2009 FIA WTCC Race Of Morocco
The 2009 FIA WTCC Race of Morocco (formally the 2009 FIA WTCC HSBC Race of Morocco) was the third round of the 2009 World Touring Car Championship season. It was held on 3 May 2009 at the Marrakech Street Circuit in Marrakech, Morocco. It was the inaugural running of the FIA WTCC Race of Morocco. The two races were won by Chevrolet's Robert Huff and Nicola Larini, the former taking the first win for the Chevrolet Cruze in the World Touring Car Championship. Background After the previous round in Mexico, Yvan Muller was tied at the top of the drivers' standings with SEAT Sport teammate Rickard Rydell. Félix Porteiro had established a 23 point lead over Tom Coronel in the Yokohama Independents' Trophy. This was the first FIA World Championship race to be held in Morocco since the 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix. The WTCC saw its first North African driver participate in an event when Mehdi Bennani joined the grid in an Exagon Engineering run SEAT León 2.0 TFSI. Other changes were mad ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Marrakech
Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh-Safi region. The city is situated west of the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. Marrakesh is southwest of Tangier, southwest of the Moroccan capital of Rabat, south of Casablanca, and northeast of Agadir. The region has been inhabited by Berber farmers since Neolithic times. The city was founded in 1070 by Emir Abu Bakr ibn Umar as the imperial capital of the Almoravid dynasty, Almoravid Empire. The Almoravids established the first major structures in the city and shaped its layout for centuries to come. The red Walls of Marrakesh, walls of the city, built by Ali ibn Yusuf in 1122–1123, and various buildings constructed in red sandstone afterwards, have given the city the nickname of the "Red City" ( ''Almadinat alhamra) or "Ochr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Félix Porteiro
Félix Porteiro Pérez (born 26 August 1983 in Castellón) is a Spanish racing driver. He competed in GP2 in 2006 and 2007, his best finish was 4th in 2007. Racing career Single-seaters In 2001 Porteiro drove in the Spanish Formula Three Championship, finishing fourth in the standings, with one win. In 2002 he began racing in the World Series by Nissan. He finished 18th in the standings in 2002, 14th in 2003 and seventh in 2004. He finished fifth in 2005, when the series became Formula Renault 3.5. In 2006 he raced in the GP2 Series with Campos Racing, finishing 22nd in the standings. Touring cars Porteiro made his touring car debut near the end of 2006, driving a BMW 320si for ROAL Motorsport at the European Touring Car Cup, finishing fifth. He impressed the team enough to earn a full-time drive in their World Touring Car Championship team, BMW Team Italy-Spain, in 2007. He scored his first ever win at Brno, and finished twelfth in the final standings. In 2008, he got ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2009 FIA WTCC Race Of France
The 2009 FIA WTCC Race of France was the fourth round of the 2009 World Touring Car Championship season and the fifth running of the FIA WTCC Race of France. It was held on 17 May 2009 at the temporary Circuit de Pau street circuit in Pau, France. It was the headline event of the 2009 Pau Grand Prix. Both races were won by Chevrolet with Robert Huff winning race one and Alain Menu winning race two. The second race was notable for a collision between race leader Franz Engstler and the safety car at the end of the first lap. Background Yvan Muller had established an outright lead in the drivers' championship after the previous round in Morocco, twelve points clear of SEAT Sport teammate Gabriele Tarquini. Félix Porteiro was leading the Yokohama Independents' Trophy. SUNRED Engineering expanded to three cars for the Pau event, Tom Coronel was joined by Tom Boardman who returned after missing the previous round and former European Touring Car Championship driver Éric Cayrolle. Wit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tom Boardman (racing Driver)
