Photo: WTCC Media

Strong weekend for the Proteam pair

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Proteam Racing drivers Mehdi Bennani and Isaac Tutumlu put on great performances at the weekend to cut through the field at Valencia, though contact between the two on the first lap of race one spoiled what could have been a much better result.

The two came together in Turn 4, with the two drivers spun around and down the order as the field scrambled to avoid them. Tutumlu crossed the line in 21st and Bennani 24th and dead last at the end of the first lap, though both worked their way up the order with Tutumlu finishing 16th and Bennani on a titanic charge, working his way all the way back up to 14th on a track where it’s notoriously difficult to pass.

“In the turn before (Bennani) got me on the inside,” said Tutumlu to TouringCarTimes. “I saw him and I let him pass in Turn 3, then in Turn 4 I went to the inside but he didn’t see me and we had a collision. It was not his fault, it was not my fault, it’s just a thing that happens.”

Bennani wasn’t downbeat about the result, picking up his first points of the season with tenth in race two, as the Championship now heads to the Moroccan’s home race at Marrakech.

“It was a good race because I overtook about ten cars,” said Bennani reflecting on race one. “The second race was a little bit better because I was 15th at the start, I was fighting for seventh or eighth position then I had big mistake after the spin of Yvan Muller, and then I was tenth and had a good fight with Tarquini on the last lap.”

“I think from this race we’ve begun to understand some things about the car. I have a new engineer this year, all the staff stay the same but no more Marco Calovolo as engineer, and I think we are going in a new direction from now.”

Tutumlu also had a strong second race, fighting his way up to 11th position in the BMW 320 TC at his home event and picking up his first points in the independents’ category.

“We’ve been fighting with experienced drivers like Tiago Monteiro, Dudukalo, Alex MacDowall, I’m really happy for the team and for the result I have,” he said.