WTCR Marrakech: Bjork tops second practice for Cyan, Guerrieri P2
Thed Bjork put Cyan Racing's new Lynk & Co 03 on top in second practice for the 2019 World Touring Car Cup season opener in Marrakech

Bjork, the 2017 World Touring Car champion, set a best time of 1m25.308s in a session where all but three cars were covered by less than a second.
While air temperatures hovered at around 12C, sunshine between first and second practice helped dry out damp spots that remained on the circuit, and it took WRT's Jean-Karl Vernay less than 10 minutes to beat Aurelien Panis's 1m25.841s benchmark from FP1.
Reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini spent much of the first half of the 30-minute session in the pits, but vaulted his BRC Hyundai i30 N to the top of the times with a 1m25.625s.
That effort was then toppled by Tiago Monteiro, Tarquini's BRC stablemate Norbert Michelisz and Esteban Guerrieri, before Bjork hit the front by going a tenth and a half faster than the Munnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type R.
The session was then red flagged with four and a half minutes left on the clock when Tom Coronel briefly stopped on track after his front-right tyre went down at the first corner - a minute or so after Gordon Shedden had also suffered a puncture at the same spot.
But Coronel got going again and was able to limp his Comtoyou Cupra back to the pits, allowing the drivers one final attempt at a qualifying simulation run.
Guerrieri looked as though he might trouble Bjork's top spot with a fastest first sector of all on his first flying lap back out on track, but ultimately backed out of that effort.
The Argentinian did go faster on his final run, but an effort of 1m25.402s left him 0.094 seconds down - meaning Bjork, who took pole for the opening WTCR race in Marrakech last season, ended FP2 on top.
Bjork's Cyan team-mate Yvan Muller jumped up to third late on, a further 0.038s back from Guerrieri, while Norbert Michelisz was the fastest of Hyundai's contenders in fourth.
Monteiro maintained a strong start to his first weekend back in World Touring Cars on a full-time basis by again going fifth fastest in his KCMG Honda.
Tarquini's early benchmark time was good enough for sixth in the final FP2 order ahead of Yann Ehrlacher - whose mirror fell off and had to be collected by marshals under a full-course yellow - and FP1 pacesetter Panis (Comtoyou Cupra).
The PWR Cupra of Mikel Azcona and Vernay's Audi RS3 LMS completed the top 10, with both within half a second of Bjork.
Rob Huff was again the fastest of the Volkswagen contingent in 11th in his Sebastien Loeb Racing Golf GTI, while Kevin Ceccon improved compared to FP1 in Team Mulsanne's leading Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce to finish the session 13th.
Three-time World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx was the final driver within a second of Bjork, reporting on his final run that he had "a bit of play in the first part of my brake pedal" in his Lynk & Co 03.
FP2 times
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Thed Bjork | Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co | 1m25.308s | 12 |
2 | Esteban Guerrieri | Munnich Motorsport | Honda | 0.094s | 12 |
3 | Yvan Muller | Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co | 0.132s | 9 |
4 | Norbert Michelisz | BRC Squadra Corse | Hyundai | 0.190s | 13 |
5 | Tiago Monteiro | KCMG | Honda | 0.202s | 17 |
6 | Gabriele Tarquini | BRC Squadra Corse | Hyundai | 0.317s | 8 |
7 | Yann Ehrlacher | Cyan Performance | Lynk & Co | 0.428s | 15 |
8 | Aurelien Panis | Comtoyou Cupra | Cupra | 0.446s | 14 |
9 | Mikel Azcona | PWR Racing | Cupra | 0.458s | 17 |
10 | Jean-Karl Vernay | WRT | Audi | 0.468s | 13 |
11 | Rob Huff | SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen | 0.523s | 13 |
12 | Nicky Catsburg | BRC Racing Team | Hyundai | 0.541s | 12 |
13 | Kevin Ceccon | Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo | 0.549s | 17 |
14 | Nestor Girolami | Munnich Motorsport | Honda | 0.550s | 13 |
15 | Augusto Farfus | BRC Racing Team | Hyundai | 0.591s | 16 |
16 | Gordon Shedden | WRT | Audi | 0.659s | 11 |
17 | Tom Coronel | Comtoyou Cupra | Cupra | 0.715s | 13 |
18 | Attila Tassi | KCMG | Honda | 0.723s | 17 |
19 | Frederic Vervisch | Comtoyou Audi | Audi | 0.810s | 10 |
20 | Johan Kristoffersson | SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen | 0.818s | 15 |
21 | Daniel Haglof | PWR Racing | Cupra | 0.843s | 13 |
22 | Mehdi Bennani | SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen | 0.876s | 13 |
23 | Andy Priaulx | Cyan Performance | Lynk & Co | 0.892s | 14 |
24 | Ma Qinghua | Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo | 1.049s | 15 |
25 | Niels Langeveld | Comtoyou Audi | Audi | 1.164s | 15 |
26 | Benjamin Leuchter | SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen | 1.536s | 13 |

