James Thompson unhappy with Monje after Morocco crash

James Thompson claimed his first points of the season in Marrakech with tenth place in race one, but was taken out in race two by Fernando Monje’s SEAT, who has been given a grid penalty for the next round for the incident.

Monje believed his car was damaged after the incident with Rob Huff earlier in the race, but the stewards felt differently and gave the Spanish driver a penalty for the crash which took out James Thompson’s Lada in the second race.

“It’s a pity,” said Thompson. “Fernando actually hit me several times in both races and there is absolutely no need for things like that. In the second race he deliberately hit me from the back, and there’s no justification for driving in that way, as he wasn’t trying to overtake me at the time. It’s not only unprofessional but it’s also dangerous for himself and everyone else around him.

“You can’t play with these cars: it’s a dangerous sport, so it’s great that the stewards have taken action and he realises this sooner rather than later.

“There were lots of positives about this weekend as well. The speed of the Lada Granta has been consistently good all weekend: I was right in the slipstream behind Tom Coronel and it’s clear that our car has got great potential.

“Unfortunately we didn’t get the chance to fight for the result that I knew was possible. We were in the top ten in the first race, taking a point, and I think we would have done even better in the second race.”