August 6&7th
OVERALL WIN AT OULTON
Oulton Park and another round of the Britsports Championship. This time in the brand new SR3 James had bought to replace the one destroyed at Snetterton. Ben was pleased with the new car and impressed with the improvements on the old one. He was outstanding in qualifying and took class pole and 4th overall. Due to a bereavement James was unable to race and Ben competed on his own for the 1 1/2hour race. He had a good start and was able to maintain his position and gain places in the higher class as they either dropped back or retired. By the end he was first overall and took a well deserved victory.
There is some very good in car footage of this race which can be viewed on the following link.

August 3rd

Another visit to Hethel with Classic team Lotus, this time to shakedown Johnny Herberts ex F1 Lotus. The American who owns the car has his own motor museum and test track in Birmingham, Alabama and had sent this car back for a "service".

July 27th

Ben was back in the A1GP car, this time at Brands Hatch, putting it through its paces for the media at the launch of A1GP TEAMGB. Ben impressed the watching media and most of the photos taken that day were used in the program for the opening round of the A1GP series a few weeks later at Brands.

July 21st

2 Days later Ben was at the Lotus test track with Classic Team Lotus to shake down Nelson Piquets Ex F1 Lotus 101, a car he drove the year before at the Lotus 50year celebrations. This was a shakedown prior to Piquet junior doing demonstration laps at Donnington in his fathers car.

July 16th

The following weekend Ben was back at Snetterton , his home circuit, again with James in the SR3. This was a round of the Britsports Championship. It was perfect conditions for racing on a warm sunny July morning. There was a big turnout of cars with over 20 entries spread across the three categories. Ben took the class pole and qualified 5th overall, which put them in good shape for the race. James started the race and made a good start only to be forced off at the end of the straight by someone using him instead of their brakes to stop. He managed to get going again albeit at the back, but made rapid progress through the pack with some oustanding overtaking into Russell on each lap. However on lap 8 as he was flat out around Coram he had a coming together with one of the leaders and massive off into the tyre wall.Thank fully he was OK but that was unfortunately the end of that particular SR3's racing career.

So that was the end of that weekends racing but the start of a busy week for Ben.

On the 19th Ben was at Pembery with A1GP test team to evaluate the wet weather tyres to be used for the series. It was a full days running on the Welsh venue which was especially soaked with a water bowser to simulate equal coditions for each of the different compounds of tyre. Ben had great day and felt he was able to contribute to the success of the day with his feedback to the engineers.

July 10th

On his return from Limerock it was a quick change of clothes and straight off to France for another run in the Radical with James Richardson in his Insure and Go SR3. This time in the V de V championship at Magny Cours. They struggled with a misfire all weekend which occured only when the fuel was getting low. (Later to be found to be a degrading of the foam ballast inside the tank, which was sucked through to the filter as the fuel level dropped.) However they qualified 6th in class and on a full tank of fuel at the start of the race made good progress and got up to 2nd in class but as the the fuel level got lower the misfire returned and they were forced to retire before the end.

July 2005

Back to America for the next round of the ALMS, The New England Grand Prix at Limerock on the 4th July On an unfamiliar track and after struggling to find a good set -up throughout testing Ben was outstanding in qualifying. His fastest lap which put him ahead of the new Mazda powered Courage was a lap that earned him applause as he returned to the pits. Many people had watched him have a huge moment half way around the lap, to the point were the nearest marshall had already got the yellow flag out ready to wave, only for Ben to hold onto it and complete the turn and the lap. The excellent qualifying performance was just the beginning of another successful weekend for the Van- der Stuer race team. On what must be one of the most challenging and unforgiving circuits in North America Ben and Gunnar battled their way to the finish and secured a well deserved 2nd in the LMP2 class and another visit to the podium.

June 2005

After a successful return to the ALMS Ben returned to England for a busy month testing and racing. He was asked to help with the testing of the Bill Binney car at Silverstone on the 22nd., which gave him the ideal opportunity to drive the new Lola LMP2 car. This car being powered by the Nicholson/Mclaren engine. Ben was impressed by the handling of the car and the amount of downforce generated compared to the older B2K40 LOLA he's being racing for the last 3 years. The team were happy with the feedback from Ben and he likewise was glad of the chance to put the car through its paces at Silverstone.

The following weekend Ben teamed up with James Richardson in the Radical SR3 at Brands Hatch to compete in the Britsports races. James started the race from 17 on the grid but had a fabulous start and moved to 7th overall and 3rd in class by the end of lap 1. He maintained his position for the rest of his stint, handing over the driving duties to Ben during a yellow flag period about 25 minutes into the hour long race. Ben soon got into his rythm and quickly caught his rivals to take the class lead and finish 3rd overall. The second race followed a similar pattern with Ben and James dominating their class, but due to some minor rule bending , there was no time penalty applied to other cars with only one driver and they slipped to third place. But all in all a very successful and enjoyable first outing for Ben in the ultra competitive Radical SR3.

April 2005

saw the return of Ben to the ALMS in America, a series which brought him success in 2002. He made his return at Road Atlanta in the 2nd round of the championship in the P2 class. Teaming up with Team Van Der Staur who were debuting their Lola B2K40 with the newly installed AER 2 litre turbo engine. Ben worked hard on the set up for race day and the car was considerably quicker with the new power plant. Unfortunately an accident involving Gunnar on lap 1 of qualifying put them at the back of the grid for Sundays Race. However making the most of the dry conditions and happy with car following a late night by the crew to repair the accident damage Ben drove superbly to pass the GT Class cars and close in on the other prototypes. Ben caught and was about to overtake the new Mazda powered Courage when a pitstop visit avoided the need to. Handing over to Eric the team gradually moved into 3rd place in class allowing Gunnar to run to the finish and claim their first podium in the ALMS. The new engine ran without fault and proved it can be competitive in both pace and reliability. The result is Ben's 3rd podium place at Road Atlanta after 2 seconds in the Petite Le Mans race. It is one of the more challenging circuits in the U.S. and along with Road America one of Ben's favourites.