| Michaël Benyahia | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Driver Details | ||
| Nationality |  Moroccan
| |
| Date of Birth | 21 July 2000 | |
| Experience | French F4 Championship Formula Renault 2.0 NEC | |
| Formula E Career | ||
| Tests | 2 | |
| Début |  2017 Valencia Test
| |
| Teams |  Venturi Formula E Team
| |
Michaël Benyahia (born 21 July 2000 in Miami, Florida, USA) is an American born Moroccan racing driver, who served as a test and development driver for the Venturi Formula E Team in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 FIA Formula E Championships.[1] A former member of the Venturi Next Gen Programme, Benyahia would complete two tests for Venturi, becoming the youngest driver to drive an FE car at an official test, aged just 17.[2]
Background[]
Benyahia began his career in karting, competing from the age of seven in various European and North American categories.[3] 2015 would see Benyahia graduate to single-seaters in the French F4 Championship, finishing in seventeenth in his rookie season.[3] Remaining in French F4 for 2016, Benyahia would secure one win and six podiums en-route to third in the final standings.[3]
Morocco's Marvel: 2017 - 2021[]
2017 saw Benyahia move into the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC as well as other FR series, claiming the title despite not winning a race.[3] For 2018 Benyahia would enter the first six races of the Euroformula Open Championship, claiming a handful of points finishes, as well as making an appearance in the Spanish F3 Championship.[3] For 2019 Benyahia would move into GT racing, joining the ADAC GT4 Germany and GT4 European Series, while also taking part in a development programme for F3 drivers with Carlin Motorsport.[3]
Sixth in ADAC GT4 come the end of the 2019 season would earn Benyahia a trial for a seat with Tolman in the British GT4 Championship for 2020, with the Moroccan youth duly claiming one of the four available spaces.[3] However, the Covid-19 Pandemic would force Benyahia to sit out the entire season, with Benyahia instead making his British GT4 debut in 2021.[3]
Formula E History[]
Benyahia was signed as a test/development driver for the Venturi Formula E Team ahead of the 2017/18 season, with the Moroccan racer being inducted into their Next Gen Programme alongside Norman Nato and Arthur Leclerc.[2] As a result Benyahia would make his FIA Formula E Championship test debut at the pre-season 2017 Valencia Test, running in the morning of the second session in Edoardo Mortara's cars.[2] Benyahia would subsequently get a second test with Venturi at the 2018 Rookie Test at his "home" circuit in Marrakesh, Morocco, although the Moroccan youth would be outpaced in both sessions by fellow Venturi tester Gary Paffett.[2]
Benyahia was retained by Venturi as a development driver for the 2018/19 season, although the Moroccan youth would only complete private tests and filming days for the Monegasque outfit.[1]
Full Formula E Record[]
Shown below are a series of tables outlining Michaël Benyahia's career in Formula E in statistical form:
| Michaël Benyahia's Formula E Test Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Entrant | No. | Car | Role |
| 2017/18 | Venturi Formula E Team[2]
|
4 | Venturi VM200-FE-03 | Test/Development Driver |
| 2018/19 | Venturi Formula E Team[1]
|
0 | Venturi VFE 05 | Development Driver |
References[]
Videos and Images:
References:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 'Venturi establish the first academy for electric motorsport drivers', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 29/03/2018), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2018/march/venturi-establish-the-first-academy-for-electric-motorsport-drivers/, (Accessed 03/08/2018)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 'New faces to make Formula E debut in Valencia', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 01/10/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/september/new-faces-to-make-formula-e-debut-in-valencia/, (Accessed 01/10/2017)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 'Michaël Benyahia', driverdb.com, (Driver Database, 2021), https://www.driverdb.com/drivers/michael-benyahia/, (Accessed 13/05/2021)