Mehdi Bennani puts in career-best qualifying performance for home race

Mehdi Bennani will start second on the grid for the first of today’s World Touring Car Championship races at the Circuit Moulay El Hassan, after setting the second fastest time in qualifying in the Sébastien Loeb Racing Citroën C-Elysée WTCC.

Although the Moroccan has had good grid positions before, including last year where he shared the front row with ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel, they’ve all been down to the top ten reversed race two grid, but this is the first time the 2014 Shanghai race winner has started from the front row on raw pace.

“I’m really happy with this result,” said Bennani. “The entire Sébastien Loeb Racing team has put in a huge amount of work to give me the best possible car. It was my first ever Q3, in just my second meeting with Citroën. I tried to ignore the pressure and just focus on producing a good lap. I’m hoping this is a feeling I will be experiencing a lot this season.”

Bennani will start one spot behind points leader José María López, while effective team-mate Ma Qing Hua, who drives for Sébastien Loeb Racing but under the Citroën Racing banner, starts one spot behind him on the grid, while team owner Sébastien Loeb himself suffered a troubled qualifying and only set the eighth fastest time, though is promoted to fifth on the grid following a number of post-qualifying penalties.