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Tiago Monteiro tops uneventful first practice in Morocco

Honda’s Tiago Monteiro was the fastest driver in first practice for the World Touring Car Championship in Morocco, as Münnich Motorsport’s Rob Huff missed the session after failing scrutineering.

Few drivers posted times early on in the 45-minute session, resulting in a very casual start to the new WTCC season. Eventually a handful of drivers ventured out, and it was Japanese Ryo Michigami who put in the first meaningful time, before Polestar’s Nicky Catsburg took over just before the 20-minute mark.

Monteiro then hit the top of the times at the half-way stage in the session, initially with a time of 1:23.010 before improving by almost two tenths. On his last run in the session Monteiro went even better, setting a benchmark of 1 minute 22.685 seconds, which is still over a second shy of the lap record set in 2016.

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Moroccan hero Mehdi Bennani was second fastest in his Citroën, albeit over seven tenths further back, whilst his team-mate Tom Chilton was third.

Thed Björk was the leading Polestar Volvo driver in fourth and the last to be within a second of the leading Honda’s pace.

There was drama even before the session began, as the favourite Citroën of Huff failed to participate in the session due to failing the scrutineering checks. It puts Huff’s preparations this weekend on the back foot, with the Brit not certain to be able to take part in second practice either.

The second works Honda of Norbert Michelisz completed five laps but failed to post a meaningful time, whilst the Zengő Motorsport Civic of Aurélien Panis also missed the session.

Second practice takes place at 11:45 BST (12:45 CEST) followed by qualifying at 15:15 BST (16:15 CEST).

Session results

POS NO DRIVER NAT ENTRANT CAR LAPS TIME GAP
1 18 Tiago MONTEIRO Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic WTCC 15 1:22.685 0.000
2 25 Mehdi BENNANI Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 10 1:23.463 0.778
3 3 Tom CHILTON Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 12 1:23.579 0.894
4 62 Thed BJÖRK Polestar Cyan Racing Volvo S60 Polestar 12 1:23.593 0.908
5 34 Ryo MICHIGAMI Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic WTCC 20 1:23.926 1.241
6 61 Néstor GIROLAMI Polestar Cyan Racing Volvo S60 Polestar 14 1:24.126 1.441
7 86 Esteban GUERRIERI Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 18 1:24.139 1.454
8 63 Nicky CATSBURG Polestar Cyan Racing Volvo S60 Polestar 13 1:24.530 1.845
9 9 Tom CORONEL ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 11 1:24.669 1.984
10 68 Yann EHRLACHER RC Motorsport LADA Vesta WTCC 23 1:24.767 2.082
11 27 John FILIPPI Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 16 1:24.777 2.092
12 99 Dániel NAGY Zengő Motorsport Kft Honda Civic WTCC 20 1:24.937 2.252
13 5 Norbert MICHELISZ Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic WTCC 5 No time N/A
14 12 Rob HUFF ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 0 No time N/A
15 8 Aurélien PANIS Zengő Motorsport Kft Honda Civic WTCC 0 No time N/A
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