Marrakech - Race 1: Menu beats Chevrolet team-mates

Alain Menu claimed his second consecutive victory of the season leading home a Chevrolet 1-2-3 with Rob Huff and Yvan Muller in second and third position respectively.

The trio led from the start, while drivers behind were fighting hard for positions. Pepe Oriola took a great start and managed to overtake Tom Coronel; a manoeuvre that eventually gave fourth position to the young Spaniard, as well as victory in the Yokohama Tophy.

Stefano D’Aste and Franz Engstler were able to finish fifth and sixth after a close battle with Tom Chilton who eventually was classified seventh, becoming the first Ford driver to score WTCC points.

His team-mate James Nash was less lucky, retiring just after the start when he was collected by Mehdi Bennani. Nash will start from pole in today’s second race.

Tom Coronel’s hopes of a good result vanished when he was sent into a spin by Alex MacDowall; however the Dutchman did not give up and recovered to eight.

Key moments
Start – Menu takes the lead from Huff and Muller, while Oriola overtakes Coronel for fourth
Lap 1 – Bennani hits Nash at Turn 1, both retire
Lap 1 – MacDowall misses the braking point at Turn 5 and collects Coronel, both rejoin
Lap 2 – Safety car on track to recover Nash’s cars
Lap 3 – the race resumes, Tutumlu hits the wall at Turn 4
Lap 4 – Chilton overtakes D’Aste for fifth
Lap 5 – Monteiro pits with gearbox problems
Lap 7 – Di Sabatino and Dudukalo make contact at Turn 15
Lap 8 – Boardman, Cerqui, MacDowall and Barlesi fight for 12th position
Lap 10 – Cerqui spins at Turn 1
Lap 10 – D’Aste overtakes Chilton for fifth
Lap 11 – Engstler overtakes Chilton for sixth
Lap 11 – Coronel overtakes Michelisz for eighth

Withdrawals
J. Nash: race incident; M. Bennani: race incident; I. Tutumlu: race incident; C. Ng: engine; Monteiro DNC: transmission