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30-year-old Moroccan Mehdi Bennani took his second podium finish of the 2013 season, and his third win in the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy at Sonoma Raceway, despite a last minute power steering failure in his BMW 320 TC.* H7 u) U. a$ j4 i+ d7 v9 N
Bennani had secured pole position for race two, thanks in part to Nika Racing’s Michel Nykjaer’s penalty from qualifying, which elevated him from 11th to 10th in the results and therefore handing him the reverse grid pole for race two, but on the formation lap the BMW’s power steering failed. Bennani had wanted to abort the race, but the team pressured him to continue and take the start.
6 E; B( \- K7 A/ m+ i! M* E“On the green flag lap I was thinking I had to come into the pits, but my engineer on the radio told me to go,” said Bennani to TouringCarTimes. “So at the start I wasn’t really thinking, so I didn’t do a good start, but Tarquini’s speed helped me to follow, and when he was in front of me I realised that we still had a good speed.”www3.tvboxnow.com, i& Y2 r& G" A0 q! q9 a* ^9 p/ W
Bennani was the top placed BMW in the second race, though race one was not so fortunate for him following a spin at Turn 4. The Moroccan, who was recently decorated by King Mohammed VI of Morocco, also dedicated the class win to him after the race.
: ?8 h9 u& k9 R* |“To fight for the podium was something special for me as we are the eighth BMW and we’re all fighting in the independents’ classification, but we know that we are slower than Chevrolet and the Hondas,” said Bennani.$ Y$ q% l1 R, I9 S) A, y( i
“With the steering problem I thought it was finished, it was over, but Yvan (Muller) helped me a little as he was pushing (Norbert) Michelisz at the end, so I didn’t have to drive at the limit.”
/ z( C( d6 r ~* X6 y& jtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbBennani is one of a number of drivers looking to stay in the championship next year as well as targeting being in one of the very few privateer cars which are expected to be run in what’s currently dubbed in the paddock as ‘Class A’, for the new 2014 Super 2000 specification cars, but the Moroccan says that at the moment there is no deal currently signed.# a0 e. c V7 S+ Q0 V! v
“We don’t know yet, when it’s not signed nothing can happen. I hope to stay in this Championship, and for sure I want to be in the ‘Class A’, and I hope this result puts us in a better position for next year,” he said. |
發表於 2013-9-11 03:05 PM
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