WTCC: Guerrieri and Monteiro triumphant in Marrakech

The winners of the 2017 World Touring Cars Championship season-opening races at Marrakech street circuit in Morocco are Esteban Guerrieri and Tiago Monteiro.

Opening race

Tom Coronel started from pole position in the Opening race after Yann Ehrlacher and Ryo Michigami were stripped off from the front row. The reason is they both missed weighbridge after qualifying on Saturday. The start of the race was marked by the collision of John Filippi and Ehrlacher and the safety car was deployed. Both drivers were out of the Opening race, just as Michigami. Soon after, Rob Huff also pitted after his Citroen became overheated.

Mehdi Bennani scored in both races at his home circuit

Both Chevrolets of Coronel and Guerrieri struggled under breaking but still were at the top. On lap 12 Dutch veteran made a mistake and dropped to the 7th place, so the Argentinian became the leader of the race while his closest rival became Volvo driver Thed Bjork. Guerrieri kept his lead without too much effort and scored a maiden victory in the WTCC for him and Campos Racing, while Bjork and local crowd favorite Mehdi Bennani in Sebastien Loeb racing’s Citroen C-Elysee completed the podium.

Main race

Tiago Monteiro started from pole position in the Main race and was followed by Nestor Girolami and Norbert Michelisz but Hungarian immediately jumped to the 2nd place. Two Honda drivers controlled the situation on the track and scored a 1-2 finish in the pretty uninteresting race. This is Monteiro’s 10th WTCC career victory.

Hondas of Monteiro and Michelisz during the race in Marrakech

The Argentinian Girolami in Volvo was able to resist Bennani’s attacks and to secure the last place at the podium. The remaining points were scored by Nick Catsburg, Thed Bjork, Tom Chilton, Tom Coronel, Rob Huff, and Ryo Michigami.