Benjamin William Barker (born 23 April 1991) is a British professional racing driver currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship. A Porsche stalwart for over a decade, he is an Australian Formula 3 champion, a Porsche Carrera Cup GB runner-up, a four-time Bathurst 12 Hour class winner and a Dubai 24 Hour overall winner. Despite limited success in the FIA World Endurance Championship, Barker is considered one of the strongest GTE Am drivers, having broken the lap record for the category at the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In 2023, Barker finished on the 24 Hours of Le Mans class podium, having played an instrumental role in his team's charge towards the front. Ahead of the 2024 season, Barker left GR Racing after eight seasons to become a Ford factory driver, moving to Proton Competition.
Early career Having started his career in karts in 2004, Barker would step into the British Formula Ford Championship in 2009 with Fluid Motorsport Development. Following a year in which he scored one win at Knockhill, the Brit would migrate to Australia for a season in the 2010 Australian Formula 3 Championship. He won the title by one point versus Mitch Evans, having taken six race wins.
Sportscar career
National Porsche Cups Barker moved into the Australian Porsche Carrera Cup in 2011, remaining with Team BRM, where he would finish fifth in the standings. The following year saw him return to Britain, partaking in a full-time campaign in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB. Despite having to wait for his first victory until the round at Knockhill, Barker would finish second in the championship, having won five races in a row in the latter half of the season.
Porsche Supercup In 2013, Barker graduated to the Porsche Supercup as part of Team Bleekemolen. With a best result of fourth at the final round, Barker finished tenth in the overall standings and third in the rookie classification. At the end of the year, Barker would receive a silver ranking by the FIA.
Remaining in the Supercup for 2014, Barker would score one podium for the Lechner Racing Team. He also took part in the support race of the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he won with a gap of five seconds to Tom Dillmann. As well as this, Barker paired up with businessman Michael Wainwright at his team Gulf Racing in the LMGTE class of the European Le Mans Series, driving a Porsche 911 RSR. Finally, Barker made six appearances for GB Autosport in the United SportsCar Championship.
At the start of 2015, Barker would be upgraded to gold by the FIA. He switched to MOMO-Megatron Team PARTRAX in the Porsche Supercup, where a podium at Monaco helped him to ninth in the standings. He also appeared in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, in which the Briton scored two podiums.
Tenure with GR Racing Before the 2016 season, it was announced that Barker would partner Michael Wainwright and Adam Carroll at Gulf Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Driving in the LMGTE Am category, the trio scored four fourth places and finished fifth in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, thereby ending up sixth in the teams' championship. Barker partook in a round of the ELMS with Proton Competition, scoring a pole position at Estoril.
Barker remained with Wainwright and Gulf Racing for the 2017 season, this time being partnered by Nick Foster. Their results improved, as Barker was able to guide the team to third place at Mexico and to second in Shanghai, though the team would once again finish the championship as the lowest full-time entrant with fifth place overall.
For the 2018–19 WEC "super-season", Barker and Wainwright were joined by Alex Davison for the first three rounds and by Thomas Preining during subsequent events. The season itself brought few peaks, with the team failing to score a podium, though their consistency of finishing every race would bring Gulf Racing sixth in the standings. Barker managed to stand out, setting a new lap record for his category at the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans. During these two years Barker would also win the Bathurst 12 Hour race in the GT3 Cup class, having previously won this race in 2014 driving in the same category.
In the 2019–20 WEC campaign, Barker, Wainwright, and new teammate Andrew Watson managed to score a lone podium in Bahrain, finishing third. They ended up seventh in the standings, having once again completed every race. At the start of 2020, Barker would attain overall victory at the Dubai 24 Hours and took another Bathurst victory, this one coming in the GT3 Pro-Am class.
The 2021 season proved to be a disappointment, as the team dropped to twelfth and last of all full-time LMGTE Am entries with a best race result of sixth place.
Having started his 2022 season by leading Dinamic Motorsport in the Asian Le Mans Series, Barker returned to GR Racing with Wainwright and new silver-ranked driver Riccardo Pera. Even though they missed the opening round, the team improved by scoring a then-record fourth place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and rising to eighth in the teams' standings. Barker would play his part, setting two overall fastest laps in class at Spa and Monza.
The team retained their lineup for the 2023 WEC season, the last of the LMGTE era. The year proved to be the team's magnum opus, as Barker helped GR to finish third at the Centenary Le Mans 24 Hours, where Barker proved to be the fastest LMGTE driver, before managing another third place in Monza. These two podiums helped the team to sixth in the championship. Barker concluded his tenure with GR Racing by racing in the 2023–24 Asian Le Mans Series, stating that Wainwright and the team had "put [him] on a pedestal" by giving him the chance to race in the WEC for seven seasons.
Ford factory driver At the end of 2023, it was announced that Barker would become part of the Ford factory driver lineup in the WEC and join the Canada-based Multimatic Motorsports operation. He would migrate to Proton Competition, driving a Ford Mustang GT3 alongside Zacharie Robichon and Ryan Hardwick in 2024.
