Ben Evans Racing

Despite it being the close season it has been a busy couple of weeks for the Vee fraternity. Last week’s Vee Centre party was a great do, and thanks to everyone who was involved in organising it. It was great to get to meet everyone away from the stress of a race weekend, even if, much to my Mum’s disappointment, do nothing but talk racing. However, I’m not sure what was more fun, the party, or trying to equate number of pints to obvious size of hangover at breakfast the following morning

On a more serious note the hot topic of discussion has been around the 40th anniversary race next year, which I have volunteered to help out with (as i feel it’s important to give something back following a great UK season and an awesome time in germany). At present it looks like we’ll be at Brands in July which will be awesome as I love Brands, its near my house, and it always produces great racing. Furthermore with some good promotion and an innovative meeting we should manage to have a large entry, and a big crowd. Also having spent last Saturday afternoon walking round Northampton (main activity for the locals? looking menacing in the shopping centre), I have to say London is probably far more attractive for the foreign drivers.

Unfortunately all this is no substitute for driving, and already I cannot wait for the first test of 2007. In the meantime the only driving I get to do is on the A1, which is unfortunately as far removed from a Vee race as you can get (even if I do involuntarily shake with fear every time I pass a vehicle with WG Tankers on the side ). To console myself I did get out to watch the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, and I have to say Vee is so much better. Whilst the Formula Ford will almost be my first love and remains a cracking spectator sport, from a competitors point of view Vee is easily the better option. The Festival was littered with unncessary accidents (even by the standards of some Vee drivers) and extremely questionable driving standards. Peter Dempsey and Nick Tandy are both extremely quick drivers, but both would still succeed without their obvious desperation to win regardless of consequences. Even the 1600 Kent Class occasionally resembled a destruction derby, with a couple of avoidable accidents that in a 750mc meeting would have seen a licence endorsement. Even so the Festival remains my favourite day’s racing of the year (execept for the one’s where I’m driving) and it would be great to see Vee as one of the support races one year.

The Nurburgring weekend was everything I had hoped it would be and more. With two 3rd places I came away from the weekend, on combined results, as the most successful English Vee driver, which was the perfect end to a great debut season in Vee. It was nice after an innumerable number of 2nd places in heats and 4th places in Finals to finally win some trophies

Everything about the weekend was dreamlike, getting to drive my Vee around the Nordschlife was a once in a lifetime experience, allowing me to join a very select group (and even fewer amongst the living) who have driven a single seater around the long circuit. Then the racing itself was awesome. Saturday’s damp and changeable race was simply a case of keeping the car on the road, although my fully wet set up cost me in closing laps as the track dried. Even so 30 minutes in those conditions was a real test of endurance.

Sundays race was great, but could have been better. I made an awesome start and made up 7 positions over the first lap and was moving through the field into lap 2 when I got hit from behind by one of the German cars. This luckily didn’t put me out on the spot, but as I later discovered it did dislodge my oil cooler, which caused the car to gradually overheat during the race meaning it lost power quite dramatically by the end. Another lap and I would have had to have stopped. Even so it was a great race, and I had truly exhilerating dices with some of the German and South African drivers together with a titanic scrap against Mike Jenvey. Full credit to everyone for keeping the racing so clean.

Apart from the racing the trip was awesome. The countryside around the Ring was stunning, the beer was cold and cheap, and some of the haircuts were so astounding their owners could be entered for Crufts. Furthermore the German way of going racing provided a lot that we could learn here. The meeting was well promoted with low spectator entry charges (equivalent to 750mc for a far larger meeting)  and this meant that several thousand people came over the weekend. Better still trophies down to 15th place is an excellent idea, especially coming from a UK season where I finished 8th overall, and won nothing on the day. This also gave drivers throughout the field a real sense of achievement.

Finally the organisers really made the event feel special, the parade was a lot of fun, whilst everyone was so welcoming. Hopefully next year we will able to do something similarly special (but hopefully without the hair)

A huge thanks is owed to Andy and Jon Storer (and Roger, Stuart, Jeremy and Ann) for all their support over the weekend, that made it something more than a race weekend, and provided the perfect end to a great season.

