WTCR Marrakech: Vernay holds off Bennani for race two victory
Jean-Karl Vernay cantered to a comfortable win in the reversed-grid World Touring Car Cup race at Marrakech from second on the grid, beating home favourite Mehdi Bennani

Vernay never escaped more than two seconds up the road from Bennani, but always appeared in control as he swept to victory in the second race of the new WTCR era.
The 2017 TCR International Series champion grabbed the lead at the start of the race, outdragging polesitter Pepe Oriola on the run to the first corner.
Vernay left room on the inside for Oriola to attempt to squeeze his Cupra back through, sending Vernay wide, but the Audi man held on to his lead as Bennani slipped his way into second while Oriola and James Thompson - who lost traction on the inside line - were delayed.
After early pressure from Bennani, Vernay pulled out a comfortable early advantage over the Volkswagen Golf GTi driver and looked in control at the head of the field.
But his lead was wiped out after eight of the original 18 laps when Zsolt David Szabo stopped at the first corner.
Szabo had turned into the path of the Alfa Romeo of Gianni Morbidelli at the start of the previous lap, but his Cupra was retrieved quickly and racing resumed two laps later.
Bennani pursued Vernay closely, before the safety car then returned to the track when Benjamin Lessennes stopped at the end of the back straight with his Honda Civic pointing the wrong way.
Vernay made a better getaway on the second restart and quickly established a lead of more than a second over Bennani and, while he did not manage to extended the lead further, maintained the buffer over the remaining six laps to seal the win.
Thed Bjork had been involved in a feisty scrap with Rob Huff for fifth for the majority of the race before Huff ran straight on at the end of the straight approaching the Turn 7 left-right after the second restart.
Huff retired to the pits at the end of the same lap with an unspecified issue.
Bjork therefore finished fifth in the first of the four Hyundais, with Thompson sixth.
Norbert Michelisz registered his first points of the weekend in seventh in his BRC Racing Hyundai i30 N.
Yvan Muller briefly got ahead of Esteban Guerrieri after the second restart, but was repassed with four laps to go and, despite twice drawing alongside the Munnich Motorsport Honda at the Turns 4/5 chicane, remained behind in ninth.
But an incident between the pair was under investigation as the race finished.
Guerrieri twice cut the Turns 4/5 chicane to stay ahead of the Hyundai - the second time having been pushed through the looped Turn 3 by Muller.
Tom Coronel resisted Gordon Shedden to score the final point in his Boutsen Ginion Honda.
Race two result:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Laps | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jean-Karl Vernay | WRT | Audi | 20 | 31m41.418s |
2 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen | 20 | 0.890s |
3 | Pepe Oriola | Campos Racing | Cupra | 20 | 3.270s |
4 | Yann Ehrlacher | Munnich Motorsport | Honda | 20 | 3.631s |
5 | Thed Bjork | YMR | Hyundai | 20 | 6.570s |
6 | James Thompson | Munnich Motorsport | Honda | 20 | 7.916s |
7 | Norbert Michelisz | BRC Racing Team | Hyundai | 20 | 11.929s |
8 | Esteban Guerrieri | Munnich Motorsport | Honda | 20 | 13.630s |
9 | Yvan Muller | YMR | Hyundai | 20 | 14.555s |
10 | Tom Coronel | Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda | 20 | 14.959s |
11 | Gordon Shedden | WRT | Audi | 20 | 15.386s |
12 | Mat'o Homola | DG Sport Competition | Peugeot | 20 | 19.480s |
13 | Fabrizio Giovanardi | Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo | 20 | 20.091s |
14 | Aurelien Panis | Comtoyou Racing | Audi | 20 | 21.327s |
15 | Nathanael Berthon | Comtoyou Racing | Audi | 20 | 22.411s |
16 | Norbert Nagy | Zengo Motorsport | Cupra | 20 | 24.790s |
17 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Cupra | 20 | 48.169s |
18 | Rob Huff | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen | 17 | 3 Laps |
19 | Gabriele Tarquini | BRC Racing Team | Hyundai | 16 | 4 Laps |
- | Aurelien Comte | DG Sport Competition | Peugeot | 11 | Retirement |
- | Benjamin Lessennes | Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda | 10 | Retirement |
- | Frederic Vervisch | Comtoyou Racing | Audi | 9 | Retirement |
- | Gianni Morbidelli | Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo | 9 | Retirement |
- | Zsolt Szabo | Zengo Motorsport | Cupra | 7 | Retirement |
- | Denis Dupont | Comtoyou Racing | Audi | 0 | Withdrawn |

WTCR Marrakech: Tarquini leads Muller in an all-Hyundai front row
WTCR Marrakech: Tarquini leads home Muller in Hyundai 1-2-3

Latest news
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?