Algumas imagens, artigos e opiniões irão ser colocadas tendo por base principalmente o meu arquivo, assim como o contributo de outros entusiastas sobre automóveis.
O Mundial de Turismo FIA WTCC prossegue em Marrocos com a 4ª ronda no circuito Moulay El Hassan, a grande novidade para 2016. O seu traçado foi completamente revisto e em nada tem a ver com o anterior. O circuito puramente citadino deu agora lugar a uma pista permanente, com características opostas ao anterior traçado.
"Just finished the first test session here in Marrakesh. P4 is ok and most important I am feeling really good on the car so all ready for tomorrow´s FP1 FP2 and qualy sessions! Show time! #tiagosworld18#honda#thepowerofdreams
Acabámos agora a sessão de testes aqui em Marraqueche. 4º tempo e mais importante que isso é que me estou a sentir muito bem na pista e o carro está top. Tudo pronto para treinos livres de amanhã e qualificação. Vamos com tudo!" In:
1º 2º e 3º para a Honda. Grande trabalho desta grande equipa! Amanhã vamos com tudo para uma tripla Honda
I'm not pleased with my FIA WTCC qualifying result today with P13, a position I will start form in both races. I was just 0.073 from making it on to Q2, but we had made some changes ahead of qualifying that didn't turn out the way we hoped. But I will as usual keep on fighting as hard as possible in the two races tomorrow!
Fredrick Ekblom
LADA SPORT ROSNEFT continue to impress with another Q3 appearance in the FIA WTCC Race of Morocco
Rounds 7 and 8 of the 2016 FIA WTCC see the teams and drivers return to North Africa and the Moroccan city of Marrakech to the Circuit Moulay El Hassan but this time to a dramatically different layout, which will provide a new challenge very different to those of previous visits. The circuit has lost its characteristic long straights and hairpin layout in favor of a now permanent street style circuit with tight twists and turns between the concrete barriers. The high speeds of previous years are no longer giving engine power an advantage, with balance and traction equally important.
Qualifying
What would have once been considered an exceptional event is now becoming no surprise as once again Nicky Catsburg propelled his Lada Vesta TC1 car into the top five shootout, the 3rd and exclusive part of the FIA WTCC Qualifying format.
Posting a final time of 1.22.1sec good enough for 5th on the grid and just 4 tenths of a second from pole position and adding more points to his Championship tally.
Another increasingly regular occurrence for the LADA SPORT ROSNEFT team is the Opening race front row start for Hugo Valente who will once again line his Vesta up on at the front of the grid in P2 for tomorrows (8thMay) Opening race.
The team’s third driver Gabriele Tarquini completed the line up making it through to Q2 and qualifying P11 for both races in what was an incredibly tight session where the first 11 cars were covered by just 1 second.
MAC3
The 2016 season’s innovation “MAC 3” where the manufacturers compete in a time trial format continued at the Moulay El Hassan circuit in Marrakech.
Starting first, the LADA SPORT ROSNEFT trio avoided the dramas of the previous MAC 3 events and successfully lapped the new layout of the circuit to put down a benchmark for the Citroen and Honda teams to chase.
After the Honda Team failed in their efforts to beat the Russian team’s time, it was down to Citroen who demoted LADA SPORT into second.
Team Principle Victor Shapovalov on the team’s chances in the races said:
“It is like a visit to the Casino, anything can happen when you roll the dice as the track will not allow for much overtaking but will deliver many mistakes and I think the races will have a lot of incidents”.
Nicky Catsburg, the team’s leading qualifier also recognized the difficulties the new track poses:
“Honestly it is going to be a lottery and really I haven’t enjoyed the track so much although I am very happy to make it into Q3 again. There is no real opportunity for the driver to make a difference on this track, all the corners are slow and with no fast stuff anywhere to test the skills of the driver. We have worked on getting a balance for the race as best we can but the track will be punishing on the cars, especially the brakes”.
Tomorrow’s races take place at 12.15 and 17.15 local time and can be watched live on Eurosport or streamed live on WTCC premium TV via www.fiawtcc.com.
Equipa de sonho!! Grande dia para a Honda com pódio todo nosso na corrida principal aqui em 🇲🇦. Para mim pessoalmente foi um fim de semana sólido com um 4º e um 3º lugares e mantenho-me bem perto do Pechito na luta do campeonato 👊🏻💪🏻👊🏻
Honda secured a sensational 1-2-3 finish in the main race in Morocco on Sunday to leave the fourth round of the 2016 FIA World Touring Car Championship well and truly in title contention.
Rob Huff, Norbert Michelisz and Tiago Monteiro dealt with challenging wet conditions brilliantly to lock out the podium positions and make Honda the first manufacturer to complete a clean sweep of the podium this year.
Rob converted his maiden Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team pole position into the lead of a wet main race and immediately built a lead of 1.5 seconds, never putting a wheel out of line despite the lack of grip on the heavily-revised Moulay el Hassan circuit in Marrakech.
Norbert, who started second, remained close by for the entirety and claimed not only his best finish since becoming a factory Honda driver, but also his third podium finish of the season.
Tiago lost third place on the race’s opening lap to Jose Maria Lopez, but secured the final podium spot when his title rival ran wide at Turn 10 at half-distance and gave him just enough room to squeeze by.
The Portuguese driver is just 14 points behind Lopez in the title fight with 16 races to go as a result of his fifth podium finish of the year and a superb recovery drive from eighth to fourth in the day’s opening race.
Rob’s victory and earlier sixth place elevated him to third place in the championship while Norbert is now fourth overall as a result of his second and fifth spots.
The results also ensure that Honda have reduced the deficit at the top of the manufacturers’ championship to just 39 points with 43 on offer at each remaining race.
Tiago Monteiro 18
“It was fantastic to be a part of a 1-2-3 in qualifying yesterday and it’s even more fantastic to do it in the main race. I had too much wheelspin in the wet conditions at the start and lost a place to Jose Maria Lopez, but I put him under pressure for the first half of the race and he made a mistake, which gave me just enough room to get by. After that it was really close and it was a case of keeping your concentration in very tricky conditions. As a team, we deserve this for all the work that’s gone in since the start of the year and we’ll keep pushing to try and repeat this soon.”