Mehdi Bennani






























































Mehdi Bennani

Mehdi bennani spafrancorchamps2014.JPG
Bennani at the 2014 FIA WTCC Race of Belgium.

Nationality
Morocco Moroccan
Born
(1983-08-25) 25 August 1983 (age 35)
Fez, Morocco

World Touring Car Championship career
Debut season 2009
Current team Sébastien Loeb Racing
Car no. 25
Former teams
Proteam Racing
Wiechers-Sport
Exagon Engineering
Starts 191
Wins 6
Poles 1
Fastest laps 3
Best finish 5th in 2016
Previous series
2009
2007
2007
2005–2006
2004		 Formula Le Mans
Euroseries 3000
Italian Formula 3000
Formula Renault 3.5 Series
Formula BMW Asia
Championship titles
2016 WTCC Independents' Trophy

Mehdi Bennani (born 25 August 1983) is a Moroccan racing driver who currently competes in the World Touring Car Championship with Sébastien Loeb Racing.


He became the first Moroccan driver to win a world championship race organized by the FIA, after his victory in Shanghai, WTCC.[1]




Contents






  • 1 Racing career


    • 1.1 Early career


    • 1.2 World Touring Car Championship


      • 1.2.1 Exagon Engineering (2009)


      • 1.2.2 Wiechers-Sport (2010)


      • 1.2.3 Proteam Racing (2011–2014)


      • 1.2.4 Sebastian Loeb Racing (2015–)


      • 1.2.5 2016






  • 2 Racing record


    • 2.1 Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results


    • 2.2 Complete World Touring Car Championship results


    • 2.3 Complete World Touring Car Cup results




  • 3 References





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, finished 14th at the final standings and scored a best result of fourth. In 2008 he competed in the Pau Historical Grand Prix, where he finished second.[2]



World Touring Car Championship



Exagon Engineering (2009)




Bennani driving for Exagon Engineering at the 2009 FIA WTCC Race of Morocco.


In May 2009 Bennani competed in his home round of the World Touring Car Championship, the Race of Morocco at the Marrakech Street Circuit in a SEAT León 2.0 TFSI prepared by Exagon Engineering.[3] He was backed by OMNT, Morocco's Tourism Office.[4] He became the first North African to race in the WTCC, on the series' first visit to the African continent. He qualified in 14th place for the first race, and finished in 9th place, winner of the Independents category. He finished ninth in the second race, and impressed throughout the weekend with the way he was able to keep up with WTCC regulars. He competed at four further race weekends for Exagon. At the Race of Portugal he collided with the stranded car of Alain Menu on the narrow street circuit, he was later disqualified from the final classification.



Wiechers-Sport (2010)


In 2010, Bennani drove a BMW 320si for the Wiechers-Sport team.[5] The season yielded just three points and 20th place in the drivers standings.



Proteam Racing (2011–2014)


Bennani moved to Proteam Racing for 2011 to drive one of their new BMW 320 TCs.[6] His best result of the season was a 6th place in the final race at Macau.




Bennani competing in the 2014 World Touring Car Championship


Bennani stayed on at Proteam for 2012.[7] He was joined at the team by Isaac Tutumlu until he left after the Race of Slovakia, reducing the team to one car for Bennani.[8] He took a career best fourth-place finish in race one at the Race of Hungary. He bettered this with his maiden podium finish in race two, having finished in third place.[9] A collision with Stefano D'Aste at the Race of Portugal earned him a suspended grid penalty. He started second for race two of the Race of the United States and inherited the lead from D'Aste halfway around the first lap when D'Aste spun off. He held the lead until lap four when he spun off and damaged his car, forcing him to retire and the lead passed to Franz Engstler. Race one of the Race of Japan saw Aleksei Dudukalo collide with Bennani who then returned to the pits for repairs. The second race was better and Bennani held off the Chevrolet trio for much of the race before passing him in the lap two laps. He was caught up in a first corner crash in race one of the Race of Macau in which a number of cars piled into the Lisboa corner on the first lap and blocked the track. Bennani's car was stuck across the track and was lifted out of the way before the race resumed. He finished the season tenth in the drivers' championship tied on points with Alex MacDowall but ranked ahead due to his podium in Hungary.


Bennani stayed with Proteam for the 2013 season, driving their BMW 320 TC for the third consecutive year.,[10] Mehdi finished 12th, 4th independent and the 2nd BMW in the championship with three podiums (2nd Suzuka, Sonoma and Hungaroring). After a difficult season with bad mechanical luck and an unresponsive car, Mehdi eschewed the BMW for a Honda civic.


