Mehdi Bennani back with Sébastien Loeb Racing for the 2017 WTCC

Mehdi Bennani will be back behind the wheel of his Sébastien Loeb Racing prepared Citroën C-Elysée for the 2017 World Touring Car Championship.

“I am very pleased to continue this collaboration with Sébastien Loeb Racing,” said Bennani.

“To me, stability is an important aspect to prioritise, especially considering how much we’ve learnt together these past two years. We all know how competitive the Citroën C-Elysée is and the team knows exactly how to make it perform to its best.”

The Moroccan finished fifth overall in the drivers’ championship last year, as well as claiming the WTCC Trophy for independent drivers, and hopes to improve for this year.

“I’m starting this new season with yet more confidence than the two previous ones. Of course, we’ll have to wait until the first race to have a true idea of the hierarchy, but I hope we’ll see in our results the improvements drawn from 2015 and 2016,” said Bennani.

Bennani will be team-mates with Tom Chilton and John Filippi at Sébastien Loeb Racing this season.

“Mehdi has proven himself to be a key element for our team over these past two years. Keeping him with us was essential. He has integrated into the team perfectly, while at the same time gaining greater knowledge and control of his C-Elysée,” said team owner Sébastien Loeb.

“He has the capacities needed to reach podium places even more often this season. We have prepared for this with two test drives in Navarra, as well as in Monteblanco, in Spain. I am delighted to conclude that with Mehdi, Tom Chilton and John Filippi our WTCC group is once again looking strong.”