A teenage racer from Oxfordshire earned a podium finish despite being in last place during the race.
Ben Crossley from East Hanney near Wantage has been racing since the age of nine years old and currently has 250 victories to his name.
The 17-year-old is regularly on the track racing and has been appearing on TV too with ITV’s motorsport coverage.
Last month Ben was racing at Oulton Park and took part in the Mini Challenge championship runs.
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Ben is part of the JCW sport category that races alongside the JCW category and over the penultimate weekend of June, he had two practice sessions, one qualifying and two races.
After finishing both practice sessions in fourth before grabbing a fifth place finish in qualifying and the first race, Ben saved the best to last.
Despite being in last place during the second race, the teenager managed to hit the speed and grab a podium finish with third place.
“For the first race of the weekend, I started fifth and finished fifth with some good pace but was unlucky to have a bad start,” said Ben.
“The second race went really well for me, finishing third after coming from last.
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“It was a very close race pushing to get second but I am still happy with third and a podium finish.”
Ben has an impressive record of wins to his name but missed out on a higher finish in the practice rounds following a crash.
“A very technical track saw me crash off in the first practice,” he said.
“My team Jam Sport got the car back together for the second practice in the afternoon and did well to come in fourth.
“On Saturday it wasn’t the best qualifying round and my best time was removed due to track limits so ended up qualifying fifth overall.”
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There have been many highlights during his five-year karting career including in 2020 when he finished fifth in the British Karting Championships.
2023 saw Ben selected to be one of only 18 students to join Motorsport UK's Academy studying Enhanced Diploma in Sporting Excellence at Loughborough.
Now racing Minis, the 17-year-old is driving for Jam Sport Racing and is the youngest driver in the ITVX televised JCW Sport Mini Challenge.
Ben has now had eight out of a possible 11 podium finishes and is third in the JCW sport championship.
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His next race is at Croft on Saturday, July 27 and Sunday, July 28 and all rounds can be seen on ITVx catch up and live on ITV4 on the Sunday race.
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