It seems weird to be sitting here in the 3rd weekend of September with the UK season all finished. Oulton Park was a fitting venue to close the Championship although I just couldn’t find the Silverstone pace over the weekend and was disappointed to finish in 9th. Even so I think I’ve done enough to finish 8th in the Championship and I am certainly the highest placed new driver to the series in 2006, so I am delighted with that as a first year result.

Next year I will be looking for wins and the overall Championship, and I am confident of achieving at least one of these.

In the meantime I have the Nurburgring to look forward to which promises to be an excellent weekend. I have always gone well on the wider Grand Prix circuits (Donington, Silverstone) so I’m hoping for more of the same at the Nurburgring. I also think the experience of racing abroad will do a great deal for my development as a driver. Having only experienced club racing on the UK circuits, a large meeting on one of the world’s greatest tracks will be an excellent opportinity. Furthermore I am looking forward to both the Nordschlife and the beer.

Looking forward beyond that next year promises to be be interesting. I was slightly concerned to read in the 750MC bulletin that Vee may be returning to Lydden Hill next year. As the series expands and attracts new drivers, tracks like Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Donington and Thruxton should be a must, whereas Pembrey and Lydden surely do not really have a place on the calendar. I am reliant on sponsor support to race, and quite frankly it is tough sell in any case, especially when you have to explain why you are going to Lydden Hill or Pembrey over circuits people have heard of.

Likewise I hope that the series remains over 10 meetings. Whilst double headers are financially advantageous they, if you have a mechanical problem or dislike the circuit it can ruin your championship. For what it’s worth I would like the calendar for next year to include the same circuits as this (except swapping Pembrey for a second Brands or Donington round), but to be spread more evenly from March to October.

Coming into the race at Silverstone yesterday I felt quietly confident, I like the track, I’m feeling good with the car, and I was just enjoying my summer and my racing and feeling relaxed about everything. Yesterday evening, as anyone who saw me around 9pm can attest, I was extremely relaxed and delighted with how the day had gone.

Even though I hadn’t sat in the car since Pembrey I had a good feeling, and that was confirmed by qualifying on the damp and treacherous track where I instantly had a good response from the car and found it easy to pick out the grip. 2nd in session and 6th overall shows that I was right on the pace and straight through to the final. For once I had the whole day to wait out with no driver or mechanical dramas to get in the way.

By race time I was nicely nervous, buzzed but focused. Again on the warm up lap the car felt perfect and I just knew I could make it work. Everything from then on is a bit blurred, all I know is that it was the best race I have ever been involved in, a slipstreaming epic with more position changes on every lap than in an entire season of F1. This is the reason I love Vee, close, clean but damn exciting racing. All credit and thanks to Ian Buxton (driver of the day for the charge from 47th to 2nd), Jake, Martyn and my arch nemisis Steve Glasswell for keeping the racing so close and clean. Over the line the five of us were separated by just over 1s following 15 minutes of frantic action. It was the kind of race I wish had been taped so I could watch it again. Certainly judging by the waves we got from the marshalls and spectators on the slowing down lap we kept everyone entertained. In the end I finished 4th, equalling my best result of the year, but this one felt special with no significant retirements or incidents ahead of me in the race, meaning the result was totally on merit and bodes extremely well for next year.

I would also like to add my congratulations to Sam as Champion who has had a great year, its a shame I’ll stop him retaining his crown next year. Also thanks and congratulations to Andy Storer for his tireless support over the weekend and for the excellent beer at the post race party.

With only one round to go the focus of the entire racing world shifts to Oulton Park on September the 9th, as the world’s media will gather to see whether in his absence I can gain enough points to overhall Steve Glasswell for 8th in the Championship. Its a shame Steve won’t be there, but I’m looking forward to resuming battle at the Nurburgring in October.

Realisitically I believe a podium is on the cards at Oulton and would be the perfect end to a great first year of Vee.

I’ve got all the addicts symptoms, the hands are twitching, the muscles shaking and I’m desparate for my fix. Yep the six week Formula Vee summer break is hitting me hard, heck I was even watching Ford Fiesta racing from Lydden at 6.30am this morning on Motors TV to see me through the day at work.

