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WTCR Marrakech: Gabriele Tarquini wins after Nicky Catsburg crashes

Reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini won the World Touring Car Cup's reversed-grid race after polesitter Nicky Catsburg crashed from the lead in Marrakech

Tarquini had trailed BRC team-mate Catsburg by a second in the first half of the race, but inherited top spot when the lead Hyundai went off at Turn 10.

Catsburg was in the braking zone for the tight left-hander that leads onto the back straight and had just started to turn in when his i30 N suddenly went to the right and into the barrier on the outside of the corner.

The recovery of Catsburg's car required the intervention of the safety car but, although that bunched the pack up, Tarquini effectively guaranteed himself victory by catching the rest out on the restart - breaking well clear of Jean-Karl Vernay's WRT Audi on the run to the penultimate corner.

The Italian had an advantage of two seconds when racing resumed on lap 15 of the extended 20-lap distance, and pulled a further 1.3s clear of Vernay in the final laps to claim victory.

Vernay had stayed with the leading Hyundais prior to Catsburg's crash, and ended up a comfortable second - six tenths ahead of Yann Ehrlacher's Cyan-run Lynk & Co 03.

As had been the case in Saturday's first race, Ehrlacher struggled to stay in touch with the cars he was following but was not troubled by the pursuing Esteban Guerrieri.

Race one winner and early points leader Guerrieri forfeited a position to the fast-starting Ehrlacher on the run to the first corner and, despite applying pressure in his Munnich Motorsport Honda Civic Type R in the first part of the race, instead had to focus on fending off the leading Cupra of Mikel Azcona late on.

TCR Europe champion Azcona, who earlier in the day made the Q3 pole position shootout in only his second WTCR qualifying session, finished 0.155s behind Guerrieri.

Thed Bjork was two seconds further back in his Lynk & Co 03 but ahead of team-mate Yvan Muller, both of whom jumped eighth-place finisher Tiago Monteiro (KCMG Honda) at the start when the Portuguese got boxed in behind Azcona.

Race three polesitter Frederic Vervisch (Comtoyou Audi) and the second Munnich Honda of Nestor Girolami completed the top 10, while BRC Hyundai pair Augusto Farfus and Norbert Michelisz both gained three places from their starting positions to finish 11th and 12th.

Andy Priaulx brought the fourth Cyan Lynk & Co home in 13th ahead of the Comtoyou Cupra of Tom Coronel, while Gordon Shedden scored the final point in 15th.

Ma Qing Hua had been on course to finish 12th on his second start for the Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo squad, but pitted with a puncture under the safety car and was classified 24th.

Race 2 result

Pos Driver Team Car Laps Gap
1 Gabriele Tarquini BRC Squadra Corse Hyundai 20 31m45.772s
2 Jean-Karl Vernay WRT Audi 20 3.317s
3 Yann Ehrlacher Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 20 3.991s
4 Esteban Guerrieri Munnich Motorsport Honda 20 4.514s
5 Mikel Azcona PWR Racing Cupra 20 4.669s
6 Thed Bjork Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 20 7.064s
7 Yvan Muller Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 20 8.197s
8 Tiago Monteiro KCMG Honda 20 8.496s
9 Frederic Vervisch Comtoyou Audi Audi 20 8.895s
10 Nestor Girolami Munnich Motorsport Honda 20 9.439s
11 Augusto Farfus BRC Racing Team Hyundai 20 9.870s
12 Norbert Michelisz BRC Squadra Corse Hyundai 20 11.109s
13 Andy Priaulx Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 20 12.081s
14 Tom Coronel Comtoyou Cupra Cupra 20 12.703s
15 Gordon Shedden WRT Audi 20 13.109s
16 Daniel Haglof PWR Racing Cupra 20 13.659s
17 Johan Kristoffersson SLR Volkswagen Volkswagen 20 14.126s
18 Niels Langeveld Comtoyou Audi Audi 20 14.831s
19 Kevin Ceccon Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo 20 15.184s
20 Attila Tassi KCMG Honda 20 16.358s
21 Aurelien Panis Comtoyou Cupra Cupra 20 16.796s
22 Rob Huff SLR VW Motorsport Volkswagen 20 17.440s
23 Benjamin Leuchter SLR Volkswagen Volkswagen 20 18.209s
- Ma Qinghua Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo 13 Retirement
- Mehdi Bennani SLR VW Motorsport Volkswagen 11 Retirement
- Nicky Catsburg BRC Racing Team Hyundai 9 Retirement

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