Ben Barnicoat (born 20 December 1996) is a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
racing driver who currently serves as a
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
factory racing driver, while also competing in the
2022 FIA World Endurance Championship for
Project 1 Motorsport
Project 1 Motorsport, formerly known as tolimit Motorsport, is a German auto racing team founded by Hans-Bernd Kamps and Jörg Michaels in 1993 to compete in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and later the Porsche Supercup. Based in Lohne, the te ...
. He has previously raced in the
2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship, and was a part of the
McLaren young driver programme from 2010 to 2015.
Career
Karting
Born in
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
, Barnicoat began his racing career in
karting
Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...
at the age of nine. In 2007 he clinched the WTP Cadet Open and Motors TV Cadet Karting Championship titles as well as becoming WTP "Little Green Man" Vice Champion. In 2008 he graduated to KF3 category in which he participated in the
MSA Formula Kart Starts championship and Kartmasters GP. He did remarkably well in both, securing 4th in Formula Kart Stars and 7th at Kartmasters. Ben returned the year after and won Kartmasters GP, Formula Kart Stars and finished Vice-Champion in the
Super One Junior Championship. By 2012, Barnicoat had claimed the
CIK-FIA The Commission Internationale de Karting (CIK or CIK-FIA) is the primary international sanctioning body for kart racing. It was founded in 1962, and is headquartered in Paris, France. In 2000, it joined with the FIA. Its most important event is the ...
KF2 European Championship too. In 2015 Barnicoat claimed the Kart Masters GP Trophy in both the Senior Rotax and Iame X30 class, becoming the first driver to take two Kart Masters Championships in one day. Barnicoat has since continued to compete in the Kart Masters event and is now the most successful driver with 9 titles to his name. Claiming Snr X30 in 2017/18/19 and snr rotax too in 2019.
Formula Renault
In 2013 Barnicoat made his début in
single-seaters
An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...
, taking part in the
Protyre Formula Renault Autumn Cup for
Fortec Motorsport
Fortec Motorsport Ltd. is a motor-racing team that races in the GB3 Championship. The team was bought in 1995 by current owner Richard Dutton.
Past drivers for the team include Juan Pablo Montoya, Gianmaria Bruni, Danny Watts, Jamie Green, ...
s, and won the cup with two wins.
Barnicoat continued his collaboration with Fortec into 2014, competing in the
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC and
Formula Renault 2.0 Alps series.
European Formula 3
On 15 November 2015, it was announced that Barnicoat would race with
Prema Powerteam
Prema Powerteam (competing as Prema Racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA Formula 3 Championship and European Le Mans Series and as Prema Orlen Team in the FIA World Endurance Championship) is a motorsport team from Italy. It mainly ...
for the
2016 season. However it was later announced that Barnicoat would race with
HitechGP after being removed from the
Prema Powerteam
Prema Powerteam (competing as Prema Racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA Formula 3 Championship and European Le Mans Series and as Prema Orlen Team in the FIA World Endurance Championship) is a motorsport team from Italy. It mainly ...
by Lawrence Stroll.
Sportscar career
Since joining McLaren as a factory driver in 2017, Barnicoat has proven himself to be a GT ace with podiums and race wins across the
Intercontinental GT Challenge
The Intercontinental GT Challenge is a sports car racing series developed by the SRO Group in 2016. It consists of international endurance races for grand tourer racing cars complying with the FIA's GT3 regulations.
Format
The series is aimed ...
,
GT World Challenge Europe
GT World Challenge Europe (known as the Blancpain GT Series between 2014 and 2019) is a sports car racing series organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It features grand tourer racing cars modified from production road cars complying with the FIA's GT ...
,
Pirelli World Challenge
The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the Stephane Ratel Organisation since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club s ...
& the
British GT Championship
The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports GT ...
in both GT3 and GT4 McLaren Machinery. In 2019 Barnicoat also made his LMP2 debut with the Thunderhead
Carlin Motorsport
Carlin, formerly Carlin Motorsport, is a motor racing team based in the United Kingdom. It currently competes in five championships: FIA Formula 2 Championship, FIA Formula 3 Championship, F4 British Championship, BRDC British Formula 3 and E ...
where he had pole positions and race wins across the
2019 European Le Mans Series
The 2019 European Le Mans Series was the sixteenth season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) European Le Mans Series. The six-event season began at Circuit Paul Ricard on 14 April and finished at Algarve International Circuit on 27 Octob ...
& 2019
Asian Le Mans Series
The Asian Le Mans Series is an Asian sports car racing endurance series created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and based in Asia. It is the successor to the defunct Japan Le Mans Challenge which folded in 2007 after its second season. ...
.
FIA Formula 3 Championship
On 30 July 2020,
Carlin Buzz Racing announced that
Enaam Ahmed
Enaam Ahmed (born 4 February 2000) is a British- Pakistani racing driver. Ahmed currently competes in the Indy NXT with Cape Motorsports, having previously driven for RP Motorsport in the 2021 season. He previously raced in the 2020 FIA Form ...
and his sponsors had separated from the team, and that Barnicoat would be replacing him at the team.
In four races, he scored one point, a 10th place finish in the first race of Silverstone.
Other racing activities
On 20 November 2021, Barnicoat raced a
BriSCA F1 Stock Car at
Skegness Stadium
Skegness Stadium is a short tarmac oval racing circuit used for stock car, banger racing and former greyhound racing and speedway stadium on Marsh Lane in Orby, Skegness, Lincolnshire. located just outside Skegness.
It hosts British stock ca ...
. He won the Consolation event, which allowed qualification for the meeting Final event, in which he finished in second place.
Racing record
Career summary
† As Barnicoat was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup results
† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
Complete British GT Championship results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete European Le Mans Series results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
* Season still in progress.
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
References
External links
*
Profile on Racing Steps Foundation site*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnicoat, Ben
Living people
Sportspeople from Chesterfield, Derbyshire
1996 births
English racing drivers
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers
Formula Renault 2.0 Alps drivers
British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers
Formula Renault Eurocup drivers
FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers
FIA Formula 3 Championship drivers
Blancpain Endurance Series drivers
24 Hours of Spa drivers
British GT Championship drivers
International GT Open drivers
European Le Mans Series drivers
Euroformula Open Championship drivers
Asian Le Mans Series drivers
FIA World Endurance Championship drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
Carlin racing drivers
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
W Racing Team drivers
Hitech Grand Prix drivers
Strakka Racing drivers
Teo Martín Motorsport drivers
Jota Sport drivers
Fortec Motorsport drivers
Formula Renault BARC drivers
McLaren Racing drivers