Marrakesh WTCC: Monteiro leads Honda 1-2 in main race
Tiago Monteiro took a controlled win in the second WTCC race in Marrakesh from factory Honda teammate Norbert Michelisz.
Tiago Monteiro, Honda Racing Team JAS, Honda Civic WTCC
FIA WTCC
Having started from pole, Monteiro led from start to finish – creating a crucial buffer between himself and Micheilsz following a mid-race safety car on his way to victory.
Monteiro made a clean start off the line to head Michelisz into Turn 1, the Hungarian having launched his Honda Civic ahead of front row started Nestor Girolami off the line.
While the gap between the two Honda drivers hovered around the half a second mark, Monteiro appeared in control in front before the appearance of the safety car to aid the recovery of Aurelien Panis’s Zengo Honda.
But as the field prepared for the restart, Monteiro made a break as he headed through the penultimate corner and caught Michelisz off guard.
Michelisz clawed back some of his deficit, but never looked likely to challenge his teammate as the pair cruised to a Honda 1-2.
Monteiro therefore assumes the lead of the championship with 43 points, having secured five points for pole alongside his maximum score in the main event plus a sixth-place finish in the opening race.
Girolami was also challenged into the first corner by the Sebastien Loeb Racing Citroen of Mehdi Bennani, but shrugged that attack off to score a first WTCC podium on his first weekend as a full-season works Volvo driver.
Bennani was briefly shuffled back to fifth after his failed attempt to get by Girolami, but soon reclaimed fourth after clipping the second Volvo of Nicky Catsburg at Turn 3, forcing the Dutchman wide in the process.
Moroccan Bennani crossed the line in fourth, but remains under investigation for that incident.
Catsburg headed home Tom Chilton for fifth, with the third Volvo of Thed Bjork seventh.
Race one polesitter Tom Coronel kept a frustrated Rob Huff at bay to claim eighth – Huff recovering to ninth after his team performed a steering rack change before the race – while Ryo Michigami completed the points scorers to claim his first WTCC point in the third factory Honda Civic.
Race one winner Esteban Guerrieri finished the race in 13th, having started from the pitlane.
The Argentinian was later handed a drive-through penalty for the work his team undertook on the car in the pits before the start, but he recorded the fastest racing lap of the weekend during his recovery.
UPDATE: Bennani was handed a two-second penalty for his contact with Catsburg, dropping the Moroccan driver down to sixth behind Catsburg and Chilton.
Race results:
Pos. | Driver | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda | 23 Laps |
2 | Norbert Michelisz | Honda | 0.751 |
3 | Nestor Girolami | Volvo | 2.120 |
4 | Nicky Catsburg | Volvo | 3.702 |
5 | Tom Chilton | Citroen | 4.519 |
6 | Mehdi Bennani | Citroen | 4.847 |
7 | Thed Björk | Volvo | 5.073 |
8 | Tom Coronel | Chevrolet | 6.363 |
9 | Rob Huff | Citroen | 7.658 |
10 | Ryo Michigami | Honda | 12.197 |
11 | John Filippi | Citroen | 20.402 |
12 | Yann Ehrlacher | LADA | 22.035 |
13 | Esteban Guerrieri | Chevrolet | 22.308 |
14 | Daniel Nagy | Honda | 42.880 |
Ret | Aurelien Panis | Honda | 19 laps |
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