Ben Evans Racing

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.

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.

Ben’s strong May Day drive at Cadwell Park has not gone unnoticed, and his 3rd place in the Heat has earned him a mention in both Motorsport News and Autosport this week.

Yes you may have to look hard to find it, but Ben is over the moon and his ego has been suitably massaged

Ben has his best weekend to date in Formula Vee over the May Bank Day meeting at Cadwell Park. After spending Saturday’s test session learning the exhilerating, if tricky, Lincolnshire circuit, Ben was on the pace right from the start of qualifying.

Lining up 5th for Sunday’s heat Ben was quickly up to 4th and challenging for 3rd, before a second lap spin sent him to the tail of the field. However Ben kept his head and made startling progress through the field (on a track known for being difficult to pass on) finishing a respectable 12th and comfortably qualifying for the final.

The Final was from Ben’s point of view a considerable success, moving up from 21st to 14th, and on the hunt for further places when the red flag was shown following Scarab team-mate Paul Curran’s enormous shunt. Luckily Paul was ok and hopefully he’ll be back racing in the very near future. The restart saw Ben move quickly up to 12th, but the red flag was shown again after only four corners and results were taken back to the first stoppage leaving Ben 14th.

Unlike Sunday’s dry races, Monday’s heat was wet! Starting 5th once again, within a couple of laps Ben was up into 3rd following Steve Ough and Ryan Lindsay’s inevitable accident. Ben quickly closed on second placed Graham Kiddy, but although applying pressure, decided discretion was the better part of valour and didn’t risk a move in the treacherous conditions that were claiming cars everywhere. Even so Ben was delighted with 3rd place, scoring his first ever Vee podium.

This put Ben 12th for the final where he had perhaps his finest race in Vee to date. Proving lie to those who claim you can’t pass at Cadwell, Ben and Graham Kiddy had a fantastic tussel throughout the race, Ben eventually claiming the upper hand following a bold move into the Mountain. It was a hugely entertaining scrap to watch as both drivers played hard but fair. Having cleared Graham with only a couple of laps to go, he quickly reeled in Graham Card and claimed 7th place on the final lap with a brave move into Park. 7th in the final was another strong points finish and leaves Ben well poised for the remainder of the Championship.

On the 30th April and 1st May I will be competing in rounds 3 and 4 of the UK Formula Vee Championship at Cadwell Park, the British Nurburgring. Although I’ve never raced at Cadwell before it the home of circuit of both Scarab and RSS so I’m confident of a good of a good result. The circuit seems to be challenging, but flowing with lots of gradient changes all of which tend to suit my driving style, and a full day’s testing on Saturday should certainly improve my circuit knowledge. Hopefully it will be dry and warm (we’re certainly due one!), but whatever the weather I’m confident of building on the success from Brands last time out.

As always support is always welcome, so please come and find me in the paddock #51, and say hi.

Due to work and racing commitments from the benevansracing.co.uk team, we haven’t yet been able to build in proper links to Ben’s sponsors.

In the meantime you can visit them by following these links:

Brooklands Executives - www.brooklandsexecutives.com; www.brooklandsexplorer.com

Nevard Roland - www.nevardroland.co.uk

Ben would like to thank his sponsors for all their support this season and recommends a visit to their websites.

Ben recorded his best result of the season, and best ever Formula Vee finish in the Formula Vee Champion of Brands on Saturday:

Following the same pattern as Castle Combe, qualifying was dry and I posted the 7th fastest time, my best qualifying to date in Formula Vee. However as at Castle Combe, the race was run in the pouring rain with the track absolutely drenched. I made a good start, not suffering from wheelspin as at Combe and was challenging the cars in front into Paddock. On the run up to Druids I found myself boxed in and forced to hold position. This proved fortunate as the car in front spun on the exit and I narrowly avoided him on the exit of the corner.

The remainder of the race was a test of both stamina and endurance as conditions fluctuated, providing extremely limited visibility through the Grand Prix loop. When Paul Smith crashed out of 3rd I inherited 5th place and briefly diced with Mike Jenvey for 4th before dropping back following a mistake at Surtees.

From then on I worked to consolidate my position, do nothing stupid and bring the car home in one piece. Setting a very consistent pace at 2:00 per lap I pulled out a massive advantage over 6th place. This was just as well as I spun at Surtees on the penultimate lap. Following an awkward manoeuvre to turn the car around, including a bit of rallycross, I rejoined 30s later still in 5th place! Obviously the lap and a half to the finish were taken very cautiously!

5th place was a great result given the conditions and some of the luck we’ve had this season. I’d like to thank Paul Curran for all his help in getting me on track on Saturday.

Hopefully next time out at Cadwell it will be dry and I can show my true pace