Reigning Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup champion Michaël Benyahia will make the move into EuroFormula Open in 2018 after becoming RP Motorsport’s fourth confirmed driver.
The American-born Moroccan joins Felipe Drugovich, Guilherme Samaia and Aldo Festante at the Italian outfit, with Benyahia having impressed the team sufficiently during the recent Winter Series races at the Circuit Paul Ricard to secure a drive for the main championship this year.
Benyahia is already a test driver for the Venturi Formula E team, becoming the youngest driver to drive the Formula E car during the rookie test in January, but he is now looking forward to his maiden Formula 3 campaign with RP Motorsport.
“It is an honour for me to debut in the EuroFormula Open Championship with an important team like RP Motorsport,” said Benyahia. “I am happy to be able to face this new step in my career, which will allow me to grow and gain new experience at the wheel of very demanding and performing cars.
“I can’t wait to get back on track and represent the flag of my country that follows me with great affection.”
Team manager Niki Rocca is convinced about the talent of Benyahia, and feels the Moroccan will benefit from working with RP Motorsport in 2018 in order to become a more developed driver.
“We are very pleased to have signed an agreement with a very young and promising driver like Michaël,” said Rocca. “Already during his still short career he had the opportunity to show excellent numbers, confirmed by the excellent approach he had with this category during testing at Paul Ricard.
“We are convinced that we can work well together and allow him to grow further thanks to the experience of our team.”
