Michaël Benyahia
Moroccan racing driver
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michaël Benyahia (born July 21, 2000, in Miami) is a Moroccan racing driver.
Moroccan
Americandue to double nationality
| Michael Benyahia | |
|---|---|
Benyahia at a Venturi presentation in Monaco in 2017 | |
| Nationality | Moroccan American due to double nationality |
| Born | July 21, 2000 Miami, United States |
| FIA Motorsport Games career | |
| Debut season | 2022 |
| Current team | Optimum Motorsport |
| Racing licence |  FIA Silver |
| Car number | 10 |
| Previous series | |
| 2017 2016–15 | Formula Renault 2.0 NEC French F4 Championship |
| Championship titles | |
| 2017 | Formula Renault 2.0 NEC |
| Awards | |
| 2017 2017 | SISL Trophée Espoir Mars d'Or 2M Challenge |
Career
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, Benyahia 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
Benyahia 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, Benyahia paid a visit to Renault Sport's F1 facility at Enstone.
Formula 3
Between June and October 2019, Benyahia joined the development program of the British team Carlin Motorsport to prepare for a series 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 was one of four confirmed McLaren DDP drivers that would drive two McLaren 570S GT4s for Tolman Motorsport for the 2020 season, after he, Katie Milner, Harry Hayek and Alain Valente were the top-four drivers in an 18-driver selection at Snetterton.[16]
FIA Motorsport Games
Benyahia would represent Morocco in the FIA Motorsport Games that would be hosted from October 26 to 30 at Circuit Paul Ricard in the GT Sprint discipline.
Racing record
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F. Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | French F4 Championship | Auto Sport Academy | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 17th |
| 2016 | French F4 Championship | FFSA Academy | 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 | 1 | 163 | 1st | ||
| Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | NC† | ||
| 2017-18 | Formula E | Venturi Formula E Team | Test driver | ||||||
| 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 | ||
| 2021 | British GT Championship - GT4 | Jenson Team Rocket RJN | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 67 | 8th |
| 2022 | International GT Open | Optimum Motorsport | |||||||
| FIA Motorsport Games GT Sprint | Team Morocco | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 13th | |
† As Benyahia was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
Complete French F4 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | LÉD 1 17 |
LÉD 2 13 |
LÉD 3 17 |
LMS 1 14 |
LMS 2 17 |
LMS 3 10 |
PAU 1 13 |
PAU 2 8 |
PAU 3 10 |
HUN 1 16 |
HUN 2 13 |
HUN 3 16 |
MAG 1 10 |
MAG 2 12 |
MAG 3 9 |
NAV 1 |
NAV 2 |
NAV 3 |
LEC 1 15 |
LEC 2 14 |
LEC 3 15 |
17th | 12 | ||
| 2016 | LEC 1 3 |
LEC 2 3 |
LEC 3 11 |
LEC 4 15 |
PAU 1 2 |
PAU 2 Ret |
PAU 3 Ret |
PAU 4 12 |
LÉD 1 5 |
LÉD 2 2 |
LÉD 3 5 |
LÉD 4 4 |
MAG 1 4 |
MAG 2 11 |
MAG 3 4 |
MAG 4 4 |
LMS 1 7 |
LMS 2 3 |
LMS 3 6 |
LMS 4 5 |
CAT 1 8 |
CAT 2 1 |
CAT 3 5 |
3rd | 218 |
Complete V de V Challenge Monoplace results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula Renault NEC results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula Renault Eurocup results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† As Benyahia was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points
Complete Euroformula Open Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete British GT Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap in class)