Carlos Novelo and Roberto Espinosa once again finished first and second in the Trucks México Series, though this time with Valeria Aranda between them. The 50-minute race on the oval at the Tulum International Airport ended with Novelo leading, Aranda second, and Espinosa third, giving Aranda her third top 3 in the first three rounds of the season.

The #18 and #96 pulled away from the rest of the field by taking advantage of the multiple yellow flags that fragmented the race on the 600-meter oval. A red flag in the closing stages bunched the field back together, but when racing resumed, Espinosa lost power in his truck, allowing both Novelo and Aranda to pass him in the final laps.

Jan Phillip Krüll recovered from last place to finish fourth, his second consecutive top 5. Everardo Fonseca finished fifth. Sebastián Rodríguez was sixth and Santiago Cruz eighth, both far from the front where they had been in previous rounds.

Photo By Media Trucks México Series

Two drivers have monopolized the victories

Novelo and Espinosa have fought for the win in each of the first three rounds of the season. In San Luis Potosí, they made contact on the final lap when running first and second, finishing seventh and eighth, with Everardo Fonseca winning that race. In Chiapas, they battled for the lead throughout the race until Novelo passed Espinosa on lap 109 and won with Espinosa second. In Tulum, the duel repeated, though this time Aranda took advantage of Espinosa's issues to slot between them.

Fonseca, winner of the first round, has lost pace in the two subsequent races: fifth in Chiapas and fifth in Tulum. Rafael Maggio led laps in Chiapas but finished 11th in Tulum. Santiago Cruz has qualified well in all three rounds but has not been able to sustain race pace: he started fourth on Saturday and finished eighth.

Aranda has become the most consistent driver of the season with three top 3s in three races. She was third in San Luis Potosí, third in Chiapas, and second in Tulum, the only perfect podium record alongside the #18 and #96 that have finished in the top three in all three rounds.

Saturday's qualifying put Espinosa on pole with an 18.123-second lap, just 0.091 seconds faster than Novelo. The elimination-style format on the short oval produced minimal gaps among the top five drivers. Espinosa controlled the first half of the race, but when the red flag came and action resumed, he could not maintain the same pace and conceded the top two positions.

The fourth round will be on May 16-17 at the Autódromo Miguel E. Abed in Puebla.