O italiano Gabriele Tarquini (Hyundai i30/BRC Racing Team) e o francês Jean-Karl Vernay (Audi RS3 LMS/ Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team) foram os vencedores da etapa de estreia do FIA WTCR, categoria que substituiu o WTCC, disputada em Marrakesh, no Marrocos.
O veterano Tarquini, de 56 anos, venceu a primeira prova da história. O sueco Thed Bjork (Hyundai i30/Yvan Muller Racing) e o britânico Rob Huff (VW Golf/Sebastien Loeb Racing) completaram o pódio.
Vernay venceu a segunda prova, seguido pelo marroquino Mehdi Bennani (VW Golf/Sebastien Loeb Racing) e o espanhol Pepe Oriola (Seat Cupra/Campos Racing).
Tarquini fechou a etapa com mais uma vitória. O pódio da terceira etapa foi completado pelo francês Yvan Muller (Hyundai i30/Yvan Muller Racing) e Bjork.
Tarquini lidera o campeonato com 62 pontos, seguido por Bjork com 51.
A próxima etapa acontece em Hungaroring, na Hungria, nos dias 28 e 29 de abril.
Final, prova 1:
1 – Gabriele Tarquini (Hyundai i30) – BRC – 20 voltas
2 – Thed Bjork (Hyundai i30) – MRacing – 0″729
3 – Rob Huff (VW Golf) – Loeb – 2″823
4 – Jean-Karl Vernay (Audi RS3 LMS) – Leopard – 4″593
5 – Mehdi Bennani (VW Golf) – Loeb – 5″025
6 – Gordon Shedden (Audi RS3 LMS) – Leopard – 5″702
7 – Esteban Guerrieri (Honda Civic) – Munnich – 10″136
8 – Yann Ehrlacher (Honda Civic) – Munnich – 10″784
9 – Aurelien Comte (Peugeot 308) – DG Sport – 11″577
10 – John Filippi (Seat Cupra) – Campos – 15″026
11 – Yvan Muller (Hyundai i30) – MRacing – 16″556
12 – Nathanael Berthon (Audi RS3 LMS) – Comtoyou – 17″046
13 – Denis Dupont (Audi RS3 LMS) – Comtoyou – 18″039
14 – James Thompson (Honda Civic) – Munnich – 18″537
15 – Benjamin Lessennes (Honda Civic) – Boutsen Ginion – 22″213
16 – Norbert Nagy (Seat Cupra) – Zengo – 25″096
17 – Zsolt Szabo (Seat Cupra) – Zengo – 53″666
18 – Pepe Oriola (Seat Cupra) – Campos – 1 volta
19 – Fabrizio Giovanardi (Alfa Giulietta) – Mulsanne – 1
20 – Gianni Morbidelli (Alfa Giulietta) – Mulsanne – 2
21 – Tom Coronel (Honda Civic) – Boutsen Ginion – 5
Volta mais rápida: Gabriele Tarquini 1’26″450
Abandonos:
Mat O’Homola (Peugeot 308) – DG Sport – 12 voltas
Norbert Michelisz (Hyundai i30) – BRC – 4
Aurelien Panis (Audi RS3 LMS) – Comtoyou – 1
Frederic Vervisch (Audi RS3 LMS) – Comtoyou – 0
Final, prova 2:
1 – Jean-Karl Vernay (Audi RS3 LMS) – Leopard – 20 voltas em 31’41″418
2 – Mehdi Bennani (VW Golf) – Loeb – 0″890
3 – Pepe Oriola (Seat Cupra) – Campos – 3″270
4 – Yann Ehrlacher (Honda Civic) – Munnich – 3″631
5 – Thed Bjork (Hyundai i30) – MRacing – 6″570
6 – James Thompson (Honda Civic) – Munnich – 7″916
7 – Norbert Michelisz (Hyundai i30) – BRC – 11″929
8 – Esteban Guerrieri (Honda Civic) – Munnich – 13″630
9 – Yvan Muller (Hyundai i30) – MRacing – 14″555
10 – Tom Coronel (Honda Civic) – Boutsen Ginion – 14″959
11 – Gordon Shedden (Audi RS3 LMS) – Leopard – 15″386
12 – Mat O’Homola (Peugeot 308) – DG Sport – 19″480
13 – Fabrizio Giovanardi (Alfa Giulietta) – Mulsanne – 20″091
14 – Aurelien Panis (Audi RS3 LMS) – Comtoyou – 21″327
15 – Nathanael Berthon (Audi RS3 LMS) – Comtoyou – 22″411
16 – Norbert Nagy (Seat Cupra) – Zengo – 24″790
17 – John Filippi (Seat Cupra) – Zengo – 48″169
Volta mais rápida: Jean-Karl Vernay 1’26″368
Abandonos:
Rob Huff (VW Golf) – Loeb – 17 voltas
Gabriele Tarquini (Hyundai i30) – BRC – 16
Aurelien Comte (Peugeot 308) – DG Sport – 11
Benjamin Lessennes (Honda Civic) – Boutsen Ginion – 10
Frederic Vervisch (Audi RS3 LMS) – Comtoyou – 9
Gianni Morbidelli (Alfa Giulietta) – Mulsanne – 9
Zsolt Szabo (Seat Cupra) – Zengo – 7
Final, prova 3:
1 – Gabriele Tarquini (Hyundai i30) – BRC – 23 voltas em 35’32″310
2 – Yvan Muller (Hyundai i30) – MRacing – 2″524
3 – Thed Bjork (Hyundai i30) – MRacing – 2″922
4 – Yann Ehrlacher (Honda Civic) – Munnich – 4″645
5 – Norbert Michelisz (Hyundai i30) – BRC – 5″937
6 – Mehdi Bennani (VW Golf) – Loeb – 6″631
7 – Rob Huff (VW Golf) – Loeb – 8″121
8 – James Thompson (Honda Civic) – Munnich – 9″932
9 – Jean-Karl Vernay (Audi RS3 LMS) – Leopard – 10″743
10 – Pepe Oriola (Seat Cupra) – Campos – 13″740
11 – John Filippi (Seat Cupra) – Campos – 14″599
12 – Tom Coronel (Honda Civic) – Boutsen Ginion – 14″838
13 – Mat O’Homola (Peugeot 308) – DG Sport – 16″011
14 – Esteban Guerrieri (Honda Civic) – Munnich – 16″475
15 – Norbert Nagy (Seat Cupra) – Zengo – 18″464
16 – Aurelien Panis (Audi RS3 LMS) – Comtoyou – 19″526
17 – Benjamin Lessennes (Honda Civic) – Boutsen Ginion – 20″205
Volta mais rápida: Gabriele Tarquini 1’26″150
Abandonos:
Nathanael Berthon (Audi RS3 LMS) – Comtoyou – 15 voltas
Gianni Morbidelli (Alfa Giulietta) – Mulsanne – 13
Frederic Vervisch (Audi RS3 LMS) – Comtoyou – 6
Aurelien Comte (Peugeot 308) – DG Sport – NL
Campeonato:
1.Tarquini 62; 2.Bjork 51; 3.Vernay 41; 4.Ehrlacher 37; 5.Bennani 32; 6.Muller 29; 7.Huff 24; 8.Michelisz 22; 9.Oriola 16; 10.Guerrieri 14.