British racing driver
Benjamin Michael Hanley
(born 22 January 1985) is a British racing driver who was a part of
Renault F1 Team
's
Renault Driver Development Program
from 2006 to 2008.
[1]
He raced two seasons part time in the
NTT IndyCar Series
.
[2]
Currently he is racing in the
FIA World Endurance Championship
,
European Le Mans Series
, and the
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
with
Dragonspeed Racing
.
Career
[
edit
]
Hanley driving at the
2023 24 Hours of Le Mans
for Nielsen Racing.
Hanley had a successful career in
karting
, winning a number of championships and individual races and coming close to winning the Karting World Championship. He made his debut in
Single-seater cars
in the
2005 Formula Renault 2.0 Italia
series, and finished 3rd driving for
Cram Competition
. He then raced in the
Formula Renault 3.5 Series
in 2006 and in 2007 he finished as runner-up in the championship, driving for
Prema Powerteam
.
[1]
He was signed to drive for Campos Racing in early 2008, partnering
Vitaly Petrov
.
[3]
He also joined the team for the second round of the
2008
GP2 Asia Series
, scoring a podium finish in his first GP2 race. After three races of the season Hanley and Campos parted company, but he secured a drive with
Durango
before the next race.
[4]
He replaced
Marcello Puglisi
, who was in turn deputising for the injured
Davide Valsecchi
. However, this was only a one-off drive, as Valsecchi returned to racing action at the next round of the championship.
[5]
He began 2009 without a drive, but joined the
Euroseries 3000
mid-season and won during his first event in the category. He also returned to karting in 2009, finishing third in the
Karting World Championship
.
[6]
IndyCar
[
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]
On December 17, 2018, it was announced that Hanley would compete in 5 IndyCar races, including the
103rd Indianapolis 500
, with
DragonSpeed
in 2019. Only three of those races were fulfilled because of visa issues, and he could not compete in the Championship beyond the
Indianapolis 500
. The No. 81 qualified 27th and then Finished 32nd in the race after a mechanical issue.
In January 2020 it was confirmed that he would return with Dragonspeed.
[7]
The team planned to enter 6 races, but due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
the St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca races were cancelled, and the team did not field an entry for Texas. On August 8, the team announced that Hanley would drive their entry for the Indianapolis 500, which was held on August 23. With little preparation time, the team had numerous mechanical issues in practice, resulting in qualifying in the 33rd and last position. The car finished the race in 23rd place.
On October 28, 2020 the team shuttered their IndyCar Series program and sold their IndyCar assets to
Meyer Shank Racing
, citing the team "being taken back two years" due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Team Owner Elton Julian left open the possibility of returning to the series when "the next big thing happens for IndyCar" if the resources were available.
[8]
Racing record
[
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]
Career summary
[
edit
]
†
As Hanley was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
‡
Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.
*
Season still in progress.
Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position; results in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
Complete GP2 Series results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position; results in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
Complete GP2 Asia Series results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position; results in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
Superleague Formula
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position; results in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
† Non-championship event.
Complete European Le Mans Series results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position; results in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
‡
Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
*
Season still in progress.
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position; results in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
†
Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.
*
Season still in progress.
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position; results in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
†
Not eligible for points.
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
[
edit
]
American open-wheel racing results
[
edit
]
(
key
)
IndyCar Series
[
edit
]
(
key
)
Indianapolis 500
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]