Bennani and Sébastien Loeb Racing aim even higher for 2017

Why change a partnership which has proven its worth? Mehdi Bennani and Sébastien Loeb Racing have progressed ceaselessly since the beginning of their collaboration. In 2015, the Moroccan driver drove his Citroën C-Elysée – prepared by the Alsacian team’s coveted car – to a vice-champion’s place in the Yokohama Trophy, the independent drivers’ category within the WTCC. This was but a first step before winning the WTCC Trophy with the same car last year, a season which included two overall victories (Hungary and Qatar) and a fifth place in the World Touring Car Championship. In 2017, both parties made the decision to continue their shared adventure further, and put their cumulated experience to good use. The aim is explicit: to outdo themselves in the general ranking.

"I am very pleased to continue this collaboration with Sébastien Loeb Racing," Mehdi Bennani confided. "Stability is, to me, an important aspect to prioritise, especially considering how much we’ve learnt together these past two years. We all know how competitive the Citroën C-Elysée is, and the team knows exactly how to make it perform its best. I’m starting this new season with yet more confidence than the two previous ones. Of course, we’ll have to wait until the first race to have a true idea of the hierarchy, but I hope we’ll see, in our results, the improvements drawn from 2015 and 2016. Finally, I am overjoyed to welcome Afriquia as a new sponsor. It is particularly meaningful to me that they are a Moroccan company, and I will do my utmost for our association to be rewarded with victory!"

"Mehdi has proven himself to be a key element for our team over these past two years," in the opinion of Sébastien Loeb, co-founder of the Alsacian team. "Keeping him with us was essential. He has integrated into the team perfectly, while at the same time gaining greater knowledge and control of his C-Elysée. He has the capacities needed to reach podium places even more often this season. We have prepared for this with two test drives in Navarra, as well as in Monteblanco, in Spain. I am, overall, delighted to conclude that with Mehdi, Tom Chilton, and John Filippi, our WTCC group is once again looking strong."

The next step scheduled for Sébastien Loeb Racing and Mehdi Bennani will be the official test session for the Championship on the 14th of March in Monza (Italy), before the inaugural races in Morocco – Mehdi’s own turf – from the 7th to the 9th of April.