Pepe Oriola wins race two ahead of Yvan Muller in Marrakech
Pepe Oriola has taken his first career win in the FIA World Touring Car Championship at Morocco, holding off the RML Chevrolet of Yvan Muller.
Oriola was able to pass team-mate Fernando Monje on the opening lap and take the lead, whilst Monje tried to defend against a fast-starting Rob Huff into the final corner hairpin, which saw Huff squeezed on the inside and sustain front-right suspension damage and retire from the race.
This promoted Yvan Muller up to second place in the RML Chevrolet ahead of bamboo-engineering’s James Nash. On the second lap, Nash was passed by both Tom Chilton’s RML Chevrolet and Marc Basseng’s Münnich Motorsport SEAT.
Later at Turn 9, Fernando Monje ran into the back of James Thompson’s Lada which saw both cars taken out of the race. The race continued with yellow flags used to prevent overtaking at that corner for the remainder of the race.
Nash and Basseng continued to swap fourth place over the next few laps, which eventually ended in Nash’s favour. At the front Oriola defended against the two RML Chevrolets, with Chilton also trying to pass his more experienced team-mate at one point, but was able to back off and avoid a collision.
Muller ran out of time to grab his third win of the season when on lap eight Gabriele Tarquini hit the kerbs at Turn 13 and bounced into the bamboo-engineering Chevrolet of Alex MacDowall, with both cars out of the race with heavy damage.
The safety car controlled the pack until lap 13, but with just one lap under green, Oriola was able to hold off Yvan Muller and take his first career victory.
James Nash took the Yokohama Independents’ Trophy win with fourth overall, whilst Tom Coronel was the best placed of the BMW drivers in sixth place, able to hold off race one winner Michel Nykjaer.
Yvan Muller continues to lead the standings on 88 points, and is now 37 points clear of joint-second place Michel Nykjaer and Gabriele Tarquini, heading to the next round at the Slovakiaring in three weeks’ time.
