Michael Benyahia scored a podium finish at his first race with McLaren in the GT4 European Series season opener in Italy this past weekend!
A former Formula 4 runner-up in 2016 and Formula Renault 2.0 NEC champion in 2017, the young Moroccan began a fresh challenge in sportscars having raced solely in single-seaters during his short career.
Benyahia was offered the opportunity after impressing at a test in the McLaren 570S GT4 during the winter, and will team up with official driver Charlie Fagg for Team GT at Monza and for this season.
McLaren is relying on the young line-up to compete against 36 competitors in the FIA championship. Bringing together the best sportscar manufacturers, including Porsche, BMW, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Audi and Mercedes AMG.
And their faith was rewarded as Benyahia instantly settled in to the McLaren GT4 car and would qualify on pole for his debut race.
In a tense race, the Moroccan would just miss out on victory in second as he and Fagg finished just 0.2s behind the winners.
But it was still a remarkable performance for the 18-year-old as the was able to enjoy the celebrations on the famous Monza podium.
In the second race, heavy rain meant a Safety Car start but it wouldn’t matter as a technical problem unfortunately forced the team to retire, but the potential shown this weekend is very promising for the Benyahia as he looks to show his massive talent.
“I am very happy with this result because I had not raced for 8 months,” he said reflecting on the weekend.
“Fighting to win in my first GT race, in such a high league, is very important for my work. It was necessary to adapt to driving a GT that is very different from an F3 car.
“On this subject, I hope to have good news to announce soon,” he said hinting at a return to single-seaters, “but for the moment I’m focusing on my next race with McLaren.”
The next round of the GT4 European Series will take place at the historic Brands Hatch circuit in the UK on May 4-5.