After a two-month break, the World Touring Car Championship will resume this weekend (September 11th/13th) on Motegi race track. In Japan, the Sébastien Loeb Racing will be entering the last third of the season with the Citroën C-Elysée driven by Mehdi Bennani. With several promising performances so far, the Moroccan driver really wants to do well. Though he is currently in the Top 3 of the Yokohama Trophy – for independent drivers only – Mehdi does not want to set limits for himself.
Having returned to competition a few weeks ago with the Porsche Supercup, the Porsche Carrera Cup France and the French GT Championship programmes, it is now time for the Sébastien Loeb Racing to come back to the WTCC. Just like the team, Mehdi Bennani is looking forward to returning to the championship for this final third which will take the contenders to Japan, China, Thailand and Qatar.
“We’re approaching these new races very motivated and invigorated” Mehdi confides. “I’ve made the most of this Summer break, resting and recharging batteries. But I have to say that I can’t wait now to sit behind the wheel of the Citroën C-Elysée and to be with the team again. After such a break, I’m even more aware of how lucky I am to take part in such a programme and to have the opportunity to do great things. I want to turn everything that we’ve achieved so far into a great result. We’ve been unsuccessful at times, with red flags coming out at the wrong time during qualifying sessions, and other race incidents… We hope that it now turns in our favour and we’ll do our best for it to happen!”
With his eleventh place overall – including two Top 5 – and his third place as part of the Yokohama Trophy, Mehdi Bennani should expect many challenges ahead of him. The Moroccan driver does not want to make do with those results. “Together with the team, we share the same mindset: we want to do our best in order to get the best performance possible” he explains. “We could set a quantitative target, but that’s not the way we approach things. We know that we’re at a good pace and that there’ll be some opportunities to fight at the front of the race. We don’t want to set limits for ourselves, that’s all! And I’m convinced that this strategy will pay off in the mid-term.”
Just like some other WTCC contenders, Mehdi Bennani will be discovering Motegi race track, which replaces Suzuka on the calendar. The layout is more difficult than it seems, but that does not seem to impress the Moroccan driver. “I like to discover new tracks and this one stands as a true challenge” he confirms. “I’ve had done a couple of laps on a simulator and the track isn’t easy at all, very technical with many series of corners. I’ll have to concentrate very well in order to link all of these turns together. We’ll also have to find the right set-up for this layout that we don’t know, but I trust the team for that. Anyway, the race promises to be very interesting.”
In addition to the Mehdi Bennani’s C-Elysée, the Sébastien Loeb Racing will also bring its operational support to the car entered by the Citroën Racing for Ma Qing Hua, winner of the WTCC latest race.