Ben Warren

**Ben Warren**

Superleague Career
Nationality	British
Active Years
Team(s)	Constant Racing, ST Racing, Triple-Double Racing, Nijo Racing
Grand Prix	5
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podium finishes	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First Grand Prix	Mexico 2010 Superleague
First Win	0
Last Win	0
Last Grand Prix	Turkish Grand Prix 2011 Superleague

Ben Warren is a British sim-racer from Oxfordshire, England, and is founder of the Triple-Double Racing team.

Ben is currently a test/reserve driver for Nijo Racing in the Superleague and previously competed for Constant Racing, ST Racing and Triple-Double Racing. He is also currently driving for Nordsjoen Racing in the Supercup.

Beginnings

Warren began his online racing career in 2008, racing in some smaller leagues hosted at GPRO using EA's 'F1 Challenge 99-02', along with current and former GPVWC drivers such as Tom Parker, Chris Williamson, David Jundt, Simon Cattell, Tim-Oliver Wagner and Scott Bennett. Warren and company then progressed to rFactor for future seasons, and still race using various different mods today.

Warren was born with a rare disability called Sacral Agenesis, meaning the bottom of Warren's spine did not form properly before birth, leaving him paralysed from the waist down, and is a full-time wheelchair user. Despite his disability, Warren uses a Thrustmaster RGT FFB Wheel, which has four paddles on the back of the wheel, two of which are progressive paddles which he uses for the throttle and brake, and uses the other two paddles for shifting gears. Despite his difficulties, Warren is a proud disabled sim-racer, and prides himself on being able to race his able-bodied counterparts to the best of his abilities.

GPVWC

Megane Winter Series 2009/10

Warren discovered the GPVWC league just before the beginning of their Renault Megane Winter Series in late 2009, and promptly entered a three-car team called Triple-Double Engineering, with himself driving alongside Tom Parker and Nikos Evangelidakis. Warren himself competed at Ahvenisto, Mo-I-Rana and Imola, and thoroughly enjoyed competing in the large, competitive fields, and enjoyed some good racing.

Masters Series 2010/11

Warren competed once again for Triple-Double Engineering in the GPVWC Masters Series in 2010 which used the BMW E90 mod, partnered again with Nikos Evangelidakis. Warren was only able to compete in the last two events at the A1-Ring, and Silverstone. At Round 10 (Feature race), Warren qualified 13th of the eighteen car field, but made a great start, finding himself up to 7th place about halfway round Lap 1. However, he was hit from behind by Gavin Thomas, and dropped a few positions. After some great battles with Pavel Loknovski and Kieran Ryan, Warren found himself defending his 10th place position from David Jundt and Jason Muscat. Muscat found his way through, but he was able to fend off Jundt for a solid 11th place finish in his first Masters race. The Round 11 Sprint race was disastrous for Warren though, and after accidentally jumping the start and earning himself a drive-through penalty, some contact from other cars left his car heavily damaged, he was forced to call it a day.

Moving to the final two races of the season at Silverstone, Warren was disappointed with qualifying for the Round 12 Feature race, lining up 16th of the nineteen runners, almost a second slower than his free practice time. Warren made a good start, but was forced to slam on the brakes hard to avoid a slow starting Mal McKee, sending Warren down to dead last, before making his way past both Draig Racing cars before the end of Lap 1. Warren had found his pace again during the race, and duly set about chasing down some of the cars ahead of him, making his way past team mate Evangelidakis, Luke McKee, and Adam Smith before the end of the race. However, he just missed out on points, finishing in 13th place, three seconds behind Gavin Thomas. Warren started 7th for the reversed grid Sprint race, but made a mediocre start, and found himself passed by a few cars during Lap 1. However, Warren again made his way past a few slower cars, and found himself running in 9th place, in good contention for a solid haul of points. With two laps to go, Warren was slowly closing in on Mark Fuller for 8th place, but also had the faster duo of Ojay Clark and Jason Muscat closing in on him. Warren was able to fend off the faster cars behind, and pounced on a second to last corner error from Fuller to take 8th place in the sprint, and his best finish in a GPVWC race to date.

Warren finished 23rd in the Drivers standings after competing in just two events, and Triple-Double Engineering finished 11th in the Constructors standings.

Masters Series 2011/12

Warren plans to contest a full programme of GPVWC Masters for the 2011/12 season, and will be competing for Nijo Racing alongside Chris Williamson and Pavel Loknovski.

Superleague 2009/10

With the Megane Winter Series over, Warren was looking to make the step up to securing a role in the Superleague. After being approached by co-team owners Joe Consiglio and Mark Stanton, Warren became the reserve and test driver for Constant Racing. He took part in all the pre-season tests for the team, and was set to make his Superleague début for the team in Round 2 at China, but unfortunately Ben's racing wheel stopped working, meaning Constant could only field one car for that race, and Warren would have to wait to make his Superleague début.

