Ma Qing Hua wins second TCR World Tour race in Marrakech as title rivals hit trouble
Cyan Racing’s Ma Qing Hua ensured a clean sweep of FIA TCR World Tour victories for Lynk & Co in Marrakech by completing a lights-to-flag drive in the final race of the weekend.
Starting the reversed grid race from the front of the grid, Ma got the better of Goat Racing’s Esteban Guerrieri at the start and never looked threatened throughout the 36-lap encounter.
Guerrieri headed home team-mate Dušan Borković to finish second but title rivals Norbert Michelisz and Yann Ehrlacher suffered dramas after making contact with each other on the first lap.
Race one winner Ehrlacher retired early on while Michelisz toiled to 11th at the finish after losing his front bumper.
The contrasting fortunes for Cyan Racing were evident from the off as Ma leapt off the line and fended off the attention of Esteban Guerrieri to maintain his advantage into the first corner.
Meanwhile, at the back of the grid, Santiago Urrutia stalled from 10th and was swamped by the field as race one winner Yann Ehrlacher was involved in contact with Norbert Michelisz at turn one, causing damage to the rear of the latter’s Hyundai Elantra N TCR.
Ehrlacher for his part, had a tyre rub in the early stages but maintained 10th place before being forced into the pits on the 14th of 36 laps, ruling him out of the race.
As Ma raced clear of the pair of Goat Racing Hondas the battle for fifth intensified as Mikel Azcona was the meat in the Volcano Motorsport Audi sandwich.
John Filippi was the occupant of fifth but Azcona clearly had the faster car approaching the halfway point of the race. The Spaniard in the Hyundai couldn’t find a way around Filippi around the tight and twisty circuit, which allowed Filippi’s team-mate Sami Taoufik to crawl all over the back of Azcona.
Taoufik then tried a late dive down the inside of Azcona at the final corner, but tagged the rear of the Hyundai, which narrowly avoided spining.
That took the heat off Filippi and brought the Goat Racing Honda of Marco Butti into the mix behind.
At the front, Ma was firmly in control and came home to take the victory over Guerrieri by just over two seconds, as Borković completed the podium in the second Goat Racing Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR.
Late drama for Néstor Girolami and Azcona cost BRC Squadra Corse a handful of points as Azcona was hamstrung with a left-rear puncture, taking him out of the battle for fifth, while Néstor Girolami was denied fourth on the final lap with a separate issue.
That elevated Filippi to fourth, while team-mate Taoufik was rewarded with sixth place on home soil ahead of Butti.
Urrutia battled back to finish eighth ahead of Thed Björk, while Mehdi Bennani made it two Moroccan drivers in the top 10 in his Audi.
Michelisz never truly recovered from his opening lap skirmish but nevertheless outscored his chief title rival Ehrlacher by finishing 11th while Azcona was classified 13th.
The next round of the FIA TCR World Tour will take place at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on the weekend of 8-9 June.
