Esteban Guerrieri thanks good luck after win and fastest lap in Morocco

Argentina’s Esteban Guerrieri started the 2017 World Touring Car Championship season on a high after winning the opening race at the Circuit Moulay El Hassan, also setting the fastest lap in the second race, collecting the Tag Heuer Trophy.

Guerrieri made the most of his front row position in his Campos Racing Chevrolet Cruze, hounding the identical Cruze TC1 of Tom Coronel throughout the first half of the race.

When Coronel’s brakes began to fade at just over half-distance, Guerrieri sailed into the lead and on to victory, his first in the WTCC in only his third race.

The 32-year-old then missed the start of Race 2 due to an overheating issue, but was able to join the race late and treated the 23-lap race as a test session, setting the fastest lap in the process.

“I was a little bit unlucky in qualifying as we were set for a better position,” said Guerrieri to TouringCarTimes. “I saw a yellow flag in front of me which was out for Tom Coronel and I had to back off, else I would have been about six-tenths quicker; so I was unlucky there, but I was lucky in another way when two guys were penalised.”

With Honda’s Ryo Michigami and Yann Ehrlacher’s Lada excluded from qualifying for missing their scrutineering checks, Guerrieri was promoted to ninth on the grid for the main race, which translated to second for the championship’s opening race.

“When you get an opportunity, that’s when you need to take that chance and make it happen. Unfortunately Tom had a problem with his brakes, and I saw brakes were crucial in this race so I managed mine a bit. From half-race on I was being quite gentle on the braking, but in Race 2 I pushed a lot as I was last anyway to see the pace of the car and I was fast.”

Guerrieri’s results from Morocco see him joint fifth in the drivers’ championship on 25 points, shared with the two Polestar Volvo drivers Néstor Girolami and Thed Björk.