The first weekend of the 2019 FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) can be considered a success for both Comtoyou Team Audi Sport and Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport.
Five of the seven brands in the field achieved podium finishes during the opening races of the season, with Audi right in the mix. Running third in race two, Jean-Karl Vernay was able to move into third place after race leader Nicky Catsburg retired after nine laps.
Vervisch enjoyed his best visit to Marrakech last weekend. Credit: Ferdi Kräling Motorsport / Audi Sport
Having been on the pace all weekend Vernay duly took the podium finish, however, he retired from the final race of the day with a mechanical failure that sent him heavily into the wall, writing off the Audi RS3 LMS TCR.
Frédéric Vervisch was always in the hunt over the weekend, showing good pace in Free Practice before taking pole position on Sunday for the final race.
In the third race itself, Vervisch made a poor getaway due to an electrical issue and chased the two Lynk & Co drivers of Yvan Muller and Thed Björk. Following Muller’s retirement, the Belgian crossed the finish line in second position, just under a second behind eventual winner Bjork.
Shedden scored points in Morocco, twelve months after a difficult debut in WTCR. Credit: Ferdi Kräling Motorsport-Bild GmbH / Audi Sport
Gordon Shedden enjoyed a positive weekend, where posted his best result in the final race on Sunday as well. The Scotsman started the race from twelfth place on the grid, where he improved to take a seventh-place finish and scoring good points early on in the season.
2018 ADAC TCR Germany Series title contender Niels Langeveld, who made his WTCR debut with the Comtoyou Team Audi Sport squad and also his first visit to the Marrakech circuit, secured eighteenth place in both the second and the third race after having started twenty-fifth on the grid for both races.