Before Round 12 in Mexico, Warren was approached by ST Racing boss Mark Fuller to race for the team alongside Chris Williamson. Constant Racing had no problem allowing Warren to race, and released him from his contract to sign one with ST. Warren qualified 15th of the nineteen runners, ahead of teammate Williamson in 16th place. Warren made a reasonable start, but was nudged from behind by Williamson Dynamics driver Adam Smith at Turn 1 and forced onto the grass, but only losing one position, which was to Smith. The ST Racing driver quickly got his revenge, with a cheeky pass around the outside of Smith at the start of sector 2 to move him up to 13th place. Warren settled quickly into his position, and was able to slowly put a gap between himself and teammate Williamson who was running 14th, and under pressure from a recovering William Ponissi. Lap 4, and Warren found himself on the cusp of a points position already after an incident involving Sam Millar and Nick Rowland elevated the ST Racing driver up to 11th place. Meanwhile, Ponissi had made his way past Williamson and was beginning to close in on Warren. Despite moderate pressure from the Constant Racing driver, Warren maintained a one-second gap between himself and Ponissi, and was lapping consistently, and relatively mistake free in a slower car, compared to Ponissi in a faster car, but often making small errors in the twisty sections of the track. Lap 9 though, and the promising beginning to Warren's Superleague début came to an end. After exiting the twisty section of the circuit, Warren got on the power just a little too early, and his car under-steered onto the grass, and speared into the concrete wall on the left just before the final high speed turn, ripping the front wing and nose away from his car. Dejected, Warren got his car repaired in the pits and rejoined in 14th place. Just one lap later though, and a graphics driver issue with Warren's laptop meant he was unable to continue in the race. Despite his incident on Lap 9, a fairly high attrition rate throughout the field meant points were definitely still going to be up for grabs had Warren been able to continue.

Warren remained with ST Racing for the remainder of the season, and was set to stand in at a few more Superleague races for the team. However, laptop performance issues still lingered, and he was sadly unable to compete in any more races that season.

Superleague 2010/11

Warren initially decided to enter the world of team management, and secured a place on the 2011 Superleague grid for his new team Triple-Double Racing. He also hired two experienced drivers in Phil Perkins and Adam Rouse to drive for him, with Warren taking the test/reserve spot. Triple-Double Racing also entered a team into the 2011 Supercup, with Warren himself, and Pavel Loknovski taking the seats there. Just before the start of the season however, Warren parted company with TDR and gave his team manager spot up, deciding it would be in the best interests of both himself, and the team.

Not too long after, the Englishman became the test and reserve driver for another new team, Nijo Racing, managed by Chris Williamson. Warren made his first outing in Nijo colours at the in-season test at Fuji.

Warren made his competitive début for Nijo Racing at Round 7 in Magny Cours. Sadly, Warren struggled mightily with wheel problems, as well as just being genuinely off the pace, and qualified 19th of the twenty runners. Due to penalties for other driver's from previous incidents in previous races, Warren actually started the race in 16th on the grid. Despite his problems, Warren made a lightning quick start, and found himself up to 13th place even before turn 1. However, he quickly found himself in a sandwich of cars, with Mark Fuller inside of him. Fuller's car under-steered, pushing both Warren, and Ryan Walker into the Turn 1 gravel trap. Warren recovered, albeit now back down in 18th. Sadly, another incident involving Fuller had occurred at the Adelaide hairpin, and with cars laid out all over the track, Warren had nowhere to go, and lost his front wing hitting Fuller's slowly moving car. After getting repairs, and a brief battle with Christoph Lichtenstein, Warren's wheel problems returned, and he was forced to retire on Lap 2.

He also raced at the next round in Monaco, one of Warren's self confessed favourite tracks, and felt confident before the event of showing much better pace. However, qualifying was once again a disaster, and he qualified 19th of the twenty-two starters. He made a good getaway again at the start though, and was able to dodge numerous incidents in front of him, and remarkably found himself up to 10th place just before the start of Lap 2. However, a small brush with the wall cost him his front wing, but even after repairs, Warren found himself in a promising 13th position, and fending off the much faster Jason Muscat and Joe Consiglio for all his worth. Muscat and Consiglio were both also caught up in early incidents. Very controversially, the race was restarted, and Warren's promising position came to nothing. At the restart, there were no such incidents, and Warren stayed in 19th place. His race once again ended prematurely though, after a big crash on Lap 2, the car was undrivable, making it three DNFs in three Superleague starts for Warren.

