2013 FIA WTCC Race of Morocco

2013 FIA WTCC Race of Morocco

Race details
Round 2 of 12 in the 2013 World Touring Car Championship at Marrakech Street Circuit in Marrakech, Morocco.
Date	7 April, 2013
Location	Marrakech, Morocco
Course	Marrakech Street Circuit 4.545 kilometres (2.824 mi)
Race One
Laps 13 Pole position Driver Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda Team Time 1:44.358 Podium First Michel Nykjær NIKA Racing Second Gabriele Tarquini Castrol Honda Team Third James Nash bamboo-engineering Fastest Lap Driver Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Time 1:46.237
Race Two
Laps 13 Podium First Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing Team Second Yvan Muller RML Third Tom Chilton RML Fastest Lap Driver Tom Chilton RML Time 1:45.545

The 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Morocco was the second round of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship season and the fourth running of the FIA WTCC Race of Morocco. It was held on 7 April 2013 at the Marrakech Street Circuit in Marrakech, Morocco.

Both races were won by first time victors in the World Touring Car Championship, race one was won by Michel Nykjær of NIKA Racing and race two was won by Pepe Oriola of Tuenti Racing Team who also became the youngest winner of a WTCC race.

Background

After the first round at Monza, RML driver Yvan Muller was leading the drivers' championship. James Nash was leading the Yokohama Independents' Trophy.

After the qualifying incident at Monza, Lukoil Lada Sport replaced Aleksei Dudukalo with series rookie Mikhail Kozlovskiy. ^[1] Jean-Philippe Dayraut and the ANOME team were not on the entry list for Marrakech. ^[2]

Report

Testing and free practice

A test session had been scheduled for Friday afternoon but was cancelled along with activities for the support races when heavy rain flooded the circuit, the lost half–hour session would not be replaced. ^[3]

Muller led the dry first free practice session on Saturday morning with teammate Tom Chilton third, the pair separated by the Honda of Gabriele Tarquini who had set the pace earlier on. Norbert Michelisz was fourth in the independent Honda ahead of James Thompson in the leading Lada. Tom Coronel was sixth as the fastest BMW while Fernando Monje in tenth was the quickest SEAT. There were no improved times in the final minutes of the session due to yellow flags at the final hairpin brought out by Tom Boardman who had stopped on the circuit. ^[4]

Muller led an RML 1–2 in the second practice session with Alex MacDowall making it three Chevrolets at the top of the times. There was a small fire on Michelisz's car in the pit lane while SEAT drivers Boardman and Robert Huff completed a limited number of laps due to car problems. ^[5]

Qualifying

Qualifying was delayed by an hour as a result of the cancellation of all Friday running for the support races. ^[6]

Tarquini took the first pole position for the Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team ahead of the bamboo-engineering Chevrolet of Nash. The first part of qualifying was led by Tarquini, whose teammate Tiago Monteiro brought out the red flags halfway through the session when he hit one of the walls at the second chicane. The ROAL Motorsport drivers collided towards the end of the session, Darryl O'Young had given Tom Coronel a tow to get the Dutch driver through to Q2, Coronel then got his braking wrong at turn ten and ran into the back of O'Young. Thompson collided with one of the walls on the street circuit and damaged his front left corner, although he was through to the second session he would not be able to set a time due to the damage sustained.

Tarquini spent most of Q2 at the top of timing pages, Chilton looked set to take pole position when he came across the slow moving Campos Racing car of Fernando Monje who had just left the pits. Chilton and the train of cars behind him were forced to abandon their flying laps. The grid order was therefore decided by times set earlier in the session, Tarquini was ahead of five Chevrolets with Nash second, Muller and Michel Nykjær on row two with Chilton and MacDowall on row three. The ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport cars of Huff and Marc Basseng were on row four, Pepe Oriola was ninth and Monje in tenth would start on pole position for race two. Coronel and Thompson didn't set times in Q2. ^[7]

Warm-Up

Chilton led the warm–up session on Sunday morning. The red flags came out twice, firstly when Nykjær clipped the kerbs at the second chicane and stopped in the middle of the track. The second stoppage brought warm–up to an early end when Boardman appeared to suffer a brake failure, clipping the front of MacDowall's Chevrolet and colliding head–on with the barriers at the final chicane. ^[8]

Boardman was later ruled out of the races as a result of the damage sustained in the warm–up crash. ^[9]

