Ben began his racing career at the age of 12. Having competed in Karting at both Club and National level, covering 3 different formulas, Ben went on to complete his karting days within the National Super 1 series.
At 15 Ben joined the World Famous Jim Russell School of Racing at Donnington and, having succesfully completed his very intense training, returned after his 16th birthday to compete in his first single seater race. He won that race and then went on to win four more races consecutively.
Having achieved these five wins, Ben impressed his peers to such an extent that he was given the opportunity to compete in the racing school scholarship which he duly won. In recognition of his success in that event Ben was awarded the prestigious prize of competing in the finals at Sears Point, California, USA. He won one of the races and retired, whilst in second place in the other, due to car trouble.
In 1999, and despite a lack of proper sponsorship, Ben competed in five, self funded rounds of the Vauxhall Junior Series, finishing in the top ten every race.
In year 2000, Ben recived a major boost to his career when he became the 'Young Star' in the Lotus Autobytel Ellise Championship Series, racing under the TOCA banner. In that series Ben achieved a remarkable 6 podium finishes, 6 fastest laps, 2 pole positions and a race win. Equally important, the series enabled Ben to learn new circuits including Spa, Nurburgring and Magny-Coeurs in Europe.
Still only 20 years of age, Ben has not only gained valuable experience and recognition on the track but he has also become a very marketable young man off the track due to his maturity and pleasing personality. This has been well illustrated by the media interest and coverage of Ben's participation in the Lotus series 2000 where he was rarely out of the limelight.
In early 2001 Ben was sponsored to drive a Chrysler 'Viper' for the Hayles Racing Team, competing in the Privilege Insurance British GT Championship. The Championship which forms part of the Power Tour Series is a nationally recognised event. Since his debut in the Championship at Silverstone, Ben proved what he was capable of by securing one podium finish, three fastest laps, one pole and a circuit lap record. Despite his personal performance in the Championship, it was felt that Ben's continued participation in the event was being stifled by the Team's performance overall and, as a result his management team decided that Ben's talents could be better utilised elsewhere.
Consequently, in June 2001 Ben signed a contract with Archangel Motorsport in the USA to compete in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series, driving a Nissan Lola SRPII.
He had four races that year in Grand -Am starting with a debut win at Road America and followed by a win at Watkins Glen and 2 second places at Daytona and Trois Riveres. He also raced in the ALMS at Road Atlanta, where, with his team mates they secured an excellent 2nd in class in the 12 hour classic endurance race.
The following year saw him remain with Archangel for a full assault on the ALMS championship, this time driving the Marshall Cooke Lola with the Turbo powered Millington engine. This was the car Ben had helped to develop over the winter months. It made its debut at the second round at Sears Point and scored a maiden class victory, which was the start of a successful year that saw Ben finish 2nd in the 675 Championship.
2003 saw Ben in demand as a test and development driver, where his ability to work well with race engineers came to the fore. Both Lola and Van Dieman have called on his services to help with their development.
He also made his first appearance at Sebring in the 12hour race but his efforts were curtailed by transmission failure. Later in the year he partnered ex F1 driver Martin Donnelly in a Radical SR3 at Snetterton were he put in some stunning laps. Martin has known Ben since he was 2 years old and has been a big influence in his career.
This year has already got off to a busy start with Ben being entrusted with the job of initial testing of the new A1GP car for Sheik Maktoum, followed by a trip to Dubai to drive it around the streets for the official launch.
Also specialist sports car manufacturer Breckland Technology, have enlisted Bens help to develop their new GT car, which hopefully will make its race debut this year.
Ben Devlin. |