Warren returned to his reserve role for the next few races, until Round 11 at Imola, where he replaced regular Nijo driver Abdel Damghi who was on holiday. Much more on the pace and feeling much more prepared than usual, Warren qualified 19th of the 23 starters, but much closer to the front running pace than usual, and out-qualified team mate Chris Williamson who was 21st. He made a good start, and avoided a few incidents, and found himself in 15th by the end of Lap 1. A couple of small offs on cold tyres and brakes dropped Warren down to 18th though a few laps later, and a small brush with the wall was enough to see the Englishman again lose a front wing. Warren spent much of the race on his own, but running at a solid, and consistent pace, slowly but surely closing down on his rivals. After leapfrogging Mark Fuller in the pits, Warren found himself in 14th place, and closing in on team mate Williamson near the end of the race. After a brief team discussion, Williamson himself decided to let the faster Warren through into 13th place on the last lap. Unintentionally though Warren out-braked himself at Piratella, allowing Williamson back through! Despite the mistake, the Nijo cars both crossed the line in formation, finishing 13th (Williamson) and 14th (Warren). With the disqualification of Williamson Dynamics driver Ojay Clark from the race, Warren was elevated to 13th place. Although neither driver scored points this round, it was still good for the team to get both cars to the finish, and for Warren in particular to get his first finish under his belt. Although the result didn't necessarily show it, Warren's race pace was fairly solid, and it was clear the Englishman upped his game slightly for this race.

Warren once again took to the track for Nijo Racing at Round 12 in Turkey, another track he enjoys. Qualifying went as well as it could, and he started the race 18th of the 21 runners, ahead of both ST Racing cars, and teammate Williamson. Warren made another customary good start, and was up to 15th by the end of Lap 1. This time though, Warren kept it on the track in the opening laps, and was able to keep in touch with the cars ahead of him. Due to some incidents and penalties given to drivers in front of him, Warren found himself slowly moving up the order throughout the race, and as his fuel level dropped, his laptimes consistently improved. Again, with consistent pace, and drivers making scheduled, and unscheduled stops in front of him, Warren found himself up into a great 9th place, holding off the Woods Racing cars of Mark Wicks and Kieran Ryan, as well as other cars too. 2 laps before his first planned pitstop though, heartbreak struck for Warren, suffering from a game crash, forcing him into instant retirement. Easily Warren's best showing in the Superleague so far, he was understandably very disappointed to be forced into retirement due to simple game crash.

Supercup 2009/10

Warren was set to compete for Constant Racing in the Supercup championship, but was unable to take part in any of the races.

Supercup 2010/11

Along with Pavel Loknovski, Warren was set to compete for Triple-Double Racing in the Supercup championship, but decided against racing for the time being. However, the English driver finally made his Supercup debut at Round 12, the Turkish Grand Prix. Warren took the second available seat for the famous Nordsjoen Racing outfit, teaming up with Ryan Walker.

Warren was instantly showing good pace in the Supercup car and at Istanbul, and qualified 8th of the 24 drivers. He made a decent start at the beginning of the race, and remained in 8th place at the end of lap 1, in hot pursuit of Mineral GP stand in driver Kenney Lybeer for 7th place, and already pulling out a comfortable gap over Ric Scott. Warren remained relatively close behind Lybeer for most of the first stint, but now had Draig Racing driver Phil Perkins slowly but surely catching both of them up. 8th became 7th for Warren after Ihab Abbas got it all wrong at Turn 13 and had to pit early for repairs. Once Perkins closed up on Warren, a fantastic battle ensued, with Perkins taking the Nordsjoen driver with a daring move on the outside of Turn 4, only for Warren to fight back with a pass at the heavy braking Turn 12. The two squabbled for a few more laps, trading positions a couple more times before Perkins pitted on Lap 16. Warren decided to stay out one extra lap to try and leapfrog both Perkins and Lybeer, both of whom had now already pitted.

Warren sandwiched between Kenney Lybeer and Phil Perkins in a battle for 6th at the Turkish Grand Prix 2011 in Supercup.

However, Warren's stop was a fairly slow one, after slightly overshooting his pit box, and also losing a few seconds with some small repairs to the car after light contact with Gregg Lawson on the opening lap. This meant Warren rejoined in 8th place, about 10 seconds behind 7th placed Perkins, but still with a comfortable 20 second gap ahead of the now 9th placed Tom Parker. The rest of the race Warren spent on his own, lapping consistently, but making little inroads on the battle ahead of him, but still maintaining the 20 gap to Parker. 8th place once again became 7th though, this time with the very unfortunate disconnection of race leader Bart De Vos. Warren remained in 7th place to the chequered flag, and was absolutely delighted to score points on his Supercup debut, showing genuine competitive pace, being involved in some hard, but clean battles, making few mistakes, and showing to the GPVWC paddock that he's beginning to make a big step in the right direction.