09-05-04 - Difficult weekend in Marrakech
Rickard Rydell had a very difficult weekend when the FIA WTCC raced in Morocco for the first time. The Swede was hit by a technical problem during qualifying, and starting 12th wasn’t ideal. Rydell’s race day was over in the first corner.
For Rickard Rydell the WTCC’s first visit to Marrakech was a weekend to forget. The SEAT driver was fast in the practice sessions but was hit by a technical problem in Q1, missing out on Q2. Starting from 12th he knew that the races would be difficult but not so difficult as it turned out. Rydell’s race was over on the very first lap.
”In qualifying a had a problem with the differential, probably related to the heat here in Morocco. I started 12th and could pass some cars up to the first corner and thought I would stay behind Jörg Müller, but he hit a Chevrolet and I went on the inside of the BMW. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough room so I hit the wall and the day was over after just a few hundred meters”, said Rickard Rydell.
The SEAT Sport team was not able to repair the Leon for race 2. From the pit wall Rydell could see Yvan Muller stretch out his championship lead, now with Gabriele Tarquini in second overall.
If it was a weekend to forget for Rickard Rydell things went much better for Chevrolet. They scored the first vicories for the new Cruze thanks to great efforts from Rob Huff and Nicola Larini.
Results FIA WTCC Marrakech
Race 1
1) Rob Huff, Great Britain, Chevrolet Cruze, 12 laps
2) Gabriele Tarquini, Italy, SEAT Leon TDI, + 1.729 seconds
3) Jordi Gené, Spain, SEAT Leon TDI, + 5.583
4) Yvan Muller, France, SEAT Leon TDI, + 7.044
5) Tiago Monteiro, Portugal SEAT Leon TDI, + 7.410
6) Nicola Larini, Italy, Chevrolet Cruze, + 8.577
7) Alain Menu, Switzerland, Chevrloet Cruze, + 9.043
8) Jörg Müller, Germany, BMW 320si, + 9.839
--
Rickard Rydell, Sweden, SEAT Leon TDI, DNF
Race 2
1) Nicola Larini, Italy, Chevrolet Cruze, 13 laps
2) Yvan Muller, France, SEAT Leon TDI, + 1.399 seconds
3) Rob Huff, Great Britain, Chevrolet Cruze, + 1.778
4) Jörg Müller, Germany, BMW 320si, + 2.728
5) Gabriele Tarquini, Italy, SEAT Leon TDI, + 3.068
6) Augusto Farfus, Brazil, BMW 320si, + 3.991
7) Tiago Monteiro, Portugal SEAT Leon TDI, + 4.907
8) Franz Engstler, Germany, BMW 320si, + 6.779
--
Rickard Rydell, Sweden, SEAT Leon TDI, DNS
|
SWEDISH
ENGLISH
