Ben Collins (driver)

Ben Collins (born February 13, 1975 [Speedsport Magazine, [http://www.speedsport-magazine.com/race-driver-database/biography/Ben-Collins-,163.html Race Driver Database: Ben Collins] , retrieved 2008-03-15.] ) is a single seater and sports car driver from Bristol, England. He started his motorsport career in 1994, competing in Formula First and Formula Vauxhall Junior on his way to International Formula 3. Collins is a Champion Racing Driver with success in Motor Sport from Formula Three and Le Mans Sportscars to GT and NASCAR.

Collins was placed second in the Marlboro Masters world class Formula 3 championship event in 2000. He set the pace at the 2001 Le Mans 24 hours race in his first season for approximately four hours during the rain at night. After winning the European Stock Car Championship in 2003 ASCAR stock car racing he was signed by PDM Racing to do selected rounds of the 2004 Indy Racing League, but the car never appeared. In 2005, he competed in the British GT Championship in a Porsche 996 GT3, winning races on the way before moving up to the FIA GT Series with Ascari where he led races and scored several Pole Positions.

Test driver

Collins has been a test driver for racing manufacturer Ascari during Ascari A10 development [Surface Transforms Plc, [http://www.systemst.com/case-studies/Ascari/A10/ Case Study: Ascari A10] , retrieved 2008-06-12.] .

Top Gear appearances

Collins has appeared on the popular BBC television programme Top Gear. In 2004, Ben Collins made an appearance during the fourth season of BBC Top Gear, alongside skydiving parachutist Tim CarterCrash.net, [http://www.crash.net/motorsport/f1/news/96604-0/ Reigning champion stars on BBC Top Gear] , 2004-07-27.] . The stunt involved Carter and an aerial cameraman jumping out of a Cessna light aircraft then landing in the open-topped Mercedes car being driven at speed by Collins.

In 2005, the driver featured during series five, driving a Lancer Evo VII and then a Bowler Wildcat vehicle in a rally race against all-terrain skateboarding world champion Tom Kirkmancite web |work=www.bbc.co.uk| title=Calstock's own World champion | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/extremesports/stories/apr_2005/tom_kirkham_mountainboarding.shtml | accessdate=2008-01-26] cite web |work=www.youtube.com| title=Top Gear: Skater | url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9AKp35gDco | accessdate=2008-05-07] .

At the start of series six, Collins appeared with other British Touring Car Championship racing and stunt drivers for a Five-a-side football game using a fleet of Toyota Aygo cars. Collins played in a team captained by Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond. The other drivers were Paul Swift, Tim Harvey and Tom Chilton (blue); playing against James May, Russ Swift, Matt Neal, Dan Eaves and Rob Huff (red).

On a separate occasion, following an accident involving Richard Hammond in September 2006, the Health & Safety Executive report into the event recorded that Collins had "worked closely with Top Gear as a high performance driver and consultant" and had prepared a briefing for Richard Hammond preceding the event [http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/releases/richardhammond.htm Investigation into the accident of Richard Hammond on 20 September 2006 at Elvington airfield, nr. York] , Information released: 22 June 2007, Health & Safety Executive] .

References

External links

* [http://www.collinsautosport.com/ Collins Autosport] official website.
* [http://www.cityspeakersinternational.co.uk/speakers/speaker_ben_collins.php Ben Collins: Racing Driver, Stunt Driver & TV Presenter] , biography at "City Speakers International"