MotorSportVoice - 2009 - WTCC Morocco & V8SC Winton

A new circuit and country for the WTCC and a new soft option tyre for the V8 Supercars, meant one thing - plenty of top class racing action, and maybe a change in the form books. SEAT have dominated the previous rounds of the 2009 WTCC much like Team Vodafone driver Jamie Whincup has in the V8 Supercars.

Chevrolet dominated the inaugural Marrakesh round of the World Touring Car Championship. The new for 2009 Cruze model was low on weight, but performed well on the street circuit in Morocco. Briton Rob Huff qualified on pole position with his team mate Alain Menu in second. Menu would drop down the order after his car failed to start after a weight check and was penalised by ten grid places. Andy Priaulx suffered badly in the qualifying session. After having successfully made it through from the first part of qualifying, he was involved in an accident with Sergio Hernandez. His battered car was deemed to have been aided by marshals when the session was still active meaning he would not be able to take part in the second part of qualifying, and ultimately a starting position of tenth. Huff led throughout the first race to claim the victory in race one. Rickard Rydell retired on the first lap of the race, after a coming together with Jorg Muller and Alain Menu. The Swede missed the second race as a result of the damage sustained in the accident. Gabriele Tarquini pushed Huff in the closing stages, but had to settle for second, ahead of his SEAT team mate, Jordi Gene. The second race saw Nicola Larini battle hard with Alain Menu and Jorg Muller, and eventually came out on top to make it a fantastic weekend for the Chevrolet team. Larini had never before won in the WTCC, and his delight was clearly evident after the race. 2008 champion Yvan Muller drove well, as he defended his second place from a very fired up Rob Huff who settled for third. WTCC rookie driver, Moroccan Mehdi Bennani, claimed the independent victory in race one, but out braked himself in the second race and fell back. A post race appeal by BMW against the Diesel SEATs, saw the car of Tiago Monteiro excluded from the second race results in Marrakesh. The disqualification was due to irregularities relating to turbo pressure.

An introduction of a brand new option tyre in the V8 Supercars proved to add the excitement for which it was intended. Dunlop provided the pink-walled Sport Maxx tyre to the teams, and lap times fell considerably. With a limited allocation per driver for the weekend, these sets were used sparingly. Initial thoughts were that the tyres could cause accidents due to the speed difference between cars on the soft tyres and those on the regular tyres. This proved to be the case in Saturday's race at the Winton Motor Raceway. Collisions aplenty as well as constant changing of position throughout caused for a hectic race of full blown action. Team Vodafone again crossed the line in first, but it was Craig Lowndes taking the flag instead of Whincup. Michael Caruso was on a stellar strategy with the new tyre, and had it not been for a badly timed safety car intervention he was looking set to win the race. Lowndes led home a Team Vodafone one-two, with another ford taking third with Ford Performance Racing's Steven Richards. Top placed Holden was Rick Kelly in 4th. 2007 Champion Garth Tander endured a torrid race as he finished 8th after being spun multiple times. The Sunday race was again an exciting one. Lowndes started the race on the same soft tyres he had won the previous days race on. This move shocked many, as the expected lifespan of the tyre was expected to be quite low due to the amount of rubber that was shed in race conditions in the first race. Within a few laps, Lowndes had pulled out a lead to those on the harder compound, but he was soon caught and passed by an inspired Paul Dumbrell. The pair then pulled out a substantial lead, but were thwarted by a safety car deployment. Another safety car later in the race caused havoc, both Team Vodafone drivers elected to pit at the same time. Lowndes' stop was slightly delayed leaving Whincup sat in the pit lane itself alongside Mark Winterbottom's pit box, and blocking the lane. Winterbottom squeezed out after having to be manoeuvred back and forth, but as he did he hit a wheel which had strayed from Lowndes' stop. Thankfully the wheel did not cause damage, but this was an eye-opener after the team bosses has been told to ensure wheels, tools and the like were kept in close proximity to the cars to prevent this sort of incident. Lowndes drove a perfect race to take his second win of the weekend, Winterbottom crossed the line in 2nd with Tander in third. Championship leader Jamie Whincup eventually finished finished 13th.

The Intercontinental Rally Challenge resumes next weekend, as the crews head to Portugal for the Sata Rally Azores. The event runs from the 7th - 9th May 2009.