Marrakech, Race 1: Lopez leads a Citroën trio!
Tom Chilton finished fourth
José María López took a triumphal victory for the Citroën Total WTCC team.
The Argentine crossed the line first ahead of team-mates Sébastien Loeb and Yvan Muller. The three C-Elisée cars led from lights to flag, creating a huge gap between them and the rest of the field.
Tom Chilton finished fourth, but only eight seconds behind; the Briton was followed by Borković, Monteiro and local hero Bennani.
Franz Engstler dominated the TC2T class from his team-mate Di Sabatino.
Key moments
— Start – López takes perfect start ahead of Loeb, Muller, Chilton, Monteiro and Borković. Münnich cuts chicane and is penalized with a drive-through for jumping the start.
— Lap 2 – Valente touches Bennani in turn 15 right ahead of Coronel. The Honda loses the rear bumper in the incident
— Lap 4 – Borković attacks Monteiro at the braking of turn 15; in the contact Monteiro loses the rear bumber and fifth position.
— Lap 5- The advantage of the Citroën trio reaches 7 seconds, with Loeb closing the gap on the leader, López.
— Lap 6 – Huff in the pits (misfiring), Morbidelli passes Kozlovskiy for 12th. Loeb posts best lap time.
— Lap 8 – Engstler leads comfortably in TC2T, ten seconds clear of Di Sabatino, with Filippi third.
— Lap 9 – Coronel (front splitter) and Morbidelli (bodywork) in the pits.
— Lap 11 – Valente jumps on the kerbs of the first chicane and loses a front dive plain.
— Lap 12 – Münnich in the pits (bent steering).
— Lap 13 – Bennani passes Michelisz for 7th in turn 5 and so does also Valente shortly after.
— Lap 14 – Triple win for the Citroëns with López, Loeb and Müller in their WTCC debut.
Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | José Maria LOPEZ | Citroen C-Elysee WTCC | 14 laps - 24m40.950 |
2 | Sébastien LOEB | Citroen C-Elysee WTCC | +0.713 |
3 | Yvan MULLER | Citroen C-Elysee WTCC | +1.607 |
4 | Tom CHILTON | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | +8.222 |
5 | Dusan BORKOVIC | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | +11.849 |
6 | Tiago MONTEIRO | Honda Civic WTCC | +20.495 |
7 | Mehdi BENNANI | Honda Civic WTCC | +25.111 |
8 | Hugo VALENTE | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | +29.953 |
9 | Norbert MICHELISZ | Honda Civic WTCC | +44.583 |
10 | James THOMPSON | LADA Granta 1.6T | +48.596 |
11 | Mikhail KOZLOVSKIY | LADA Granta 1.6T | +1m03.873 |
12 | Franz ENGSTLER | BMW E90 320 TC | +1m14.163 |
13 | Pasquale DI SABATINO | BMW E90 320 TC | +1m37.538 |
14 | John FILIPPI | SEAT Leon WTCC | +1m41.171 |
15 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | +2 laps |
16 | René MUNNICH | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | DNF |
17 | Tom CORONEL | Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 | DNF |
18 | Rob HUFF | LADA Granta 1.6T | DNF |
19 | Peter FULIN | SEAT Leon WTCC | DNS |
20 | Gabriele TARQUINI | Honda Civic WTCC | DNS |
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