RC Lada rookie Ehrlacher loses WTCC Marrakech race one pole
World Touring Car Championship rookie Yann Ehrlacher has been stripped of pole for his debut with Lada after he failed to visit the weighbridge during qualifying in Marrakech
Ehrlacher, nephew of four-time champion Yvan Muller, qualified his ex-works Vesta 10th in Saturday's session - which handed him provisional pole for Sunday's opening reversed-grid race at the Moulay El Hassan circuit.
After setting his time, Ehrlacher was signalled to visit the weighbridge as he entered the pitlane but drove past without his car being checked.
That was investigated, with the RC Motorsport driver and Honda's Ryo Michigami - who was due to start the opening race on the front row alongside Ehrlacher - later excluded from qualifying for failing to visit scrutineers.
That means Tom Coronel, who won the reversed-grid race in Marrakech last year, will start Sunday's opening round of the season from pole instead after being promoted to 10th in the qualifying classification.
While Ehrlacher and Michigami's exclusions were confirmed at 2000 local time, the grid could not be finalised for some time while stewards investigated Mehdi Bennani for allegedly setting his personal best lap in the second qualifying session under yellow flags.
Bennani was later cleared of any offence, meaning he keeps his fifth place from qualifying.
RACE ONE STARTING GRID:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet |
2 | Esteban Guerrieri | Campos Racing | Chevrolet |
3 | Tom Chilton | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen |
4 | Thed Bjork | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo |
5 | Nicky Catsburg | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo |
6 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen |
7 | Rob Huff | Munnich Motorsport | Citroen |
8 | Norbert Michelisz | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda |
9 | Nestor Girolami | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo |
10 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda |
11 | Daniel Nagy | Zengo Motorsport | Honda |
12 | John Filippi | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen |
13 | Ryo Michigami | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda |
14 | Yann Ehrlacher | RC Motorsport | Lada |
15 | Aurelien Panis | Zengo Motorsport | Honda |
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