Race One

Tarquini led away from pole position while Nykjær moved into second place ahead of Nash. Huff had moved up to fifth place behind Muller and eventually managed to pass the RML driver, the pair then spent the next couple of places fighting over the position. Muller eventually got ahead at the final hairpin and Huff lost more places. Chilton pulled into the pit lane on lap six due to overheating resulting for damage. Nykjær and Nash were disputing second place behind Tarquini, Nykjær was then able to pass Tarquini moments before the yellow flags came out after Monteiro crashed into one of the barriers and the safety car was deployed. Nash ignored the yellow flags and passed Tarquini for second place, he then tried to hand the position back on the main straight behind the safety car but it wasn't until the following lap when the pair swapped positions. The race resumed with two laps to go, the main battle was for the final podium spot with Muller chasing Nash. Muller made a number of attempts to take the place but Nash successfully defended the place to take his first podium finish. Up ahead Nykjær claimed his first overall victory in the WTCC ahead of Tarquini. ^[10]

Race Two

Monje was on pole but was passed on the opening lap by Oriola. Monje was involved a collision with the Lada of Thompson although both cars were removed under yellow flags. Towards the end of the first lap, Huff made contact with Monje and broke his right front suspension. Monje was then out on lap two when he collided with the Lada of Thompson. The safety car came out on lap nine when Tarquini lost control of his car over the kerbs at one of the chicanes and collided with MacDowall, putting both out of the race. The race resumed on the final lap with Oriola holding off Muller and Chilton to claim his first WTCC victory and become the youngest winner and the championship's history, Nash in fourth was the independents' winner. ^[11]

After the race, Monje was given a five–place grid penalty at the next race in Slovakia for his collision with Thompson. ^[12]

Results

Qualifying

Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Car	C	Q1	Q2	Points
1	3	Gabriele Tarquini	Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team	Honda Civic WTCC		1:44.910	1:44.358	5
2	14	James Nash	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	1:45.677	1:44.406	4
3	12	Yvan Muller	RML	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		1:45.185	1:44.504	3
4	17	Michel Nykjær	NIKA Racing	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	1:45.656	1:44.745	2
5	23	Tom Chilton	RML	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		1:45.471	1:44.863	1
6	9	Alex MacDowall	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	1:45.446	1:45.060
7	1	Robert Huff	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC		1:46.125	1:45.228
8	38	Marc Basseng	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC		1:45.794	1:45.552
9	74	Pepe Oriola	Tuenti Racing Team	SEAT León WTCC		1:45.617	1:46.341
10	19	Fernando Monje	Campos Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	1:46.194	1:55.405
11	10	James Thompson	Lukoil Lada Sport	Lada Granta		1:45.992	no time set
12	15	Tom Coronel	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC		1:46.091	no time set
13	55	Darryl O'Young	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	1:46.327
14	18	Tiago Monteiro	Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team	Honda Civic WTCC		1:46.396
15	73	Fredy Barth	Wiechers-Sport	BMW 320 TC	Y	1:46.412
16	6	Franz Engstler	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	1:46.494
17	5	Norbert Michelisz	Zengő Motorsport	Honda Civic WTCC		1:46.629
18	25	Mehdi Bennani	Proteam Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	1:46.660
19	22	Tom Boardman	Special Tuning Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	1:46.713
20	7	Charles Ng	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	1:47.140
21	26	Stefano D'Aste	PB Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	1:47.390
22	8	Mikhail Kozlovskiy	Lukoil Lada Sport	Lada Granta		1:47.598
23	37	René Münnich	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC	Y	1:49.222

• Bold denotes Pole position for second race.

Race 1

Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Car	C	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	17	Michel Nykjær	NIKA Racing	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	13	28:51.561	4	25
2	3	Gabriele Tarquini	Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team	Honda Civic WTCC		13	+0.566	1	18
3	14	James Nash	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	13	+1.612	2	15
4	12	Yvan Muller	RML	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		13	+2.224	3	12
5	1	Robert Huff	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC		13	+2.248	7	10
6	9	Alex MacDowall	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	13	+2.476	6	8
7	38	Marc Basseng	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC		13	+3.201	8	6
8	74	Pepe Oriola	Tuenti Racing Team	SEAT León WTCC		13	+3.565	9	4
9	15	Tom Coronel	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC		13	+5.270	12	2
10	10	James Thompson	Lukoil Lada Sport	Lada Granta		13	+5.881	11	1
11	19	Fernando Monje	Campos Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	13	+7.078	10
12	55	Darryl O'Young	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	13	+7.879	13
13	73	Fredy Barth	Wiechers-Sport	BMW 320 TC	Y	13	+8.485	15
14	7	Charles Ng	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	13	+9.298	19
15	37	René Münnich	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC	Y	13	+14.192	22
16	8	Mikhail Kozlovskiy	Lukoil Lada Sport	Lada Granta		13	+15.333	21
17	6	Franz Engstler	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	13	+33.246	16
18	25	Mehdi Bennani	Proteam Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	12	+1 Lap	18
Ret	18	Tiago Monteiro	Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team	Honda Civic WTCC		5	Race incident	14
Ret	5	Norbert Michelisz	Zengő Motorsport	Honda Civic WTCC		5	Race incident	17
Ret	23	Tom Chilton	RML	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		5	Overheating	5
Ret	26	Stefano D'Aste	PB Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	1	Race incident	20
DNS	22	Tom Boardman	Special Tuning Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	0	Did not start	23

• Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Race 2

Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Car	C	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	74	Pepe Oriola	Tuenti Racing Team	SEAT León WTCC		13	28:08.751	2	25
2	12	Yvan Muller	RML	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		13	+0.430	8	18
3	23	Tom Chilton	RML	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		13	+0.677	6	15
4	14	James Nash	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	13	+0.948	9	12
5	38	Marc Basseng	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC		13	+1.808	3	10
6	15	Tom Coronel	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC		13	+2.028	12	8
7	17	Michel Nykjær	NIKA Racing	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	13	+2.326	7	6
8	6	Franz Engstler	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	13	+4.377	16	4
9	55	Darryl O'Young	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	13	+4.889	13	2
10	7	Charles Ng	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	13	+6.273	18	1
11	25	Mehdi Bennani	Proteam Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	13	+6.349	17
12	73	Fredy Barth	Wiechers-Sport	BMW 320 TC	Y	13	+6.385	15
13	8	Mikhail Kozlovskiy	Lukoil Lada Sport	Lada Granta		13	+7.037	19
14	26	Stefano D'Aste	PB Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	13	+7.698	22
15	5	Norbert Michelisz	Zengő Motorsport	Honda Civic WTCC		9	Fuel leak	21
Ret	3	Gabriele Tarquini	Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team	Honda Civic WTCC		7	Race incident	10
Ret	9	Alex MacDowall	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	7	Race incident	5
Ret	37	René Münnich	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC	Y	3	Puncture	20
Ret	1	Robert Huff	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT León WTCC		1	Race incident	4
Ret	10	James Thompson	Lukoil Lada Sport	Lada Granta		1	Race incident	11
Ret	19	Fernando Monje	Campos Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	1	Race incident	1
DNS	18	Tiago Monteiro	Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team	Honda Civic WTCC		0	Did not start	14
DNS	22	Tom Boardman	Special Tuning Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	0	Did not start	–

• Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Standings after the event

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Yvan Muller 88 2 2 Michel Nykjær 51 3 Gabriele Tarquini 51 2 4 Tom Chilton 48 3 5 James Nash 43

Yokohama Independents' Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 1 James Nash 35 1 2 Michel Nykjær 29 1 3 Alex MacDowall 20 1 4 Darryl O'Young 17 1 5 Fredy Barth 13

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 145 2 Lada 70

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings.

References

1. Tremayne, Sam (2 April 2013). "Kozlovskiy replaces Dudukalo at Lada's WTCC squad". Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 4 April 2013.
2. "2013 FIA WORLD TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRY LIST" (PDF). World Touring Car Championship . Kigema Sport Organisation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-07-20. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
3. "WEATHER FORCES TO CANCEL WTCC TEST". World Touring Car Championship . Kigema Sport Organisation. 5 April 2013. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
4. Hudson, Neil (6 April 2013). "Yvan Muller leads first practice at Marrakech". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
5. Hudson, Neil (6 April 2013). "Yvan Muller leads RML 1-2 in FP2 at Marrakech". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
6. "SATURDAY'S QUALIFYING DELAYED BY ONE HOUR". World Touring Car Championship . Kigema Sport Organisation. 5 April 2013. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
7. Tremayne, Sam (6 April 2013). "WTCC Marrakech: Tarquini gives Honda maiden pole". Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 6 April 2013.
8. Abbott, Andrew (7 April 2013). "Chilton fastest in interrupted warmup". Touring-Cars.net. Andrew Abbott. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
9. Tremayne, Sam (7 April 2013). "Marrakech WTCC: Tom Boardman ruled out after warm-up crash". Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 7 April 2013.
10. Tremayne, Sam (7 April 2013). "Marrakech WTCC: Nykjaer takes maiden victory in race one". Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 7 April 2013.
11. Abbott, Andrew (7 April 2013). "Oriola takes maiden win in Morocco". Touring-Cars.net. Andrew Abbott. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
12. Hudson, Neil (7 April 2013). "Fernando Monje given penalty for Thompson collision". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 7 April 2013.

External links

• World Touring Car Championship official website

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