Bennani: Everybody expects the Moroccan car

Mehdi Bennani is an idol for Moroccan race fans. Since he began racing in WTCC, back in 2009, the 29-year old driver from Fés has become one of Morocco’s most popular sportsmen.

On his fifth season in the world championship, at the wheel of a Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC, Bennani has high hopes for the season.

“Last year I achieved my best results: one third place at Budapest and the tenth position in the Drivers’ Championship. My goal is to confirm myself among the top-ten and possibly improve that placing. But I know that to achieve this I need to redouble my efforts,” Bennani said.

Following two difficult races on the soaked racetrack of Monza, Bennani looks forward to his home race meeting where he was able to emerge victorious in the Yokohama Trophy on his first appearance in the championship.

“It is very important for me to make a good impression at Marrakech. I have a lot of fans and everybody is expecting that the car with Morocco’s national colours is competitive. I have to say that what happened in Monza is not encouraging. I expected more from the evolution of the engine, but for the time being we have to work a lot to recover the gap. Marrakech is a fast track, like Monza, so you need the power to fight for top positions. Of course in Italy the weather did not help, because the rear-wheel drive is clearly handicapped on the wet. At Marrakech we will run on the dry, and I hope we may be able to fill the gap.”