Leading home a Honda 1-2-3 in the main World Touring Car Championship race in Marrakech was ‘an incredible feeling’ for Rob Huff, who led team-mates Norbert Michelisz and Tiago Monteiro across the line in the wet.
Huff led the race from pole position, having also put his car on pole position in qualifying on Saturday, where the Japanese manufacturer also took a 1-2-3 result.
The Brit took his second win of the season, and the third-ever 1-2-3 finish for Honda, to remain in contention for the drivers’ championship, 43 points adrift of the championship lead after finishing in sixth in race one.
“It’s an incredible feeling to not only have this win, but to lead a Honda 1-2-3 as well and I can’t thank the team enough,” said Huff. “The conditions were unbelievably tricky out there with changing grip levels everywhere for the whole race duration, and the first few laps were a real case of just exploring and finding out how much grip there was.
“But the handling of the Civic WTCC was fantastic in the wet, just as it was in the dry in qualifying and the opening race.
“We knew this circuit would suit the Civic and that we had to take full advantage. We’ve done just that, so I think everyone at Honda can be very happy with the results this weekend.”
JAS Motorsport Team Principal Alessandro Mariani praised the result, which also marked the edge of a significant milestone for the team’s partnership with Honda.
“This is an incredible result for Honda and now the 99th podium in touring car racing for the partnership between JAS Motorsport and Honda. I have to say a huge thank you to everybody who has worked on this project between the winter and now.
“We had a big re-organisation over the winter with new drivers and new engineers and have changed many other things with the car and today, at a track we knew would be good for us, we dominated. It’s a perfect result.”
Honda have moved to within 39 points of Citroën in the manufacturers’ championship standings as a result of the podium lockout.