WTCR Marrakech: Panis leads frantic first practice ahead of Vernay
WTCR Marrakech: Honda's Guerrieri takes race one pole, Muller second

Latest news
Las Vegas approves plan to shut Strip for F1 race until 2032
Officials in Las Vegas have approved a plan to shut the Strip for the Formula 1 grand prix for the next 10 years as they eye a “lifetime in partnership.”
Porsche boss “as surprised as anyone” over Gulf-Williams F1 social media frenzy
Porsche’s head of motorsport Thomas Laudenbach found it “funny” that streamlining its Instagram channels caused a Formula 1 social media speculation frenzy last month.
Why Albon won't be "throwing around laptops" to gain a 2023 F1 edge
OPINION: At the Williams 2023 Formula 1 season launch, Alex Albon’s easy-going nature was again a point of focus. But does being “too nice” really matter in modern F1? Albon’s own expressions put that in an intriguing new light
Why Alfa Romeo has kept its blade roll hoop on 2023 F1 car
The Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team has retained its unique blade roll hoop for the C43 but designed it to withstand load tests that the FIA will introduce in 2024.
The much-loved tin-top superstar bowing out at 59
OPINION: It's not often that a driver achieves widespread affection for their personality, as well as their on-track performances. One such individual is Gabriele Tarquini, who will soon bring the curtain down on a remarkable career that has yielded touring car titles on the European and global stage - and, famously, in Britain too
Why the new electric tin-top series deserves to be taken seriously
The new Pure ETCR series will get underway at Vallelunga this weekend featuring great looking cars, top drivers and real tracks. Its format is wacky, but it exists in an era when its petrol-fuelled brethren are all artificially contrived, and has the potential to move the tin-top game on
The tin-top champion who doesn't know the meaning of retirement
The news is out that three-time World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx is stepping down from full-time racing. But he's still got plenty of mileage left him in yet, and his son has much more
The phoenix driver who is at peace with his defeats
Esteban Guerrieri spent years trying to make it in single-seaters, and came closer than you'd think to making it to F1. Now he's forging a successful tin-top career, but it's his philosophical approach to defeat and personal growth that is truly impressive
The surprise team orders twisting a world title battle
Team orders in major touring car racing are nothing unusual with manufacturer honour at stake. But in the 2019 World Touring Cars title fight, one team is raising eyebrows with the choices it is making
The 'weapon' clash that turned a world title battle bitter
Emotions ran high at Suzuka last weekend between two teams gunning for global tin-top bragging rights, and little has been done to cool those tensions since. While that's great news for WTCR, is there a danger of both outfits losing sight of their main aim?
How WTCR's last real independent has stayed in play
The World Touring Car Cup has gone from strength to strength for 2019 - but one small team in particular is proving time and again that it merits a place alongside the series' big hitters
The lessons World Touring Cars must heed from history
The WTCR has made a massive step up in quality ahead of its second season in its current format, but as manufacturers start to lock horns is it already in danger of repeating other great touring car series' mistakes?
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.