Marrakech, Race 1: López strikes first in Moroccan WTCC street thriller

WTCC champion José María López has won the first Eurodatacar WTCC Race of Morocco with Citroën team-mates Ma Qing Hua and Sébastien Loeb completing the top three following an intense contest on the streets of Marrakech.

Home hero Mehdi Bennani started second but lost out to Loeb at the first corner. Despite a determined charge to wrestle the place back from his team boss, the Moroccan driver settled for fourth with Yvan Muller fighting back from 10th to fifth at the flag.

Tiago Monteiro and Gabriele Tarquini were sixth and seventh for Honda respectively with Norbert Michelisz eighth, Stefano D’Aste ninth and Tom Chilton 10th after he overtook LADA’s James Thompson.

However, a first-lap incident between Chilton and his ROAL Motorsport team-mate Tom Coronel is being investigated by the event stewards. Coronel was forced to retire following the clash at one of the track’s tight chicanes. Hugo Valente failed to make it off the grid due to a suspected mechanical fault.

Race two, which forms round four of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, is due to get underway at 17h30 local time.