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Mehdi Bennani

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Mehdi Bennani
Bennani at the 2014 FIA WTCC Race of Belgium.
NationalityMorocco Moroccan
Born (1983-08-25) 25 August 1983 (age 41)
Fez, Morocco
World Touring Car Championship career
Debut season2009
Current teamSébastien Loeb Racing
Racing licence FIA Gold
Car number25
Former teamsComtoyou Racing
Proteam Racing
Wiechers-Sport
Exagon Engineering
Starts191
Wins6
Poles1
Fastest laps3
Best finish5th 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
2020
2016		TCR Europe Touring Car Series
WTCC Independents' Trophy

Mehdi Bennani (Arabic: 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.[1]

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, finishing 14th in 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 Independent's 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, finishing 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 passing the lead to Franz Engstler. Race one of the Race of Japan saw Aleksei Dudukalo collide with Bennani who then returned to the pits for repairs. For the second race, Bennani held off the Chevrolet trio for much of the race before being passed 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 of the independents. 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 (2015–2019)

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

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F.Laps Podiums Points Position
2002 Formula Renault Campus France ? ? ? ? ? ? 21 14th
2004 Formula BMW Asia Team Meritus 14 0 0 ? 6 124 3rd
2005 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Avelon Formula 14 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2006 Formula Renault 3.5 Series EuroInternational 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2007 Euroseries 3000 ELK Motorsport 12 0 0 0 0 9 14th
F3000 Italia 6 0 0 0 0 3 14th
2008 24H Series - A6 Duller Motorsport 1 0 0 0 0 8 13th
2009 World Touring Car Championship Exagon Engineering 9 0 0 0 0 0 NC
World Touring Car Championship - Independent's Trophy 9 1 0 3 2 30 8th
Formula Le Mans Cup 2 0 0 0 0 13 23rd
Moroccan Circuit Racing Championship - M2A ? 5 5 ? ? 5 50 1st
2010 World Touring Car Championship Wiechers-Sport 22 0 0 0 0 3 19th
World Touring Car Championship - Independent's Trophy 22 1 0 1 5 91 5th
2011 World Touring Car Championship Proteam Racing 24 0 0 0 0 24 16th
World Touring Car Championship - Independent's Trophy 14 0 0 1 1 27 8th
European Touring Car Cup 2 0 0 0 0 6 5th
2012 World Touring Car Championship Proteam Racing 24 0 0 0 1 68 10th
World Touring Car Championship - Independent's Trophy 24 1 1 1 7 73 7th
2013 World Touring Car Championship Proteam Racing 24 0 0 1 3 80 12th
World Touring Car Championship - Independent's Trophy 24 4 0 4 7 102 4th
2014 World Touring Car Championship Proteam Racing 21 1 0 0 2 85 11th
2015 World Touring Car Championship Sébastien Loeb Racing 24 0 0 0 0 127 8th
World Touring Car Championship - Independent's Trophy 24 7 3 8 15 145 2nd
2016 World Touring Car Championship Sébastien Loeb Racing 22 2 2 1 5 206 5th
2017 World Touring Car Championship Sébastien Loeb Racing 20 3 0 1 7 234 6th
2018 World Touring Car Cup Sébastien Loeb Racing 28 1 0 1 3 155 12th
2019 World Touring Car Cup Sébastien Loeb Racing 30 0 0 2 0 40 25th
VLN Series - Cup 5 Team Mathol Racing e.V. 1 0 0 0 0 0.88 122nd
2020 TCR Europe Touring Car Series Comtoyou Racing 12 0 2 0 3 285 1st
TCR Ibérico Touring Car Series ? 0 0 0 0 25 9th
2021 TCR Europe Touring Car Series Sébastien Loeb Racing 14 1 0 0 3 252 5th
2022 World Touring Car Cup Comtoyou Team Audi Sport 14 0 1 0 1 112 11th

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
2019 SLR VW Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR MAR
1
Ret 		MAR
2
Ret 		MAR
3
12 		HUN
1
16 		HUN
2
Ret 		HUN
3
15 		SVK
1
Ret 		SVK
2
14 		SVK
3
19 		NED
1
6 		NED
2
16 		NED
3
13 		GER
1
15 		GER
2
16 		GER
3
16 		POR
1
20 		POR
2
19 		POR
3
13 		CHN
1
20 		CHN
2
11 		CHN
3
14 		JPN
1
24 		JPN
2
27 		JPN
3
Ret 		MAC
1
17 		MAC
2
Ret 		MAC
3
18 		MAL
1
12 		MAL
2
13 		MAL
3
17 		25th 40
2022 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Audi RS 3 LMS TCR FRA
1
10 		FRA
2
Ret 		GER
1
C 		GER
2
C 		HUN
1
13 		HUN
2
Ret 		ESP
1
10 		ESP
2
9 		POR
1
7 		POR
2
6 		ITA
1
10 		ITA
2
9 		ALS
1
11 		ALS
2
2 		BHR
1
7 		BHR
2
8 		SAU
1 		SAU
2 		11th 112

Complete TCR Europe Touring Car Series 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 DC Points
2020 Comtoyou Racing Audi RS 3 LMS TCR LEC
1
2 		LEC
2
5 		ZOL
1
Ret 		ZOL
2
5 		MNZ
1
Ret 		MNZ
2
8 		CAT
1
5 		CAT
2
3 		SPA
1
6 		SPA
2
16 		JAR
1
4 		JAR
2
2 		1st 285
2021 Sébastien Loeb Racing Hyundai Elantra N TCR SVK
1
6 		SVK
2
1 		LEC
1
18 		LEC
2
6 		ZAN
1
12 		ZAN
2
6 		SPA
1
2 		SPA
2
9 		NÜR
1
11 		NÜR
2
14 		MNZ
1
21 		MNZ
2
12 		CAT
1
10 		CAT
2
2 		5th 252

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.
  2. ^ "FIA WTCR | World Touring Car Cup".
  3. ^ Meissner, Johan. "Mehdi Bennani joins Exagon at Marrakech". TouringCarTimes. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  4. ^ "FIA WTCR | World Touring Car Cup".
  5. ^ Auger, Matt (29 January 2010). "Bennani Joins Weichers-Sport". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  6. ^ Casillo, Pietro. "Mehdi Bennani joins Proteam Motorsport". TouringCarTimes. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  7. ^ Courtoisier, Arnaud (23 January 2012). "Mehdi Bennani to stay with Proteam". Nextgen-Auto. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  8. ^ Hudson, Neil. "Isaac Tutumlu leaves Proteam Racing". TouringCarTimes. Archived from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  9. ^ Allen, Peter (6 May 2012). "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. Archived from the original on 7 October 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 World Touring Car Championship
Independents' Trophy winner
2016 		Succeeded by
Preceded by TCR Europe Touring Car Series
Champion
2020 		Succeeded by
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