Racing record Racing career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition2009British Formula Ford ChampionshipFluid Motorsport Development2411112728thFormula Ford Festival30001N/A4th2010Australian Formula 3 Championship - Gold StarTeam BRM206110122201stAustralian Formula 3 Championship - East Coast Shootout830561011stAustralian Formula Ford Championship200000NC†Fujitsu V8 Supercar SeriesMW Motorsport2000015631st2011Porsche Carrera Cup AustraliaTeam BRM2122367555thPorsche Carrera Cup Great BritainParr Motorsport400124517thRadical Australia CupExcaliber Racing210120NC†PSCRAA Enduro ChampionshipQuintessence Construction200000NC†2012Porsche Carrera Cup Great BritainParr Motorsport2055592822ndHistoric Grand Prix of Monaco - F3 pre-198511111N/A1st2013Porsche SupercupTeam Bleekemolen900006610thPorsche Carrera Cup AsiaTeam BetterLife200010NC†2014Porsche SupercupVERVA Lechner Racing Team100001966thEuropean Le Mans Series - GTCGulf Racing UK400002612thUnited Sports Car Championship - GTDGB Autosport6000013926thPorsche Carrera Cup Great BritainParr Motorsport331232219thPorsche Carrera Cup 24H Le Mans Support Race - Class A11001N/A1stBathurst 12 Hour - Class BGrove Motorsport11001N/A1st2015Porsche SupercupMOMO-Megatron Team PARTRAX90001699thPorsche Carrera Cup Germany - Class ALand Motorsport17000210112thBathurst 12 Hour - Class BGrove Group10001N/A2nd2016FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE AmGulf Racing900001067th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am10000N/A5thPorsche SupercupMOMO-Megatron Team PARTRAX400004312thEuropean Le Mans Series - GTEProton Competition101001118thGT3 Le Mans CupMentos Racing100011811thIMSA SportsCar Championship - GTDTRG-AMR100002645th2017FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE AmGulf Racing90002976th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am10000N/A10thLe Mans Cup - GT34113244.56thBathurst 12 Hour - Class B (GT3 Cup)Grove Motorsport101100NC†2018European Le Mans Series - GTEGulf Racing200001012th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am10010N/A10thBathurst 12 Hour - Class B (GT3 Cup)Grove Racing11101N/A1st2018–19FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE AmGulf Racing UK80010797th 2019Bathurst 12 Hour - Class B (GT3 Cup)Grove Racing11101N/A1st 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am Gulf Racing10000N/A8th2019–20FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE AmGulf Racing80001859th2020European Le Mans Series - GTEGulf Racing UK100000NC† 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am10000N/A5th24H GT Series Continents' - GT3 ProBlack Falcon11001303rd Dubai 24 Hour - GT3 Pro11001N/A1st Bathurst 12 Hour - Class A (GT3 Pro/Am) Grove Racing11001N/A1st2021FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE AmGR Racing600002315th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am10000N/A14thInternational GT Open - Pro CupLechner Racing201021813thBritish GT Cup Championship - GTHIn2 Racing420030NC†2022Asian Le Mans Series - GTDinamic Motorsport400005.513thFIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE AmGR Racing500205010th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am10000N/A4th GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup Barwell Motorsport000000NCGT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup - Pro-Am0010017th GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Barwell Motorsport100000NC Allied Racing10000GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup - GoldBarwell Motorsport100001815thAllied Racing10010 Bathurst 12 Hour - Class A (GT3 Pro/Am) Grove Racing10000N/ADNF 2023 Asian Le Mans Series - GT Dinamic GT00000 0 23rd Kessel Racing10000 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am GR Racing70002646th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am10001N/A3rd GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Dinamic GT Huber Racing300000NC Dinamic GT20000 Aurum 1006 km - GT Open LG OLED LKU by Porsche Club Lithuania 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 7th2023–24 Asian Le Mans Series - GT GR Racing40000625th 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGT3 Proton Competition 8 0 0 0 0 18 22nd IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD1000017269th GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup100000NC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - VT2-FWD Walkenhorst Motorsport100010NC† Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - VT2-R+4WD100000NC† Aurum 1006 km - GT Open LG OLED & RIMO Adero 1 1 1 1 1 N/A 1st2025 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGT3 Proton Competition 8 0 0 0 0 39 14th IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD Pro Ford Multimatic Motorsports 2 0 0 0 0 586 22nd Aurum 1006 km - GT Open RIMO & LKU by EQUPAY.CH 1 1 1 1 1 N/A 1st 2026IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD ProFord Racing10101328216th Aurum 1006 km - GT Open RIMO Adero & LKU.LT 1 1 1 1 1 N/A 1st † As Barker was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points. * Season still in progress.
Complete Porsche Supercup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Points 2013 Team Bleekemolen CAT MON SIL GER HUN SPA MNZ UAE UAE 10th 66 2014 Verva Lechner Racing Team CAT MON RBR SIL GER HUN SPA MNZ USA USA 6th 96 2015 MOMO Megatron Team PARTRAX CAT MON RBR SIL HUN SPA SPA MNZ MNZ USA USA 9th 69 2016 MOMO-Megatron Team Partrax CAT MON RBR SIL HUN HOC SPA MNZ COA COA 12th 43
Complete European Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points 2014 Gulf Racing UK GTE Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 SIL IMORBR 12th 26 Porsche 911 RSR LEC EST 2016 Proton Competition LMGTE Porsche 911 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 SIL IMO RBR LEC SPA EST 18th 11 2018 Gulf Racing LMGTE Porsche 911 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 LEC MNZ RBR SIL SPA ALG 7th 10 2020 Gulf Racing UK LMGTE Porsche 911 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 LEC SPA LEC MNZ ALG NC 0
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)