[WTCC] Rounds 5 & 6 - Marrakech

[FIRE]

Tarquini fastest in 1st practice:
http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7434

- Engine change for Cerqui so he drops to last position at the grid.
- No Wéber this round dus budget reasons.

Qualifying at 18:00 CET.

[skells22]

why was there a delay in qualfying, turn on eurosport expecting the cars but instead there was no reason for a delay, was it a support race?

[reed]

Traffic is clearly a problem but I think everyone should calm down and be patient. No point all going together and getting caught up in unnecessary incidents.

[FIRE]

Qualifying:
1. Menu
2. Huff
3. Coronel
4. Muller
5. Tarquini
6. Oriola
7. MacDowall
8. Chilton
9. Engstler
10. Monteiro
11. Nash
12. D'Aste

[Martinramm]

Tarquini is disqualified from qualification due to running 10kg lighter, so he will start at the back of the grid.

Glad to see Fords on the front and how there is no Chevy train. Half an hour to go to start one, we'll see what this city circuit brings.

[trebor901]

the rule that they can only repair cars in a certain period is bs not fair at all, looks like Nash wont be on pole afterall

[codename_47]

Wow the Chevys are sucking the fun out of the frist races this year, they have a speed advantage then are told not to race one another...

Good on the TV director for ignoring them for the majority of the race to find the actual excitement, still a bit boring though tbh,

Poor Team AON, Nash had his race ruined by "professional" driving 2 days in a row, come back to the BTCC guys, all is forgiven

[Martinramm]

I agree on the fact that they have so little time repairing cars between races. Im afraid they wont have enough time to get Nash back to race two's pole.

From warmups and qualification it didnt seem that the chevys were so strong, but once again yes, they kind of ruin the excitement for forth runners.

Oriola is driving unbelieveably though, or he's got one hell of a SEAT under him.

[Bramzel]

Oriola is definitely a rising star, that was one hell of a performance. A shame Coronel got punted off by MacDowall though, would've been interesting te see where he'd have ended up.

[Martinramm]

From what Im seeing and hearing now, they managed to repair Nash's car and he'll be starting from the pole.

[Alfa Fan]

This is a joke. It's like the Chevvies are GT1 cars in a GT3 race.

[codename_47]

Yeah I was hoping the tight nature of the street course would at least keep them back for a while but the ease the Chevys sliced through the field makes a bit of a joke of the championship tbh

Doesn't exactly enthrall you to turn on again next race when you know what the
end result is going to be is it?

A dull reversed grid race, who'd have thought it?

[Bramzel]

This race proves that WTCC would be a great series without Chevrolet as only manufacturer. Even the fantastic battle for fourth can't make up for the dissapointment of seeing that blue train steamrolling the field...

[I Rosputnik]

Originally Posted by Bramzel

This race proves that WTCC would be a great series without Chevrolet as only manufacturer. Even the fantastic battle for fourth can't make up for the dissapointment of seeing that blue train steamrolling the field...

Agreed, however I want to see if Honda and Lada are able to peg Chevrolet down a notch when they come in next year.

The Ford's look like they have a bit to go, development wise. Looking at how Nash and Chilton have done today, there's quite a bit of potential in the Focus.

[FIRE]

Only saw race 2. Despite Chevy 1-2-3 I enjoyed it.
Power difference between Chevy and the others is huge.

[Craner Curves]

I still find watching the Chevys battle their way through the pack exciting. My favourite driver of the moment is (as dear old David Leslie would call him) D. Aste. He's a sort of Gigi Galli type character isn't he!

[Martinramm]

Usually I dont watch it for crashes but this time I hoped at least one of the chevys would be out. It is getting a bit ridiculous. But the progress on Fords is good and next race hopefully Tarquini will be stirring the front places between chevys.

But I have an overall question - when the power is limited on these cars yet chevys are so strong compared to the rest, is it down to testing and settings to get to know cars behavior and then to use it on races? Because they shouldn't have any advantage on the technical level. Or is it possible they have developed some technical solutions within the regulations to give them more power/stability/traction?

[Deleted]

Chevys are by far the most heaviest cars on the grid, I think that is penalty enough for them... their status is a bit like Audi's in LMP1 now, pretty much the only team with proper budget and resources. Minus diesel advantage of course

The races were somewhere between dull and okay-ish but for once the AutoGP proved to be more entertaing. Usually I snore for that series, and for a good reason, but the first race was EPIC

[Pettersson]

The track is still as boring as previous years . And even if the pace and driving of the Chevrolet drivers is impressive, it's like they are racing in a completely different set of regulations. The others has absolutely nothing to do and no possibility to race the Chevys.

Result: It's getting really boring, so hopefully the other cars will lose some weight for Slovakia and that the new track will even out the field.

[werner]

I enjoyed the races very much. The racing was hard but fair. The track is quite exiting imo. Not al tracks should be like this, but it is fun to have a track like this in the series. The sight of the cars jumping over the kerbs is quite exiting.
Offcourse it is a shame that there are only 3 real contenders for a win, but the gaps are not that big. Mind you, that the RML-Chevy team has the edge on any other team in almost any perspective: money, drivers, testingopportunities, experience etc. It is only normal that they win most of the races. I don't have anything against the best drivers and teams winning. But I'm sure guys like Coronel and Tarquini will keep them honest, and on a good day and with some luck will make it to the top step this season. The Fords and D'Aste and Oriola also looked very good this weekend. Let's hope they will improve even more and every now and then give the, ehh, 'non-independants' a run for their money every now and then.

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Not a big WTCC fan but personally I loved the racing. Overall I think the drivers behaved nicely on such a tight and unforgiving track.

Chevrolet puts more ressources than everyone else and arguably has three of the best touring car drivers in the world, so it's quite normal to see them up front. I belive some of you might be underrating the drivers factor a little BTW, Bamboo is in midfield at best with McDowall and Di Sabbatino.

The reason why they were so untroubled is that this didn't seem to be so much of a Bimmer track. Michelitz at Monza and D'Aste at Valencia proved that it's possible to give them a proper run for their money in race 2. That said, Oriola was pretty close to them in the Seat at Marrakech race 1, this kid is one to watch.

Originally Posted by Craner Curves

I still find watching the Chevys battle their way through the pack exciting. My favourite driver of the moment is (as dear old David Leslie would call him) D. Aste. He's a sort of Gigi Galli type character isn't he!

And he has priceless overalls too

[chunder]

Truly awful circuit this.

I tried to watch it but simply got bored with the stupid kerbs and really rather dull action.

Shame as the series deserves better

[FIRE]

Have now also watched race 1. Like race 2 I enjoyed it.
Less crashes compared to precious years.