In 2014 Bennani scored his first WTCC win at the championship's Shanghai round.[11] Bennani went on to finish the season in 11th place.



Sebastian Loeb Racing (2015–)


For 2015, Bennani signed with Sébastien Loeb Racing, switching to a 2014-spec Citroën C-Elysée WTCC for his first season with the team.



2016


For 2016, Bennani had two teammates, Tom Chilton and Gregoire Demoustier.



Racing record



Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results


(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)








































































Year
 Entrant
 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
 10
 11
 12
 13
 14
 15
 16
 17
 DC
 Points

2005
 Avelon Formula
ZOL
1
ZOL
2
MON
1
Ret
VAL
1
Ret
VAL
2
18
LMS
1
21
LMS
2
18
BIL
1
DNQ
BIL
2
Ret
OSC
1
13
OSC
2
16
DON
1
18
DON
2
17
EST
1
23
EST
2
21
MNZ
1
19†
MNZ
2
21
 33rd
 0

2006
Eurointernational
ZOL
1
ZOL
2
MON
1
DNQ
IST
1
IST
2
MIS
1
MIS
2
SPA
1
SPA
2
NÜR
1
NÜR
2
DON
1
DON
2
LMS
1
Ret
LMS
2
19
CAT
1
CAT
2
 43rd
 0


Complete World Touring Car Championship results


(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

























































































































































































































































































































Year
 Team
 Car
 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
 10
 11
 12
 13
 14
 15
 16
 17
 18
 19
 20
 21
 22
 23
 24
 DC
 Points

2009
Exagon Engineering
SEAT León TFSI
BRA
1
BRA
2
MEX
1
MEX
2
MAR
1
9
MAR
2
9
FRA
1
18
FRA
2
Ret
ESP
1
14
ESP
2
23
CZE
1
CZE
2
POR
1
DSQ
POR
2
Ret
GBR
1
GBR
2
GER
1
GER
2
ITA
1
13
ITA
2
Ret
JPN
1
JPN
2
MAC
1
MAC
2
 NC
 0

2010
Wiechers-Sport
BMW 320si
BRA
1
18
BRA
2
12
MAR
1
15
MAR
2
9
ITA
1
14
ITA
2
17
BEL
1
14
BEL
2
19
POR
1
Ret
POR
2
12
GBR
1
19
GBR
2
Ret
CZE
1
14
CZE
2
16
GER
1
14
GER
2
Ret
ESP
1
Ret
ESP
2
16
JPN
1
16
JPN
2
19
MAC
1
10
MAC
2
12

20th
 3

2011
Proteam Racing
BMW 320 TC
BRA
1
10
BRA
2
Ret
BEL
1
Ret
BEL
2
11
ITA
1
11
ITA
2
20
HUN
1
14
HUN
2
14
CZE
1
11
CZE
2
10
POR
1
16
POR
2
18
GBR
1
14
GBR
2
9
GER
1
11
GER
2
Ret
ESP
1
Ret
ESP
2
12
JPN
1
8
JPN
2
18
CHN
1
7
CHN
2
11
MAC
1
9
MAC
2
6
 16th
 24

2012
Proteam Racing
BMW 320 TC
ITA
1
Ret
ITA
2
14
ESP
1
14
ESP
2
10
MAR
1
Ret
MAR
2
12
SVK
1
11
SVK
2
7
HUN
1
4
HUN
2
3
AUT
1
17
AUT
2
6
POR
1
Ret
POR
2
Ret
BRA
1
13
BRA
2
8
USA
1
11
USA
2
Ret
JPN
1
21
JPN
2
7
CHN
1
8
CHN
2
5
MAC
1
Ret
MAC
2
Ret
 10th
 68

2013
Proteam Racing
BMW 320 TC
ITA
1
17
ITA
2
19
MAR
1
18
MAR
2
11
SVK
1
10
SVK
2
9
HUN
1
5
HUN
2
2
AUT
1
4
AUT
2
16
RUS
1
11
RUS
2
16
POR
1
Ret
POR
2
10
ARG
1
20
ARG
2
21†
USA
1
18
USA
2
2
JPN
1
11
JPN
2
2
CHN
1
16
CHN
2
14
MAC
1
12
MAC
2
Ret
 12th
 80

