Tyre saving ‘wasn’t easy’ in Marrakech victory says Ehrlacher

Cyan Racing’s Yann Ehrlacher revealed he didn’t have things all his own way despite dominating the opening TCR World Tour race of the Marrakech weekend.

Erhlacher largely dominated from the front of the grid to take victory over Lynk & Co team-mate Santiago Urrutia but admitted that preserving the tyres amid stifling heat presented its challenges.

“Job done, [but] it wasn’t easy,” said Ehrlacher post-race.

“On a street track, you never know what to expect at the start but I got a good support from Santi behind me to play it clever all race.”

Ehrlacher’s strong getaway off the line proved key to winning the opening race of the weekend, as Urrutia settled into second place at the first corner.

With overtaking chances sparse, the order remained unchanged at the head of the field, but neither of the Cyan cars were able to stretch their legs, despite running 40kg lighter than the chasing Hyundais of Norbert Michelisz and Néstor Girolami.

Ambiant temperatures had been pushing 34 degrees while cockpit temperatures were tipped to be in excess of 60 degrees.

“It was quite tough because the tyres don’t last long, so we had to save the tyres by going quick so it wasn’t easy,” explained Ehrlacher.

“And 36 laps is quite long around here, especially with 65 degrees in the car but at the end of the day, it is good points for Cyan Racing and the championship is still long.”