Michaël Benyahia

Michael Benyahia (born 21 July 2000 in Miami) is a Moroccan racing driver.

Michael Benyahia
Venturi Monaco 2017
Nationality Moroccan
Born (2000-07-21) 21 July 2000
Miami, United States
GT4 European Series career
Debut season2019
Current teamTeam GT
Car number33
Previous series
2017
2016-15		Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
French F4 Championship
Championship titles
2017Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
Awards
2017
2017		SISL Trophée Espoir
Mars d'Or 2M Challenge

Career
Benyahia testing a GEN2 car, March 2018.

Early career

Benyahia was born in Miami of a Moroccan father and a Belgian mother.[1] His father, Karim Benyahia is a businessman in hands-free technologies.[2][3] His mother, Pascale Van Cleemput was Honorary Consul of Belgium in Miami between 2002[4] and 2005.[5]

Benyahia began karting in 2007 at the age of seven, claiming numerous titles in his career.[6][7]

In November 2013, he took part in the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals held in New Orleans where he finished sixth of the Mini Max category.[8]

Lower formulae

In 2015, Benyahia graduated to single-seaters in the French F4 Championship, where he earned nine points and finished 17th. The following year he repeated this series, finishing 3rd and claiming a victory and six podiums.

Formula Renault

Michael signed with the R-ace GP Team and became 2017 Formula Renault FR 2.0 NEC Champion.[9] As part of his prize for becoming the 2017 champion at Hockenheim, Michael Benyahia paid a visit to Renault Sport's F1 facility at Enstone.

Formula 3

Between June and October 2019, he joined the development program of the British team Carlin Motorsport to prepare for a serie in F3.[10]

Formula E

In September 2017, Benyahia joined Venturi Formula E Team as Development Driver,[11] one month later he took part in the pre-season test session in Valencia,[12] then in January 2018 at the Rookie Test of the Marrakesh ePrix where he was the youngest among the twenty participants,[13] in which he finished 19th in the first session and 18th in the second.[14][15]

British GT

Benyahia is one of four confirmed drivers that will drive two McLaren 570S GT4s for Tolman Motorsport for the 2020 season, after he, Katie Milner, Harry Hayek and Alain Valente were the top 4 drivers in an 18-driver selection at Snetterton.[16]

Racing record

Career summary
Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F. Laps Podiums Points Position
2015 French F4 Championship N/A 18 0 0 0 0 12 17th
2016 French F4 Championship N/A 23 1 0 0 6 218 3rd
2017 V de V Challenge Monoplace R-ace GP 6 2 3 3 3 257 12th
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC 11 0 0 1 4 163 1st
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 3 0 0 1 0 0 NC†
2018 Euroformula Open Championship RP Motorsport 6 0 0 0 0 9 19th
Spanish Formula 3 Championship 2 0 0 0 0 4 16th
2019 GT4 European Series Team GT 4 0 0 0 1 20 16th
ADAC GT4 Germany 12 1 0 0 2 105 6th
2020 British GT4 Championship Tolman Motorsport

† As Benyahia was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. * Season still in progress.

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References
  1. "Michael Benyahia, un jeune champion marocain prodige de la formule 1". maglor.fr (in French). 2016-05-13. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  2. Barret, Philippe (April 2017). "Michael Benyahia, le champion qui trace sa route" (pdf). Le Courrier de l'Atlas (in French) (113): 64–65.
  3. Slatalla, Michelle (2003-02-13). "ONLINE SHOPPER; Treats to Mollify a Crabby Cellphone". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  4. "Consuls honoraires Créations - Nominations Par arrêté royal du 3 juin 2002". Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs (in French). Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  5. "Consuls honoraires Créations. - Nominations Par arrêté royal du 30 septembre 2005". Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs (in French). Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  6. "Michael Benyahia | Northern European Cup". Northern European Cup. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  7. "Double podium at Le Castellet for Michael Benyahia". Kartcom. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  8. "Rotax Challenge Grand Finals Mini Max finale results". Kartcom. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  9. Soulsby, Chris. "Formula E: 17 year-old Michael Benyahia to test for Venturi in Marrakesh". Motorsport Week. Retrieved 2017-12-18.
  10. "Michael Benyahia joins Carlin for development programme". Carlin. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
  11. "Le marocain Michaël Benyahia nommé pilote de développement Venturi". Maghreb Arabe Presse (in French). 2017-09-29. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
  12. "New faces to make Formula E debut in Valencia". fiaformulae.com. 2017-09-01. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
  13. "Formula E: Venturi and Andretti confirms their drivers to the rookie test". Electric Motor News. 2017-12-17. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
  14. "ABB FIA Formula E Championship - Marrakesh Rookie Test - Test session 1" (pdf). fiaformulae.alkamelsystems.com. 2018-01-14.
  15. "ABB FIA Formula E Championship - Marrakesh Rookie Test - Test session 2" (pdf). fiaformulae.alkamelsystems.com. 2018-01-14.
  16. "McLaren DDP members join Tolman for 2020 GT4 programme". britishgt.com. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Lando Norris		 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
Champion
2017		 Succeeded by
Doureid Ghattas
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