Following the intensive week on, week off calendar, having weekends free is feeling a little strange, I’ve actually had to talk to people about something other than how to set up a Formula Vee for Cadwell Park. Obviously I made the mistake on my first weekend off, of talking to someone about how to set up a Formula Vee for Cadwell Park, but quickly realised that discussing the merits, or lack of, of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 was more socially acceptable. I’ve suddenly discovered I have a social life beyond seeing the Clerk of the Course on a fortnightly basis.

Luckily the end is in sight, Silverstone is only two and a half weeks away and I can’t wait. I’m the first to admit that by the time Pembrey rolled around I was desparate for a break from racing, but now I’m chomping at the bit to get going again. Furthermore, for the first time this year I feel energised by F1 following the excellent Hungarian Grand Prix and Jenson Button’s win. Monday morning was the first time this year I’ve been able to truly justify to my colleagues that, yes, F1 is damn exciting.

And finally how do I know that it is the F.Vee summer break? Because where I live in London it hasn’t properly rained in weeks, I’m sure that by the time Silverstone rolls around (and isn’t having a bbq truly tempting fate?) the weather will have broken and it will be wet, windy and cold - proper Vee weather

Three weeks on from the Pembrey meeting I’m still struggling to think of anything positive to say about the weekend. Two DNF’s, two self inflicted spins and an unnecessary first lap accident on Sunday afternoon pretty much sum up the races.

Friday’s test day was broadly positive as I was running in an engine and four new tyres so it was good the day passed without incident and I managed to set some fast times.

Saturday’s qualifying was rubbish, I was driving badly and ended up 17th right down in the midfield, 5th on the grid for the heat. I made a dreadful start to be 10th into the first turn. I began to work my way through the field before spinning at the Paddock Crossing and having to do it all over again. However I had a very enjoyable dice with Steve Ough for 7th and it was shame when he and William Burnett were disqualified for a ride height infringement at the finish. In the final i made a great start and made up 9 positions in the early laps before spinning again at Paddock Crossing and decided to park it before i damaged the car or myself

Sunday was a new day and the heat went well and I finished 3rd after a very enjoyable dice with Graham Kiddy. I was hopeful therefore for the final, but unfortunately it lasted for one corner before I collided with Ian Buxton coming out of the hairpin. I won’t go into blaming anyone but the incident was totally unnecessary and caused by a number of drivers being unaware of the traffic around them.

So that was it, weekend over with two no scores but still 8th in the Championship although only by one point.

However my real criticism from the weekend comes for the circuit staff and facilities at Pembrey. The circuit itself is thoroughly unenjoyable to drive and furthermore tends to produce spread out processional racing. I would also question the safety at the track as the tyre walls seemed very solid and easily hittable at speed. A good testing venue yes, a race circuit up to standard in the modern era? probably not

Then the circuit staff were a special case. This is not a criticism of either the 750mc staff or the marshalls who did their usual stunning job, but rather the actual track staff at Pembrey. Checking tickets on the way into Friday testing? Policing the paddock like it was North Korea? All this left a rather savoury taste in the mouth and detracted from my enjoyment of the weekend. If circuits that are genuinely near urban areas like Brands Hatch can be run in a professional and calm way then so should Pembrey which is quite frankly in the middle of nowhere. Given the number of great circuits in this country it seems a waste of race weekend to go to Pembrey. I for one would prefer a return to Mallory Park or a second weekend at Brands Hatch over a trip to Pembrey.

Anyway I can’t wait for Silverstone and Oulton where I’m aiming to claim my maiden podium and confirm 8th in the Championship

Over the past two weeks every pundit in the country has been talking about a game of two halves and I can only assume they’re referring to my weekend at Cadwell Park.

Saturday’s qualifying was disappointing as I was overdriving the car, trying too hard to set a competitive time. This left me 8th and 9th overall, or iin real money 1st and 2nd on the grid for the heats.

I made a good start to Saturday’s heat holding off Martyn Donn and John Hughes for the opening laps before I felt my engine gradually losing power when in 4th gear. I initially felt I could drive around this but with no luck and I had to pull out after 4 laps.

