Raft of penalties announced in second Marrakech race

Campos Racing's Valente and Sebastien Loeb Racing's Bennani were both handed 30-second time penalties that dropped the pair to ninth and 12th in the final order.

The duo made contact twice during the race, with the stewards ultimately deciding both parties were responsible for each respective incident.

Bennani and Valente first came together on lap seven, which saw Bennani fall almost 10 seconds behind, but was able to make up the ground over the next six laps and have another go to take fifth from the Frenchman on the penultimate lap.

That was when they came together again at Turn 4, with Bennani, now with damaged rear tyres, falling back into the clutches of Norbert Michelisz, where he was passed on the following lap as well as by the Munnich Chevrolet of Stefano D'Aste and the Honda of Gabriele Tarquini.

Zengo Motorsport’s Michelisz then lost his sixth place finish after the stewards gave the Hungarian a 30-second penalty for his part in the incident which eliminated Tom Coronel’s ROAL Chevrolet and the Honda of Tiago Monteiro from the race.

Michelisz made contact with the Chevrolet of Coronel on his way into the first corner, which the 30-year-old explained may have been caused by contact from behind. The penalty drops him from sixth to 11th.

With the revised results confirmed, Bennani now leads the Independents' standings jointly with Michelisz on 30 points, with Tom Chilton one point behind in third.

Neil Hudson / Touring Car Times