Rob Huff had to work hard during the 2019 WTCR Race of Morocco to make sure that he scored points during the first weekend of the 2019 FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR).
The Sébastien Loeb Racing lineup struggled on the Circuit Moulay El Hassan for grip in their Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR machines, leaving the drivers struggling in both Qualifying sessions and all three races.
Drawing on his experience of both the car and the circuit in the changing conditions during the weekend, Huff managed to haul himself to sixteenth place in qualifying for race one, from which he would go on to take his highest finish of twelfth position.
Huff pushed hard to score points in Marrakech. Credit: Florent Gooden / DPPI
Retiring from race two with damage after contact early on, the British driver managed to move up the order from nineteenth place to finish in fifteenth place, the last scoring position in 2019.
Huff reflected on what was a tough opening weekend for him in this years WTCR championship.
“We struggled in qualifying, but our race pace was quite good though, and starting 19th on a street circuit is never easy. Scoring something with 12th was a good recovery in Race 1,” said the WTCR race winner.
“In the second race, someone hit me into Turn 7 and damaged the car, but I carried on just in case enough people dropped out and we could pick up some points. I had quite a bit of damage on the left rear, and the boys did a great job to repair the car in time for the start of Race 3.”
A lack of grip hampered the Volkswagen drivers progress last weekend. Credit: Frederic Le Floc’h / DPPI
With points on the board, it’s clear to the 2012 WTCC Champion that there is work ahead in the coming rounds.
“It’s a disappointing weekend in terms of what we wanted to achieve this weekend, and we’ve certainly got some work to do – but we’ve got our name on the points table so it gives us something to build from.”
