Ben Evans Racing

Ben’s season just gets better and better, with Ben’s stunning run to 6th place at Donington on Saturday.

Being a Vee meeting, one session was inevitably wet and this time it was qualifying. In th damp conditions Ben recorded a superb 3rd in session and 6th overall leaving him on the third row for the race. Furthermore in the damp conditions had been consistently quick throughout the session leaving him well placed for the race.

By the time the final started just after 5 the track had dried out but was extremely slippery due to the chilly conditions. Ben made a good start and spent the first lap dicing with Martin Galpin and Martyn Donn. Ben quickly passed Galpin and was pulling away from him when the GAC driver’s car failed causing him to retire. Ben spent a couple of laps on Martyn’s tail but dropped back as he tried to fend off Daniel Hands who was rapidly moving through the field. Ben eventually yielded to the AHS but stayed in contact as Dan caught up with Ian Buxton and Martyn Donn.

As the three in front engaged in a fight for 3rd, Ben quickly joined the back of the battle turning it into a four-way scrap. This rapidly became a five car dice as John Hughes towed up to the rear of the battle thanks to the epic slipstreaming under the Dunlop bridge.

The last couple of laps were fantastic to watch as all five cars jostled for position, but raced extremely cleanly with no contact, despite some hairy moments on the brakes. Going three abreast into the Craner Curves on the final lap, Ben had to back out of the throttle to avoid a collision with Ian Buxton, when Ian closed the door. This allowed John Hughes through to claim 6th into the Old Hairpin. This order only lasted one corner as Ben slipstreamed John through Schwantz Curve and retook the position into McLeans. Coming onto the back straight for the final time 3rd place was still feasible for any one of the five cars. In the event everyone braked later than was humanly possible leaving the order unchanged, but with only one second covering 3rd to 7th over the finish line.

This was a great result for Ben as the race saw no retirements amongst the frontrunners, demonstrating Ben’s outright pace and ability to challenge for wins and podium finishes as the season continues. The result was even more impressive as Ben has neither raced a Vee at Donington before, nor raced at the circuit in dry.