2014
Proteam Racing
Honda Civic WTCC
MAR
1
7
MAR
2
DSQ
FRA
1
13
FRA
2
5
HUN
1
5
HUN
2
DNS
SVK
1
15
SVK
2
C
AUT
1
7
AUT
2
8
RUS
1
11
RUS
2
3
BEL
1
13
BEL
2
11
ARG
1
9
ARG
2
8
BEI
1
9
BEI
2
Ret
CHN
1
10
CHN
2
1
JPN
1
11
JPN
2
Ret
MAC
1
19†
MAC
2
DNS
 11th
 85

2015
Sébastien Loeb Racing
Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
ARG
1
13
ARG
2
5
MAR
1
4
MAR
2
12
HUN
1
11
HUN
2
Ret
GER
1
7
GER
2
6
RUS
1
14
RUS
2
Ret
SVK
1
Ret
SVK
2
7
FRA
1
9
FRA
2
9
POR
1
11
POR
2
10
JPN
1
7
JPN
2
10
CHN
1
5
CHN
2
7
THA
1
4
THA
2
7
QAT
1
2
QAT
2
5
 8th
 127

2016
Sébastien Loeb Racing
Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
FRA
1
2
FRA
2
8
SVK
1
2
SVK
2
6
HUN
1
1
HUN
2
8
MAR
1
6
MAR
2
5
GER
1
5
GER
2
5
RUS
1
9
RUS
2
10
POR
1
4
POR
2
8
ARG
1
8
ARG
2
7
JPN
1
16
JPN
2
4
CHN
1
11
CHN
2
3
QAT
1
16
QAT
2
1

5th
 206

2017
Sébastien Loeb Racing
Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
MAR
1
3
MAR
2
6
ITA
1
NC
ITA
2
7
HUN
1
7
HUN
2
1
GER
1
2
GER
2
6
POR
1
1
POR
2
7
ARG
1
2
ARG
2
5
CHN
1
NC
CHN
2
11
JPN
1
5
JPN
2
6
MAC
1
1
MAC
2
7
QAT
1
2
QAT
2
Ret



6th
 234

† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.



Complete World Touring Car Cup results


(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)













































































Year
 Team
 Car
 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
 10
 11
 12
 13
 14
 15
 16
 17
 18
 19
 20
 21
 22
 23
 24
 25
 26
 27
 28
 29
 30
 DC
 Points

2018
Sébastien Loeb Racing
Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR
MAR
1
9
MAR
2
2
MAR
3
6
HUN
1
10
HUN
2
7
HUN
3
17
GER
1
13
GER
2
10
GER
3
9
NED
1
8
NED
2
5
NED
3
8
POR
1
Ret
POR
2
DNS
POR
3
DNS
SVK
1
21
SVK
2
Ret
SVK
3
Ret
CHN
1
5
CHN
2
2
CHN
3
10
WUH
1
13
WUH
2
1
WUH
3
9
JPN
1
5
JPN
2
8
JPN
3
4
MAC
1
15
MAC
2
10
MAC
3
Ret
 12th
 155


References





  1. ^ "Bennani Claims First WTCC Victory in Second Shanghai Race - WTCC - The Checkered Flag". The Checkered Flag. 2014-10-12. Retrieved 2017-12-16..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  2. ^ http://www.fiawtcc.com/Drivers_Details.asp?idDriver=38


  3. ^ Meissner, Johan. "Mehdi Bennani joins Exagon at Marrakech". TouringCarTimes. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
    [permanent dead link]


  4. ^ http://www.fiawtcc.com/Read_News.asp?idNews=73


  5. ^ Auger, Matt. "Bennani Joins Weichers-Sport". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved 5 August 2012.


  6. ^ Casillo, Pietro. "Mehdi Bennani joins Proteam Motorsport". TouringCarTimes. Retrieved 5 August 2012.


  7. ^ Courtoisier, Arnaud. "Mehdi Bennani to stay with Proteam". Nextgen-Auto. Retrieved 5 August 2012.


  8. ^ Hudson, Neil. "Isaac Tutumlu leaves Proteam Racing". TouringCarTimes. Retrieved 5 August 2012.


  9. ^ Allen, Peter. "Local Hero Michelisz Thrills Hungarian Crowd With Race 2 Victory". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved 5 August 2012.


  10. ^ "PROTEAM AND BENNANI TOGETHER AGAIN". World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2013.


  11. ^ Mills, Peter (12 October 2014). "Shanghai WTCC: Mehdi Bennani scores Honda's first 2014 win". autosport.com. Retrieved 16 October 2014.










Sporting positions
Preceded by
Norbert Michelisz
World Touring Car Championship
Independents' Trophy winner
2016
 Succeeded by
Tom Chilton








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