Marrakech - Free 1: Tarquini sets the pace

Best time for the Italian driver

By Franck Drui

1 May 2010 - 12:41
Marrakech - Free 1: Tarquini sets (…)

Gabriele Tarquini was comfortably on top during first practice in Marrakech this morning setting a fastest lap of 1:46.975, 0.614s ahead of the rest of the field and nearly 4-seconds faster than last year’s lap record.

In a cooler 19°C, Tarquini set the pace for most of the 30-minute session in his SEAT León TDI. BMW Team RBM put on a good show with team mates Andy Priaulx (1:47.589) and Augusto Farfus (1:47.886) ending second and fourth respectively.

Despite bouncing across the kerbs around the twisting street circuit, Tiago Monteiro posted the third fastest time of the morning, a 1:47.663.

Back on track after kissing the wall yesterday, Chevrolet’s Alain Menu (1:47.894) finished fifth ahead of Tom Coronel (1:48.034).

Franz Engstler (1:48.034) was the quickest of the the Independents in seventh, after improving on his final lap of the session.

Hungarian Rookie Norbert Michelisz was the best of the rookies, his time of 1:48.055 was good enough for ninth despite the team deciding not to risk running in the final minutes of the practice. Jordi Gené (1:48.070) and the current lap record holder Rob Huff (1:48.073) rounded out the top ten.

With the track slightly wider and a quicker chicane layout, the street circuit is much faster than in 2009 with times expected to tumble even further later today. After first practice over two thirds of the grid were under the 1:50.833 barrier set by Huff in Race 1 in 2009.

Morocco’s Mehdi Bennani had a disspointing start to the day crashing into the wall at Turn 4 on his first flying lap and ending his session; Darryl O’Young also hit a wall and rejoined in the late stages after repairs.

Pos. Driver Car Time Gap
01 G. Tarquini Seat Leon TDI 1m46.975s
02 A. Priaulx BMW 320si 1m47.589s + 0.614
03 T. Monteiro Seat Leon TDI 1m47.663s + 0.688
04 A. Farfus BMW 320si 1m47.886s + 0.911
05 A. Menu Chevrolet Cruze 1m47.894s + 0.919
06 T. Coronel Seat Leon TDI 1m47.991s + 1.016
07 F. Engstler BMW 320si 1m48.034s + 1.059
08 N. Michelisz Seat Leon TDI 1m48.055s + 1.080
09 J. Gene Seat Leon TDI 1m48.070s + 1.095
10 R. Huff Chevrolet Cruze 1m48.073s + 1.098
11 M. Nykjaer Seat Leon TDI 1m48.321s + 1.346
12 F. Barth Seat Leon TDI 1m48.958s + 1.983
13 Y. Muller Chevrolet Cruze 1m49.013s + 2.038
14 S. D’Aste BMW 320si 1m49.579s + 2.604
15 S. Hernandez BMW 320si 1m50.373s + 3.398
16 H. Vaulkhard Chevrolet Lacetti 1m50.804s + 3.829
17 A. Romanov BMW 320si 1m52.504s + 5.529
18 I. Sbai Chevrolet Lacetti 1m53.115s + 6.140
19 D. O’Young Chevrolet Lacetti 2m08.690s + 21.715

WTCR

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