2009 WTCC : Chevrolet CRUZE claimed double victory

Robert Huff - Chevrolet CRUZE - Race 1 Winner

MARRAKECH, Morocco : May 3, 2009 - Chevrolet CRUZE has taken first and second win in 2009 WTCC Morocco Round by Robert Huff and Nicola Larini

Robert Huff - Chevrolet CRUZE - Race 1 Winner

RACE 1 – CHEVROLET CRUZE TAKES FIRST WIN

Robert Huff converted pole into a win for Chevrolet, the first for the new Cruze cars only on its fifth race.
Huff led the field from the start to finish with Gabriele Tarquini behind him the whole way to take second. Jordi Gené overtook Yvan Muller on the penultimate lap to secure third. Moroccan driver Mehdi Bennani achieved a fantastic start from 14th and stormed home ninth overall to take the Independents trophy with style.
Augusto Farfus was challenged hard by Tom Coronel for 12th position but in the end the Dutchman made a mistake at turn 11 on lap 10 and lost the battle. Farfus’ team-mate Jörg Müller was the fastest BMW and his eighth place finish means pole in Race 2. Fellow BMW driver Alessandro Zanardi retired from the race on lap four.
The safety car was deployed at the end of the first lap after an incident involving Müller, Alain Menu and Rickard Rydell resulted in the latter being squeezed into the wall at turn two and incurring race-ending damage to his car.

Man of the race
In his debut FIA WTCC appearance Mehdi Bennani drove fantastically to compete with the best. He qualified 14th but after a great start managed to promote himself to ninth in lap one and keep hold of it for the duration of the race. In his Exagon Engineering SEAT León, the local driver won the Independents’ Trophy much to the pleasure of the cheering crowd.

Key moment
The start was pivotal to Huff’s success. He managed skilfully to keep the SEAT Sport cars of Tarquini, Muller and Gené at bay and by the end of the first lap had created a slight gap. With the deployment of the safety car the Briton could not rest on his laurels and managed to keep the trio at bay once again at the restart.

Withdrawals
R. Rydell : race incident; A. Zanardi: pierced radiator; K. Poulsen: race incident.

RACE 2 – FIRST WTCC VICTORY FOR LARINI

The second race saw Nicola Larini of Chevrolet celebrate his first ever WTCC win. Yvan Muller took second place ahead of Race 1 winner Robert Huff.
Jörg Müller led until lap eight when he went wide at turn 15 allowing Larini, Muller and Huff through. The BMW Team Germany driver eventually finished fourth ahead of Tarquini, Farfus and Monteiro. Franz Engstler took the final point in eighth as well as the Independent win.
Andy Priaulx was in contention for points until lap 11 where he missed the braking point at turn 7 – he retired to the pits on the next lap. Mehdi Bennani also went straight at the same point on lap 11 but continued to finish 10th and third independent.
The safety car was deployed for two laps at the start after Hernández’s car was stranded in an unsafe place.

Man of the race
Nicola Larini has come nail-bitingly close to winning many a race in the WTCC’s five year history. However, this was his first taste of victory. With a mixture of determination and control the Italian waited for Jörg Müller to make the slightest mistake and pounced to take the lead. With the chequered flag in his sights he didn’t falter in the final five laps.

Key moment
Jörg Müller was set to claim the win until he went wide at turn 15 of lap eight. Losing the back of his car and having to recover allowed Larini to charge through. It got worse for the German driver as Muller and Huff also overtook. It was this point that determined the race winner.

Withdrawals
J. Gené: electrical problems; K. Poulsen: incident; G. Tanev: incident; S. Hernández: incident; V. Postiglione: incident; V. Shapovalov: brakes; S. D’Aste: driveshaft; A. Priaulx; flat spotted tyres.

Driver's Championship
Pos.	Driver - Nationality	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Total
1	Yvan MULLER (FRA)	10	5	5	10	5	8	43
2	Gabriele TARQUINI (ITA)	5	10	3	1	8	4	31
3	Rickard RYDELL (SWE)	6	8	10	6	0	0	30
4	Jordi GENÉ (ESP)	8	6	2	2	6	0	24
5	Augusto FARFUS (BRA)	4	3	8	5	0	3	23
6	Robert HUFF (GBR)	0	0	0	0	10	6	16
7	Andy PRIAULX (GBR)	2	0	6	8	0	0	16
8	Nicola LARINI (ITA)	0	0	1	0	3	10	14
9	Jörg MÜLLER (GER)	0	4	4	0	1	5	14
10	Sergio HERNÁNDEZ (ESP)	3	0	0	4	0	0	7
11	Tiago MONTEIRO (POR)	0	0	0	0	4	2	6
12	Alessandro ZANARDI (ITA)	0	0	0	3	0	0	3
13	Félix PORTEIRO (ESP)	1	2	0	0	0	0	3
14	Alain MENU (SUI)	0	0	0	0	2	0	2
15	Franz ENGSTLER (GER)	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
15	Tom CORONEL (NED)	0	1	0	0	0	0	1

Manufacturer's Champion
Pos.	Brand	Point
1.	SEAT	93
2.	BMW	64
3.	CHEVROLET	51
4.	LADA	24

Hi-light images : 2009 - WTCC - Round 5-6, Morocco

[Source : WTCC-Official, SEAT, BMW]