On his return to the French F4 Championship on the famous Magny-Cours circuit, Michael Benyahia showed good progress in terms of performance. Thanks to more consistent experience and good preparation, the young driver was able to up the tempo significantly. For the first time, he even completed a few laps in the lead. Undoubtedly another step has been taken in his car driver learning. The speed of the youngest driver in 2015 French F4 now increasing quickly.
Signi- ficant variances recorded when he was a complete beginner are no longer relevant and he is capable of running only a few tenths off the fastest times. The long summer break has allowed Michael to reflect on the start of the season and his approach to driving is working effectively, significantly different from what he had known in karting. Better prepared thanks to the testing this summer organised by Auto Sport Academy at Magny-Cours, he was able to focus in particular on attacking under braking and the load transfers.
In Race 1, his ability won him four places to finish 10th, a strategic position that afforded him, because of the reverse grid, his first pole position in car racing for the start of Race 2. Unintimidated, he started without hesitating and held off his competitors with great confidence under braking at Adelaide. He surprised observers by keeping the lead for more than two laps. Unfortunately, his achievement was interrupted by an indiscriminate attack from rivals who sent him off the track.
«It’s a shame because I felt good and I was managing the situation calmly,” said Michael. «I was fast enough to get a very good result and maybe a victory! I moved to avoid contact when I saw Laaksonen in my mirrors braking at the limit, but I hadn’t done anything against Matus, who was too optimistic at the same time. At the time, I was very disappointed …» Michael set off again on the attack in the last race of the meeting and this time moved up five places to finish 9th, his second top 10 of the weekend.
Beyond the frustration, legitimate but temporary, to lose out on an important result, Michael is aware of his recent progress and is displaying a new confidence that allows him to revise his objectives upwards. Now he is fast, he will focus on improving his management of races and overtaking strategy.
The next event will be contested in Spain on the Navarra circuit at the end of the month. It will not be easy as he was unable to participate in testing with the Auto Sport Academy on the Iberian track because of his studies, but Michael will nevertheless have a new basis to further perfect his discovery of the world of motor racing.
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