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WTCC races of 2017 recap part one

The 2017 FIA World Touring Car Championship produced action and excitement aplenty. He's a recap of the opening five events of a truly memorable season.

WTCC Race of Morocco: Esteban Guerrieri scored his maiden WTCC victory with the Opening Race spoils in Marrakech, while top spot for Tiago Monteiro in the big-scoring Main Race at WTCC AFRIQUIA Race of Morocco put the Portuguese at the head of the standings. Guerrieri started the Opening Race second on the grid but capitalised on Tom Coronel's fading brakes to win ahead of Polestar Cyan Racing's Thed Björk and local hero Mehdi Bennani. Norbert Michelisz followed his Castrol Honda team-mate Monteiro home in the Main Race. Néstor Girolami took third in his factory Volvo. Guerrieri and Tom Chilton were the WTCC Trophy winners.

WTCC Race of Italy: Victories for Thed Björk and Tom Chilton at WTCC OSCARO Race of Italy at Monza made it four different winners from four races. While Sébastien Loeb Racing's Chilton edged Rob Huff - who had charged through from eighth on the grid - in a tense Opening Race, Björk had to catch and re-pass Tiago Monteiro for his maiden Main Race triumph after a sluggish start allowed the Honda man to get in front. The Swede's success was also the first Main Race victory for Volvo Polestar, which moved ahead of Honda in the battle for the World Touring Car Championship for Manufacturers.

WTCC Race of Hungary: Mehdi Bennani became the fifth winner of 2017 as 45,000 fans watched the action at WTCC JVCKENWOOD Race of Hungary (pictured). Bennani's Main Race triumph in a Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën, the fourth of his career, followed Tiago Monteiro's success in the Opening Race, a result that gives the Portuguese Honda driver a 38-point title lead. But there were to be no podium celebrations for Norbert Michelisz, Monteiro's factory Honda team-mate, who dropped out of the Opening Race with damage following first-lap contact with Thed Björk before battling through to take fourth in the Main Race. Rob Huff started on pole.

WTCC Race of Germany: Thed Björk and Nicky Catsburg were the winners for Volvo Polestar as the WTCC title race was blown wide open at the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife. With an estimated 200,000 spectators lining the iconic 25.378-kilometre track, Björk charged through from sixth on the grid to win the Opening Race before Catsburg snatched the lead starting the Main Race. Tiago Monteiro, the championship leader by 38 points starting the event, twice non-scored to slip two points behind new leader Catsburg. Norbert Michelisz started the Main Race from pole but a clutch issued prevented him from claiming his first win of the season.

WTCC Race of Portugal: Mehdi Bennani and Norbert Michelisz triumphed as world championship motor racing history was made with the introduction of the ‘joker' lap. Drivers took the alternative route in both the Opening Race and Main Race in Vila Real as part of a pioneering plan to spice up the action on a street circuit where overtaking isn't always possible. Tiago Monteiro, who moved back into the world championship lead with a brace of podiums at his home event for the factory Honda team said: "Two podiums on a track where it's hard to overtake wouldn't have been possible without the ‘joker' lap."

Zdroj: fiawtcc.com