Qualifying report: Bennani is best with sensational Nurburgring Nordschleife WTCR pole

Comtoyou Team Audi Sport’s Mehdi Bennani snatched pole position for Race 1 at WTCR Race of Germany with a sensational final lap in Qualifying on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, as team-mate Gilles Magnus just 0.015s slower around the 25.378-kilometre circuit. Bennani’s pole was his first in the WTCR and his time of 8m50.527s broke Néstor Girolami’s previous record of 8m51.802s set in September 2020. The performance earned the Moroccan driver, who has returned to race in the WTCR this season after two years away, 10 Qualifying points.

Ad/> “I’m very happy to be there, to be present, around these top drivers at this world level,” said Bennani. “For sure, the lap was crazy. I had almost the lap of my life.

I had a very good team-mate in front of me to give me a nice slipstream! The car looks very strong on this track, I think the development that Audi with Comtoyou has done with a lot of testing at this track has paid off a lot. The drivers know how to set up the cars, how to use, where the grip level [is]. For me I only had to drive, which was not easy after stopping for three years! But it was working well and I think the car helps a lot here.

I was much more surprised about the high-speed level we can have in the high-speed corners. The corners that are tricky, every time you are on the limit and I think the car with the aero works very well in these parts. So really it was the lap of my life.” WTCRNo Qualifying points but Girolami remains the Goodyear #FollowTheLeader in WTCR23 MINUTES AGO Comtoyou duo Bennani and Magnus were the only drivers to manage three laps in the 30-minute session, with their final efforts proving decisive.