facundo Chapur victorious after the additional sanctions for Ebarlín and Fritzler – until he too was disqualified an hour after the race for breaching the engine compression limit, leaving fellow rookie and reigning TC Pista champion Tobías Martínez in the brand new Torino TC 2024 – built in 50 days and untested – as the winner having been originally classified fifth.


 * – Otto Fritzler was given a five-second post-race penalty for colliding with Facundo Ardusso.
 * – Diego Ciantini was given a ten-second post-race penalty for colliding with Marcos Landa.

Championship standings

 * Drivers' Championship
 * Note: Only the top five positions are included.