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 factory racing driver, while also competing in the

2022 FIA World Endurance Championship The 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship will be the tenth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The seri ...

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 The 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship was the eleventh season of the third-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also second season under the moniker of FIA Formula 3 Championship, a multi-event motor racing championship for single-seat ...

, and was a part of the McLaren young driver programme from 2010 to 2015.

Career

Karting

Born in Chesterfield, Barnicoat began his racing career in karting 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 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, 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

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 si ...

& 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 ...

where he had pole positions and race wins across the 2019 European Le Mans Series & 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) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

( key) (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) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete European Le Mans Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

( key) (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) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

( key) (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