Amazingly due to the high attrition rate I was able to start the final from last place, and had a sensational opening to the race passing 10 or more cars climbing steadily through the field until I was struck by the same problem.

Luckily due to lightening striking twice Andy reckoned he had isolated the two or three things that could be causing the problem and sure enough the car was running fantastically from when we fired it up on Sunday morning.

Sunday’s heat saw me feeling cautious about the car’s ability to last race, which meant I spent more time defending than attacking. After spending the first few laps tucked up behind Steve Glasswell I grew sick of looking at his gearbox and dropped back allowing him to take the win …. or I lost his tow and fell into the clutches of Ryan Lindsay. After defending frantically for a few laps, Ryan found his way through only for his car to die on the following lap, allowing me a fairly easy cruise home to second.

For the final we made a few tweaks to the car which dramatically improved its performance. I made a good start from the line and cleared both Steve Glasswell and Martin Galpin leaving me to home in on Graham Kiddy. I found a way past Graham on the second lap after several enjoyable exchanges and set about closing the gap to Martin Farmer. Before I got the chance to make the move I narrowly avoided a spun Ian Buxton moving up another position.

Then the race was stopped following Martin Farmer’s huge shunt at the Mountain, capping what must have been a hugely frustrating weekend for the GAC driver, although it was an extremely promising display. Amazingly, despite bending his steering wheel in two Martin walked away, demonstrating the safety levels of Formula Vee cars.

The reformed grid dropped me back behind Graham and Ian, leaving me with some work to do. I got past Graham off the line, after his engine which looked sick on the warm-up lap decided to call it a day, but lost out to Martin Galpin into the first corner. This was rectified on the following lap, when after an enjoyable dice I slipstremed Martin into Coppice, he got me back into Park, only to run wide allowing me through.

This put me into 3rd, as on the previous lap, the Olivera’s had tangled into the Hall bends dropping them behind Martin and myself.

I held 3rd into the last lap, but Jake passed me on the way onto the back straight and the waved yellow’s at Park gave me no opportunity to attempt a repass. As soon as Jake was through Sam was all over me, but luckily there is no way to pass through the Woodland part of the circuit enabling me to hold on until the line, claiming 4th by 0.01s

So a mixed weekend, but one which could have been far worse.

A huge thanks to Andy Storer for his tireless efforts over the weekend, particularly on Saturday night and Sunday morning to get me out and competitive for Sunday’s races. Without him the weekend would have been over by lap 4 of Saturday’s heat.

Also, congratulations to Roger Bellingham for his excellent drives in both heats meaning that he automatically qualified for Saturday and Sunday’s finals.

Since the calendar was announced I’ve been looking forward to the Brands Hatch double header, my local track and the track where I have more experience than any other.

You can imagine my disappointment then as I pulled out of the pits to start qualifying to see plumes of white smoke in the mirror behind me. After completing my three laps to get into the race I retreated to the pits to see what the problem was.

Andy quickly diagnosed a broken stud head and managed to replace the broken parts within minutes. At this point I should say a huge thanks to Andy and Paul for the efforts in getting me onto the grid over the weekend. Without their help I’d have been heading home by lunchtime on Saturday.

All this drama meant I was 24th on the grid for Saturday’s heat and 28th for Sunday’s! A lot of work to do, and realistically I was aiming to get through the heats unscathed and pick up a low-teens final finish.

The first few laps of Saturday’s heat were scary, as some of the slower cars were not really aware I was there and coming through the field. Even so within 5 laps I was up in 14th place and closing on Bill Stenning when the red flags came out following Ryan Lindsay’s off. This was a stroke of luck for me as it meant I had another from further up the grid. In the 10 lap restart I carved through the pack to finish 5th and line up 14th for the final.

In the final I made a good start and was quickly on the back of a 10 car lead train. As that dispersed I found myself dicing with Steve Glasswell for what eventually became 7th. It was a great dice and although when I was following Steve I felt I was far quicker once I passed him I couldn’t pull away. This led to several laps of frantic defensive driving and all credit to Steve for keeping it clean and pushing me all the way. 0.04s on the line is close!! Obviously I was delighted with 7th but not over the moon at the prospect of doing it all again on the Sunday.

