Moroccan World Touring Car Championship racer Mehdi Bennani admits that he feels plenty of pressure ahead of the first round of the 2014 season at his home circuit in Marrakech.
Bennani, 30, enters his sixth season of racing in the WTCC and his fifth full-time season since joining the series in 2009. The African racer has spent the past three seasons with Proteam Racing and continues with the team in 2014.
Bennani admits that despite the lack of preparation, with the small Italian team only receiving their Civic last week from Honda, he is looking forward to representing his country and continent in the WTCC.
“It is a very special event for me, because I am the only driver representing Morocco, Africa and Arabia in a motor sport World Championship,” said Bennani. “On top of this, I have the luck that one event takes place in my own Country. Something that is not the case for many other drivers. And thank to the races in Marrakech, people feel interested and the WTCC is becoming more and more popular in Morocco.
“I can feel that all eyes are on me. And I am strongly motivated to make my best and try to be as fast as possible to please my countrymen. My goal is to be competitive with the top drivers and achieve the best possible results. I know that the whole people of Morocco is watching me, and so I try to keep my head cool and focus on what happens on the track. Since the end of last season I have worked to be physically and mentally prepared for this event, I just need to convince myself that this is only one of the twelve events of the season…”
Bennani is a veteran of 104 race starts in the WTCC. However he admits that he will also take some time to adjust to racing a front-wheel drive car, having raced rear-wheel drive BMW machinery for the past four seasons for both Proteam Racing and also Wiechers-Sport in 2010. The last time Bennani raced a front-wheel drive touring car was in his début season for Exagon Engineering in 2009.
“The start of this season is going to be tough for all the drivers due to the technical regulations changes,” admitted Bennani. “The teams have worked flat day and night to develop the cars in view of the races at Marrakech. As for me, I have the additional task to re-discover how to drive a front-wheel driven car after I drove a rear-wheel drive one in the latest years. But I had the opportunity to attend the tests of Honda’s factory drivers, Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro, and realized that Honda is working hard to make the Civic a competitive car.”
Bennani also praised the introduction of new regulations for the WTCC, which have attracted big names such as Citroën and Sébastien Loeb.
“This is certainly a positive evolution for the championship,” added Bennani. “The cars have more power and a better look, while the arrival of an international motor sport icon like Sébastien Loeb will attract a larger number of spectators at the tracks and on TV. I am convinced that a bright future lies ahead for the WTCC.”