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

Career

Early career

Benyahia was born in Miami of a Moroccan father and a Belgian mother. His father, Karim Benyahia is a businessman in hands-free technologies. His mother, Pascale Van Cleemput was

Honorary consul A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

of Belgium in Miami between 2002 and 2005. Benyahia began karting in 2007 at the age of seven, claiming numerous titles in his career. In November 2013, he took part in the

Rotax Max Challenge The Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals (RMC) is a kart racing series owned and organized worldwide by Rotax, BRP-Rotax and its distributors, approved and in compliance with Commission Internationale de Karting, CIK-FIA. Competition takes plac ...

Grand Finals held in New Orleans where he finished sixth of the Mini Max category.

Lower formulae

In 2015, Benyahia graduated to single-seaters in the

French F4 Championship French F4 Championship, formerly known as Formula Renault Campus France, Formula Campus, Formul'Academy Euro Series, F4 Eurocup 1.6 is a form of open wheel racing founded in 1993 by Louis Drouet. It is based in France and aims at karting gradua ...

, 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. 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 Carlin, formerly known as Carlin Motorsport and Rodin Carlin, was a motor racing team based in the United Kingdom. It primarily competed in junior racing championships such as FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3. Carlin also competed in top level ...

to prepare for a serie in F3.

Formula E

In September 2017, Benyahia joined

Venturi Formula E Team Venturi Racing (formerly Venturi Formula E Team) was a Monaco, Monegasque motor racing team controlled by Scott Swid (Chairman and principal owner) and José M Aznar Botella. The team competed in the Formula E, FIA Formula E World Championship. ...

as Development Driver, one month later he took part in the pre-season test session in Valencia, then in January 2018 at the Rookie Test of the

Marrakesh ePrix The Marrakesh ePrix was an annual race of the single-seater, electrically powered Formula E championship, held in Marrakesh, Morocco. It was first raced in the 2016–17 season. Circuit The Marrakesh ePrix was held on the temporary Circuit In ...

where he was the youngest among the twenty participants, in which he finished 19th in the first session and 18th in the second.

British GT

Benyahia is one of four confirmed McLaren DDP drivers that will drive two

McLaren 570S The McLaren 570S is a sports car designed and manufactured by the British car manufacturer McLaren Automotive, produced from 2015 until 2021. It was unveiled at the 2015 New York International Auto Show. Design and specifications The car is ...

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 Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population ...

FIA Motorsport Games

Michael Benyahia will represent Morocco in the

FIA Motorsport Games The FIA Motorsport Games is a biennial motorsport event administered by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It includes competitions from multiple motorsport disciplines and is entered by national motorsport authorities under t ...

that will be hosted from October 26 to 30 in Marseille. Benyahia will take part in the “GT Sprint” event on the Paul-Ricard Circuit, securing Morocco’s first participation. The

is a multidisciplinary event that includes GT, karting, and rally sometimes. The event is often referred to as the Olympic Games of motorsports.

Racing record

Career summary

^† As Benyahia was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

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 Formula Renault NEC 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)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benyahia, Michael 2000 births Living people Moroccan racing drivers French F4 Championship drivers Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers American people of Moroccan descent Euroformula Open Championship drivers British GT Championship drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Auto Sport Academy drivers R-ace GP drivers RP Motorsport drivers International GT Open drivers Racing drivers from Miami FIA Motorsport Games drivers GT4 European Series drivers 21st-century Moroccan sportsmen