Bennani revved up for second WTCC ‘homecoming’

With 50 days to go until the Losail International Circuit hosts FIA WTCC Race of Qatar, Mehdi Bennani has spoken about the event and why it feels like a second ‘home’ race.

The Moroccan, who became the first Arabic driver to win an FIA world championship motor race when he won at WTCC Race of Shanghai in 2014, will head to the Middle East in late November as the WTCC Trophy winner for 2016 following another impressive season driving a Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën C-Elysée WTCC.

He said: “For sure Morocco and Qatar are very close, the people are very close because there are a lot of partnerships between both countries. And when I race in Qatar it’s really like Marrakech so I hope to have a fantastic race. It could be a bit more special now I am already world champion. And I think I will be even stronger because I will have nothing to lose and nothing to win and in the end it could good so I will do my best to do two strong races and get some good points overall because I need to think about this overall championship. I hope to score more points to be close to the top six or top five.”

Bennani is currently sixth in the WTCC Drivers’ standings with 176 points. However, if he scores well in Qatar and other results go his way he could end up a career-high third in the table.