The 2024 Kumho FIA TCR World Tour resumes this weekend with the AFRIQUIA Race of Morocco, which is being held at the short, sharp 1.98km Circuit Moulay El Hassan in the city of Marrakech.
It’s the first time since 2019 that the circuit has held a touring car event, and the full-time World Tour drivers will be joined by a few special guests for the first standalone event of the season, as the series does not join up with a local championship.
Norbert Michelisz goes in as the points leader after a strong opener two weeks ago at Vallelunga, having taken pole position and victory in Race 1 in his BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Elantra, while teammate Mikel Azcona is his closest rival in the standings after the Spaniard finished fourth in both races.
The GOAT Racing Honda pair of Marco Butti and Esteban Guerrieri are third and fourth in the standings on equal points, after the brand-new Honda-equipped team also hit the ground.
Lynk & Co Cyan Racing will be looking to build after a mixed start to the season, with Yann Ehrlacher and Santiago Urrutia having had the strongest results for the team so far with a pair of second places. The Marrakech racetrack is also the circuit at which the Lynk & Co 03 TCR made its debut back in 2019, with Thed Björk scoring victory for the Chinese manufacturer.
The two Audi RS 3 LMS cars of Volcano Motorsport will be back in action, with local hero Sami Taoufik at the wheel alongside teammate John Filippi, and both drivers will be looking for a stronger weekend than they had at Vallelunga, where Taoufik was involved in two incidents in the early stages of the races.
The first of the announced guest drivers this weekend is Dušan Borković, the 2020 TCR Eastern Europe champion who is driving for GOAT Racing in TCR Europe this year. The Serbian driver will make a one-off appearance and returns to FIA competition for the first time since he won the FIA European Touring Car Cup Trophy in 2015.
The second confirmed wild card entry is Moroccan star driver Mehdi Bennani, the 2020 TCR Europe. Bennani will drive a new CUPRA Leon VZ for Team Clairet Sport and is chasing his first win in front of his home crowd, with his best result being a second place while driving a Volkswagen Golf GTI in 2018.
The field will be completed by a fourth Honda car run by GOAT Racing for Victor Fernández and one Team Clairet Audi for Endurance racer Julien Piguet.
Entry list
Timetable
Friday – Practice 1: 10:00/10:30 (11:00/11:30 CEST) live streaming
Friday – Practice 2: 13:00/13:30 (14:00/14:30 CEST) live streaming
Friday – Qualifying: 16:00/16:50 (17:00/17:35 CEST) live streaming
Saturday – Race 1: 11:30 (12:30 CEST) live streaming
Saturday – Race 2: 15:30 (16:30 CEST) live streaming
Information and images @ www.fiatcrworldtour.com
Where to watch it!
Worldwide Live Streaming @ TCR YouTube (geoblock: China, Hungary, Korea)
TV broadcasters
MS Motor TV (Italy, Sky 229); DAZN (Spain); AMC Sport TV (Hungary); Sport TV (Portugal); RTS (Serbia); 24TV (Macedonia); TyC Sports (Argentina); Bandeirantes (Brazil); VTV (Uruguay); Direct TV (Latin America); Fox Sports Mexico and Direct TV Sports (Mexico); Bili Bili (China and Macau); SpoTV (Pan-Asia); UBEAT (Spain, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras).
Picture: WSC/Fastclick