''This page is about Tom Boardman the racing driver. For the British politician, see Baron Boardman'' Tom Boardman (born 15 October 1983 in Forton, Lancashire) is a British auto racing driver. His greatest achievement to date is winning the 2005 SEAT Cupra Championship for the Triple R team which he runs with father, John, who was previously a rallycross driver in the 1970s. He competed in the World Touring Car Championship on and off between 2008 and 2013. Racing career Early years Boardman first started driving cars at a very young age on the farmland where his father's recovery business was based. After a chance visit to a local 1/4-mile oval track he and his dad were taken with the idea of entering a car and so Boardman's first experience of competitive motorsport was in 1993, in Ministox. Four seasons and four championships later he moved on to autograss where he took two further championships in two seasons. After these early successes he moved into the brand new T-Car ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Haymarket Media Group
Haymarket Media Group is a privately held media company headquartered in London. It has publications in the consumer, business and customer sectors, both print and online. It operates exhibitions allied to its own publications, and previously on behalf of organisations such as the BBC. The company expanded outside the UK in 1999. History Haymarket began in the 1950s, under the name Cornmarket Press. Clive Labovitch and Michael Heseltine – later a Cabinet minister under Margaret Thatcher and Deputy Prime Minister under John Major – who had met at university, started out with the 1957 ''Directory of Opportunities for Graduates'', and in 1959 relaunched ''Man About Town'', which was to become an influential (if unprofitable) men's consumer magazine. The company failed in its relaunch of the British news weekly ''Topic'', the title closing at the end of 1962, within three months of the takeover. The partners split in 1965, with Heseltine renaming his half of the business Haymar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Autosport
''Autosport'' is a global motorsport publishing brand headquartered based in Richmond, London. It was established in 1950 at the same time as the origins of the Formula One World Championship. Autosport began life as a weekly magazine in 1950 and expanded into digital publishing with the creation of Autosport.com in 1997. In 2016, Haymarket Media Group sold Autosport and the rest of its motorsport portfolio to Motorsport Network. Autosport.com Autosport launched its website – Autosport.com – in 1997. As distinct from the magazine, the online content is more internationally focussed and as well as covering sports news and reporting on races, Autosport.com also produces video and galleries taken from the Motorsport Images archive and in-depth long-form content in the website's subscriber-only sections. Autosport Plus Autosport Plus is a paywalled part of the autosport.com website with additional content. Current editorial team *Editor - Haydn Cobb *Plus Editor - James Newb ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vito Postiglione
Vito Postiglione (born 28 February 1977 in Potenza) is an Italian racing driver. Racing career Postiglione won the Italian Renault Mégane Winter Trophy in 1998. He then finished runner-up in the main series in 1999. He went one better, winning the trophy the following year. Naturally, he moved up to the Renault Clio Sport Eurocup and was runner-up in his first season in 2001. The following season was not so good for Postiglione, finishing fifth. He finished third in 2003 and also won his class in the annual Vallelunga 6 Hours in a BMW M3. After finishing fourth in the Clio Eurocup in 2004 he moved to the Italian Ferrari Challenge for 2005. He finished 3rd in 2005, was runner-up in 2006 and won the series in 2007. He also completed in the Ferrari Challenge World Final in these years, finishing 3rd in 2005, 2nd in 2006 and also won it in 2007. He moved to the Italian GT Championship in 2008, driving a Ferrari F430 GT2. Postiglione made his World Touring Car Championship debut ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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BMW 320si
The fifth generation of the BMW 3 Series range of compact executive cars is designated under the model codes E90 (saloon), E91 (estate, marketed as 'Touring'), E92 (coupé) and E93 (convertible). The model was introduced in December 2004, and produced by BMW until October 2013 and is often collectively referred to as the E90 or E9x. The E9x saw the introduction of run-flat tyres to the 3 Series range. Models with run-flat tires are not equipped with a spare tyre. The E92 335i was the first 3 Series model produced with a turbocharged petrol engine. It was also the first 3 Series to include the iDrive operating system, which consists of navigation, infotainment and essential vehicle functions. The E90/E92/E93 M3 is the only generation of M3 to be powered by a V8 engine. Introduced in 2007, it uses the BMW S65 naturally aspirated V8 engine and was produced in saloon, coupé and convertible body styles. Following the introduction of the F30/F31 3 Series in February 2012, the E ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Proteam Motorsport
