Q&A with Mehdi Bennani

Mehdi Bennani made history in 2014 when he became the first Arabic driver to win a round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship. And now the Moroccan hero, who competes in a Citroën C-Elysée WTCC for Sébastien Loeb Racing, is striving for more success when Marrakech hosts Eurodatacar WTCC Race of Morocco from 17-19 April.

It’s your home round of the WTCC – how important is the event for you?

“It’s very important. In fact, there are two important events for me this season – Morocco and Qatar. I know a lot of people will be waiting for me at these two events and if I had to choose two events this year where I get my best results then it will be these two races.”

Given the impressive speed you showed in Argentina, what are the chances of a home win in Marrakech?

“I’m not thinking to win, I’m thinking to do my best, drive at 100 per cent and if that gives us a good position, for example top five, then I will be very happy. But it will not be easy because we are fighting against the best manufacturer team and the best drivers. There are a lot of things to get right. Qualifying is one of the key moments. In Argentina I have done a big mistake in the key moment of the weekend but this can happen when you are driving to the limit and not over it.”

There was a big smile on your face in Argentina after you raced your Citroën C-Elysée for the first time. How much are you enjoying your new car?

“I’m very surprised because my start in motorsport was in single-seater and my focus was Formula One. I stop single-seater in Formula 3000 to switch to WTCC for the race in Marrakech when I was the guest driver. Afterwards I was not very happy because I was thinking I like more the single-seater car. But it was strange with the Citroën because I find this sensation like you are driving a single-seater car much more than a touring car. That’s why I was smiling. It was not about the result but it was about how I feel as a driver in the car. You feel you are on the limit and the car is very positive and aggressive. I like this.”

You had some contact in Argentina with Rob Huff and Yvan Muller. Have you spoken to those drivers since and what was said?

“We speak during the event with Yvan and with Huff a little bit but not too much. But for sure it’s the race. In WTCC the racing is different to Formula One for example. In Formula One you have many laps, much more like an endurance race than a sprint race. In WTCC it’s 12 or 13 laps and it’s another way to drive. You have to overtake but you have to be clean so you do not destroy your car and your race. But everybody is pushing and crashing at the start and sometimes you have to change how you drive to the condition. I have my car inside Rob so I am not coming from nowhere like a lot of people are thinking and that I only want to crash. I want to overtake him. When you see the accident, he crossed too much, I was already on the inside and to avoid the crash I had two front wheels locked to stop the car. But at the end what happened, happened and nobody was a winner. With Yvan it was another story. I don’t know what happened but it was not nice. But in the end he comes to tell me he was sorry. He told me he tried to stop the car but everybody does a mistake and if we don’t do mistakes then it is not a race, it’s not realistic. In Morocco you have a lot of people saying Formula One is boring with no overtaking but they like WTCC for what happens.”

There are discussions about a permanent circuit in Marrakech. What would that mean for the growth of motorsport in Morocco and to you personally?

“It’s very nice for me as a driver because it means motorsport is going in a good way. I am also working with 25 young drivers in go-karts in an academy. I am here to push them and a permanent circuit will really help for the future.”

Finally, what’s so good about Morocco and what kind of welcome can visitors expect?

“Everything is nice! The weather, the food, the people and the welcome you get. Football and athletics are the big sports but now everybody is behind motorsport and the WTCC.”