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Rabat – Moroccan racing driver Mehdi Bennani secured first place in the TCR Europe 2021 Race 2 in Slovakia on Sunday. Performing with Hyundai Motorsport behind the steering wheel of their Elantra N TCR, Bennani offered his team their first victory with the new car.
On Saturday, Bennani finished off Race 1 of the TCR Europe in second place behind Mikel Azcona.
Commenting on the victory, Bennani expressed his gratitude for the trust Hyundai has put in him while emphasizing the difficulty of the race and the challenges he faced.
“It’s really nice to be back on the top step of the podium, particularly on the first outing of the car as it is brand new. It wasn’t easy.… Many thanks to the team and to all four drivers… At the end we had a really good pace,” Bennani said.
“I could see that Azcona was quicker in some parts and I was slightly better in other parts. I was full risk, 100% in some parts and sometimes I had a lot of oversteers but that’s racing. I wanted this result for Hyundai because they choose (sic) me to be with them to help develop the car. We did it and I’m so happy for them.”
In the overall standings, Bennani is second with a total of 62 points behind Azcona who collected 84 points.
The 37-year-old Moroccan driver is also the champion of the TCR Europe 2020 where he performed with the Belgian team Comtoyou Racing running an Audi RS3 LMS TCR.
In 2016, Bennani won the 2016 World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) Independents’ Trophy, to become the first Moroccan driver to win such a title.
Like most racing drivers, Bennani made his debuts in the karting competitions before climbing ranks to integrate touring car racing.
In May 2009, Bennani became the first North African to compete in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at the Marrakech Street Circuit.
In 2014, the Moroccan professional driver secured his first WTCC win at the race 2 of the championship’s Shanghai round for the Proteam Racing team.
