Ben Barnicoat

Ben George Barnicoat (born 20 December 1996) is a British racing driver who competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Vasser Sullivan and the FIA World Endurance Championship for Akkodis ASP; he serves as a factory driver for Lexus. In sportscar racing, Barnicoat won the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship in the GTD Pro class with Vasser Sullivan.

Born and raised in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Barnicoat began competitive kart racing aged nine. After a successful karting career—culminating in his victory at the direct-drive Karting European Championship in 2012—Barnicoat graduated to junior formulae. A member of the Racing Steps Foundation, he won his first title at the 2013 British Formula Renault Autumn Cup with Fortec. He further won the Formula Renault NEC in 2014, and the BRDC Formula 4 Autumn Trophy in 2015. Barnicoat transitioned to sportscar racing in 2017, contesting the Blancpain GT Series with Strakka.

Barnicoat took GT-class victories at the Gulf 12 Hours in 2021 and 2022, winning the latter Asian Le Mans Series. He then won the GTD Pro class of the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship, alongside Jack Hawksworth, and took a class victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring the following year. In LMP2, Barnicoat finished runner-up in the 2019–20 Asian Le Mans Series and later won the class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2024 with AF Corse.

Born in Chesterfield, Barnicoat began his racing career in karting at the age of nine. In 2007 he clinched the WTP Cadet Open and Motors TV Cadet Karting Championship titles as well as becoming WTP "Little Green Man" Vice Champion. In 2008 he graduated to KF3 category in which he participated in the MSA Formula Kart Starts championship and Kartmasters GP. He did remarkably well in both, securing 4th in Formula Kart Stars and 7th at Kartmasters. Barnicoat returned the year after and won Kartmasters GP, Formula Kart Stars and finished Vice-Champion in the Super One Junior Championship. By 2012, Barnicoat had claimed the CIK-FIA KF2 European Championship too. In 2015 Barnicoat claimed the Kart Masters GP Trophy in both the Senior Rotax and Iame X30 class, becoming the first driver to take two Kart Masters Championships in one day. Barnicoat has since continued to compete in the Kart Masters event and is now the most successful driver with 9 titles to his name. Claiming Snr X30 in 2017/18/19 and snr rotax too in 2019.

In 2013 Barnicoat made his début in single-seaters, taking part in the Protyre Formula Renault Autumn Cup for Fortec Motorsports, and won the cup with two wins.

Barnicoat continued his collaboration with Fortec into 2014, competing in the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC and Formula Renault 2.0 Alps series.

On 15 November 2015, it was announced that Barnicoat would race with Prema Powerteam for the 2016 season. However, it was later announced that Barnicoat would switch to race with HitechGP.

Barnicoat made the transition from single-seaters across into GT racing in 2017. The following six seasons have seen him compete - and win - on some of the biggest stages in motorsport. Appointed Factory Driver with McLaren a year later, Barnicoat took on the pivotal role in the development of the brand's latest range of GT racing cars. Barnicoat has also proven himself on the world stage with podium results at the Bathurst 12 Hour, Asian Le Mans Series, Intercontinental GT Challenge, GT World Challenge Europe, Pirelli World Challenge & the British GT Championship in both GT3 and GT4 classes, as well as back-to-back outright victories at the Gulf 12 Hours.