Bennani ready for Barcelona WTCC test

Mehdi Bennani got his first taste of Citroën C-Elysée WTCC power when he shook down the French machine on Thursday in readiness for the official FIA World Touring Car Championship pre-season test in Barcelona next week.

Bennani, 31, has joined Sébastien Loeb Racing for 2015 having piloted a Honda Civic WTCC for Proteam Racing in 2014.

The shakedown test enabled the Moroccan to acclimatise to the car, which claimed 17 wins in last season’s WTCC. The run also provided the first glimpse of the striking green, red and white colour scheme that will flank Bennani’s Citroën during the upcoming season, which begins in Argentina on 6 March.

“It was a traditional debugging but now I can focus on flying during official testing,” said Bennani, who claimed his maiden WTCC victory in 2014.

While Bennani’s immediate focus will be on Friday’s test at the Circuit de Catalunya and the season-opening WTCC Race of Argentina, he will also be looking ahead to his home round, WTCC Race of Morocco, which takes place in Marrakech from 17-19 April.