This year Honda riders fighting for the lead with hitherto invincible pilots Citroen. However, over the heads of the representatives of the Japanese manufacturer of the dark clouds.
The first problem of the Honda were still at an early stage in Hungary. However, the FIA announced the latest Japanese cars fully satisfy the rules and approved the results. But the next stage in Morocco, held on the last weekend of the Hungarian race the results were again announced preliminary investigation began and again.
What is all the fuss? FIA technical delegate does not seem relevant technical requirements of the bottom (floor) Jas Honda team's car, representing the Japanese brand in the WTCC championship, as well as the client machine, which performs Franz Fitz.
The entire catch is that in Morocco Honda riders have spent a great weekend and if they will be deprived of the same score, the situation will change drastically in the championship.
In qualifying the pilots of the Japanese brand simply dominated — the best time showed Rob Huff and his teammates Norbert Mihelits and Tiago Monteiro were the second and third, respectively.
Series leader Jose Maria Lopez of the Citroen was the fourth, and closed the top five Nicky Katsburg of Lada.
Two other Russian team rider South Valens and Gabriele Tarquini took place on 9 and 11 in the qualifying session.
Tenth qualifications James Thompson finished and it was he — according to the rule of the reciprocal lattice — took pole position Saturday's race. However, at the beginning of the first race two accidents occurred in the group of leaders, to radically change the situation.
In the first round of South Valens «caught up» in the lead and Thompson simply threw it off the track. At the same circle of his «feat» repeated the other pilot Lada Katsburg Nicky — he knocked out of the fight Ted Bjork from Volvo, though unlike Valens Nicky and he lost a lot of positions.
Thus Valens led the race, but in second place came Tom Coronel. But after a while the South has been fined, then Coronel took the lead and managed to hold the first position to the finish. Jose Maria Lopez has struggled to get ahead of the pilot's Chevrolet, but did not succeed in this, and was content with second place. He closed the top three winners of the other pilot of the French team of Yvan Muller.
Items in the fourth to sixth pilots occupied the factory Honda — Tiago Monteiro, Norbert Mihelits and Robert Huff. Next — the best representative of Lada Gabriele Tarquini, «private entrepreneurs» Tom Chilton and Mehdi Bennani and Volvo racer Fredrik Ekblom.
Before the start of the second race teams had to urgently change tires — on the track passed a shower and riders were forced to start on the rain sets.
Honda Riders Robert Huff and Norbert Mihelits went into the race in first and second positions, managing to keep them in the course of arrival — no one did not manage to remove them from the leading places.
But the third driver of the Japanese brand Tiago Monteiro at the start skipped forward Jose Maria Lopez of Citroen. And only in the middle Tiago arrival back in the top three, securing his team a triple podium. Let preliminary...
Lopez got to finish fourth, ahead of his team-mate Yvan Muller, Gabriele Tarquini two Lada Valens and South, as well as Medi Bennani, James Thompson and Tom Chilton.
The next round of the WTCC will take place in late May at the Nürburgring. But what will be the results of the table before the race in Germany will become clear only after the investigation FIA...
Photo: www.fiawtcc.com
