BEN TAYLOR TARGETS PROGRESS ON COOPER RETURN

Ben Taylor Racing has his sights set on breaking into the top ten when he makes his return to the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy this season.

Local racer Ben - from just over the county border in Norfolk - joined our Cooper line-up last year having previously raced a MINI in the Trackday Trophy series.

After a dramatic start to his rookie campaign at Brands Hatch that ended with his car on top of the barriers, Ben bounced back to produce a number of encouraging performances on track, which included a best result of 13th at Thruxton during one of three BTCC support events.



With a year of experience in the highly-competitive series under his belt, Ben is now chasing forward progress in his second year in the championship.

"I’m delighted to be back in the MINI CHALLENGE as part of the EXCELR8 Motorsport line-up," he said. "Last year was a steep learning curve, but I was really starting to feel comfortable by the second half of the season.


"I’ll be looking to build on that in 2024 with the top ten being the initial target. After that, who knows? If you can stay with the leading group in the Cooper class, you've always got a chance of a podium…"

POSITIVE START FOR BEN TAYLOR WITH HOME TROPHY

June 17, 2024
Ben Taylor enjoyed a positive start to his second season in the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE with victory in the Directors Cup of the Snetterton season opener. Taylor had endured a trying start to his rookie campaign twelve months ago after a dramatic incident at Brands Hatch ended with his car sitting on top of the barriers after rolling out of race three. Things would prove to be more relaxed in the first race of the new season, with Taylor lining up 18th on the grid and running third in class through the early stages behind Paul Manning and John Castle. Having got ahead of Castle, Taylor was then able to take advantage when Manning ran wide at the hairpin on the final lap, getting a run into the next left-hander where he was able to sweep ahead. Crossing the line in 18th overall, Taylor beat Manning to Directors Cup honours by half a second to earn himself a first trophy in the series. “Paul and John were both running ahead of me and with them also being in the Directors Cup, I just had to stay patient and make sure I took my chances,” he said.  “Getting my first trophy in the series at my home circuit is great, and I want to try and build on it over the remainder of the weekend. I feel there is more pace in the car and I hope this can be the first trophy of many.”

ANOTHER CHALLENGING WEEKEND IN THE MINI CHALLENGE AT SNETTERTON

By Ben Taylor • May 15, 2023
🏁 Round 2 - Snetterton 🏁 Qualifying - P24 Race 1 - P22 Race 2 - P24 Race 3 - P20 Another challenging weekend in the @minichallengeuk at @snettertonofficial. Delighted to have finished all three races the right way up! And to have scored my first top 20. However, this weekend has really highlighted just how competitive this championship is and that there's work still to do in order to be truly competitive.  Onto @thruxtonracing with the @btcc in less than 3 weeks time where I'll be looking for more improvement. Huge thanks again to @excelr8motorsport and a special mention to @mattmotorsport for trusting me with the car.

BRANDS HATCH - UPDATE AND RESULTS

By Ben Taylor • April 10, 2023
Not how I had imagined my first race weekend in the Vertu Motors plc Mini Challenge Trophy ending! Upside-down on top of a tyre wall after a high-speed crash in race 3. First and foremost I'm absolutely fine, not even a scratch, which having looked back at the footage from the live stream is testament to how strong these little cars are and how effective modern safety equipment is when it comes to driver protection. Secondly, once again a huge thanks is owed to the marshals and medical crew who were on the scene in a matter of seconds to check I was ok and to help me out of the car. We couldn't go racing at all without this incredible volunteer army and although I was unhurt I was very grateful to see them through the window as I hung upside-down in my harness.  Overall it was a very positive weekend in what is an incredibly competitive championship. Qualifying didn't quite go to plan and I felt that I had the pace to be further up the grid. Race 1 was tough and after being a little over-cautious I lost a few places. Race 2 was a massive improvement and saw me move up to finish 20th overall. Race 3 was looking like being my best result of the day until the incident which was a huge disappointment.

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