Sunday was even hotter than Saturday and with a box full of sponsors and my parents I knew I had to do something special. The first lap of the heat was it as I made up 9 places within the first lap including 7 by the time we got to Druids. The rest of the race was spent carving through the pack and without the aid of red flags I came home 7th, 0.09 behind David Lavington.

This put me 16th on the grid for the final where once again the aim was to slice through the field to a good finish. Luckily this job was made easier by Martin Galpin, John Hughes, Ian Buxton, Martin Farmer and the unlucky Simon Robinson falling off. Even so I spent most of the race in a cracking dice bottled up behind Jake Olivera, and with the retirements and a couple of well-timed overtaking moves I came home 7th, bottled up right behind Steve Glasswell, the sight of whose gearbox I am thoroughly sick of.

Given where I was on Saturday morning to come away from the weekend with two 7th places is a great result and leaves me very well placed for Cadwell next weekend, where hopefully I’ll pick up a podium or two.

Thanks again to Andy and Paul for all their efforts and also to Brooklands Executives and Nevard Roland for all their support over the weekend and throughout the season.

Although I claim to be a huge racing fan, I will readily admit to never having been through the gates of the track until Friday evening, not ideal if you’re racing there the following day.

This, together with all 32 cars on track at the same time made the 15 minute Qualifying session especially challenging. As well as trying to set a competitive time, I also had to learn the circuit. Whilst the two are not mutually exclusive I ended the session a slightly disappointed 12th knowing I had work to do in the race.

From the start I set about that work straight away, arriving at the exit of the first corner in 8th place, having left the grid in 12th! By the end of lap one I was in 6th and set about closing on the leaders, pulling out a huge lead over the cars behind. 6th became 5th when Mike Jenvey retired. At this point (it is Vee after all) the conditions worsened and it started raining. On the greasy track I quickly caught Dan Hands and Paul Smith in 3rd and 4th, clearing both cars on the run up the chicane. Upon arrival at the chicane I realised that rain during the previous lap had turned the track into a skating rink and I understeered across the second kerb launching the car into the air. Although I landed the jump the car was gently pushed into a spin by the car behind who was left with nowhere to go.

Facing the wrong way I resisted the temptation to shut off the engine and stop the race (after all I had made a genuine mistake) and completed a u-turn into the pits to get the car checked over.

This done I charged out of the pits angry with myself and determined to make amends. Now at the absolute rear of the field I set about a major damage limitation exercise and carved through the pack, eventually finishing in 14th place having passed over 10 cars in the closing 4 laps.

All in all a mixed race, on one hand I was, and am, devastated to miss out on my debut Vee Final podium, but my performance in the race shows that I won’t have long to wait before I do get on the rostrum. The pace of the car in the dry was sensational, and in the wet everything was working perfectly and I was able to cruise through the pack. Furthermore with the exception of the Olivera’s I have now passed every driver in the Championship in a straight fight and know that as the series moves to tracks I know, that I will be pushing for podiums and the wins.

I also enjoyed the Thruxton circuit enormously, and the same goes for the dices I had with everyone throughout the field, especially as the racing was extremely close, but exceptionally clean. I now can’t wait for Brands in two weeks time, where it will be warm and sunny!

Tomorrow the 2006 Formula Vee Championship takes me to Thruxton, the quickest circuit in the country, where I am hopeful of another strong result.

As usual the Bank Holiday weather promises to be wet (I understand the Vee drivers have asked to enter a team for next year’s Round the World Yacht race given our extensive experience of competing on water), but to paraphrase Kimi Raikkonen we made a ‘big step’ forward in the wet at Donington. To paraphrase me, it means I drove better in the wet than I have before, and we nailed the set up.

Due to the local druids at Stonehenge complaining about the noise, testing at Thruxton is extremely limited so I will be driving the track blind tomorrow morning (along with the majority of the field) and as such qualifying promises to be extremely entertaining. In lieu of limited testing I have had to resort to the Playstation and old F3 videos to prepare for the race.

Even so I am confident of a good finish that will hopefully propel me higher up the championship standings, and without a doubt the race will be a corking slipstreaming epic.

As always please come and say Hi in the paddock if you’re coming along to the race tomorrow.