Proteam Motorsport is an Italian auto racing team based in Arezzo that was set up by former driver Valmiro Presenzini in 1997. They are best known for their efforts in the FIA World Touring Car Championship. Their time in the WTCC has seen them become the most successful independent team in the championship, winning three Independent Team titles in 1996, 2007 and 2008. Initially the team would enter Renault related events across Europe. Presenzini himself competed in The Renault Clio Cup, Renault 5 Turbo Cup and the Megane cup. After success in these series, they started a programme for the European Touring Car Championship, which they entered in 2003. They have entered cars in the Italian Clio Cup, the Ferrari Challenge, and as of 2006, the Italian Superturismo Championship with driver Cristian Ricciarini. WTCC . 2005 season Proteam entered the inaugural WTCC season with two BMW E46, BMW 320i's. Two Italian drivers competed a full season, Stefano D'Aste and Giuseppe Cirò. They ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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SEAT León
The SEAT León (), also spelled Leon in some other languages (named after the city of León, which also means "Lion" in Spanish), is a hatchback compact car built by the Spanish car manufacturer SEAT since October 1999.ETKA The first two León generations used two differing variants of the Volkswagen Group A platform, and shared many components with other Volkswagen Group cars. The third and fourth (current) generation use the Volkswagen Group MQB platform, also used by the Audi A3 Mk3 and Mk4, Volkswagen Golf Mk7 and Mk8 and Škoda Octavia Mk3, Mk4. First generation (1M; 1999) The initial SEAT León (Volkswagen Group ''Typ'' 1M), launched in 1999, available only as hatchback, and the related saloon version was known as the SEAT Toledo. It was based on the Volkswagen Group A4 (PQ34) platform and, as such, shared many components in common with other VW Group models such as the Volkswagen Golf Mk4, Bora and Audi A3. It was mainly produced at SEAT's Martorell plant wi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Exagon Engineering
Exagon Engineering is a French auto racing team which is based in Magny-Cours. The team was founded by director Luc Marchetti in 2004, and is managed by former racer Cathy Muller who is the older sister of successful touring car driver Yvan Muller. Exagon Engineering are best known for preparing cars to enter in the FIA World Touring Car Championship, although they also run cars in other events such as rallycross, sportscar racing and ice racing. They first entered the WTCC in 2007, running a SEAT León for Belgian driver Pierre-Yves Corthals in a full campaign, as well as Frenchman Anthony Beltoise in two rounds. Corthals returned in 2008 but did not continue in 2009 due to his main sponsor withdrawing its backing. From round five at Marrakech of the 2009 season, Exagon Engineering ran a León for Moroccan Mehdi Bennani. Exagon Motors Exagon Motors was established in 2009 as a division of Exagon Engineering to develop a production road car. It unveiled its first car, the Fur ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mehdi Bennani
Mehdi Bennani ( ar, مهدي بناني, born 25 August 1983) is a Moroccan racing driver who currently competes in the TCR Europe with Sébastien Loeb Racing. He was TCR Europe Champion in 2020 with the Belgian team Comtoyou Racing. He became the first Moroccan driver to win a world championship race organized by the FIA, after his victory in Shanghai in the WTCC. Racing career Early career Like most racing drivers, Bennani started out in karting, winning his national championship in 2001. He finished as runner-up in the European Karting Championship in the 100 ICA class. He also won the Moroccan Fiat Palio Trophy in 2001. He moved into single-seaters and was runner-up in Formula BMW Asia in 2004. He moved to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2005 with the Avalon Formula team, racing against the likes of Robert Kubica and Will Power. He also competed for EuroInternational in 2006, but failed to score a point in his time in the series. He competed in Euroseries 3000 in 2007, f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |