Oliver Bennett

For the Trinidadian cricketer, see Oliver Bennett (cricketer).

Oliver Bennett
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Born (1992-11-07) 7 November 1992 (age 32)
Bristol, United Kingdom
FIA World Rallycross Championship career
Debut season2017
Current teamXITE Racing
Car number42
Starts23
Wins0
Podiums0
British Rallycross Championship
Years active2016–2017
Car number42
Best finish3rd in 2017 (Supercar)

Oliver Roy Bennett (born 7 November 1992) is a rallycross driver from Bristol, United Kingdom. He is the co-founder of the Xite Energy drink company, and competes in the FIA World Rallycross Championship and Extreme E for the Xite Energy Racing team.[1][2]

Early career

Bennett started his racing career competing in motocross from the age of 8, through to 18 when he competed in the European MX championship.

An accident left him unable to continue competition on two wheels so he made the move to four wheels competing in Rallycross.

Rallycross

In 2016 he made his debut in British Rallycross Championship racing an ex-OSME Ford Fiesta.[3]

In 2017 he finished on the podium 7 out of 9 races[4] and despite scoring the most points that season, he narrowly miss out on the overall title due to dropped point scores; he also got his first taste of World Rallycross action at Lydden Hill in a one-off race.[5]

Towards the end of the 2017 season, Bennett's team XITE Racing built a rallycross spec BMW MINI Cooper Supercar to compete in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, debuting it in the first round of the British Rallycross season at Silverstone.[6]

His 2018 World RX season started at the first round in Barcelona where he finished with a 15th position in a tough line up and wet conditions.[7]

The team continued their development of the car throughout the year, before Bennett made his Americas Rallycross debut, narrowly missing on semi-finals in his three appearances.[8]

Following the end of the 2018 World RX season, Bennett made his Gymkhana GRiD debut in Cape Town, South Africa.[9]

In 2019 Bennett will be entering the FIA World Rallycross Championship once again, backed by XITE Energy and automotive social media site Drive Tribe.

Dirt Rally 2.0

Bennett's Ford Fiesta rallycross car along with the XITE Racing Mini SX1 is available as a playable car in the Dirt Rally 2.0 game from Codemasters.

Racing record

Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results

Supercar/RX1

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 WRX Points
2017 Oliver Bennett Ford Fiesta BAR POR HOC BEL GBR
23 		NOR SWE CAN FRA LAT GER RSA 39th 0
2018 Oliver Bennett BMW MINI Cooper BAR
15 		POR
16 		BEL GBR
21 		NOR
20 		SWE
15 		CAN FRA
18 		LAT
20 		USA GER
15 		RSA
18a 		39th -3
2019 Xite Racing Mini Cooper ABU
17 		BAR
17 		BEL
14 		GBR
12 		NOR
14 		SWE
22 		CAN
15 		FRA
19 		LAT
16 		RSA
12 		20th 12b
2020 Oliver Bennett Mini Cooper SX1 SWE SWE FIN FIN LAT LAT BAR
11 		BAR
14 		21st 11
2021 Oliver Bennett Mini Cooper BAR
12 		SWE FRA LAT LAT BEL PRT GER GER 22nd 8

a Loss of 10 championship points – stewards' decision

b Loss of 10 championship points – stewards' decision

Complete Extreme E results

(key)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos. Points
2021 Hispano-Suiza Xite Energy Team Spark ODYSSEY 21 DES
Q
5 		DES
R
5 		9th 55
Xite Energy Racing OCE
Q
6 		OCE
R
6 		ARC
Q
9 		ARC
R
8 		ISL
Q
9 		ISL
R
9 		JUR
Q
9 		JUR
R
9
2022 Xite Energy Racing Spark ODYSSEY 21 DES
6 		ISL1 ISL2 COP ENE 11th* 8*

* Season still in progress.

References

  1. ^ "ENTRY LIST FOR WORLD RX OF PORTUGAL REVEALED". FIA World Rallycross. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  2. ^ Prydderch, Hannah Jane (28 May 2021). "Extreme E: Meet Oliver Bennett, Britain's electrifying entrepreneur taking on game-changing championship". The Independent. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Oliver Bennett to race OMSE Fiesta in British RX 2017 | MSA British Rallycross". www.rallycrossbrx.com. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  4. ^ "British Rallycross Points | MSA British Rallycross". www.rallycrossbrx.com. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  5. ^ Zurli, Tommaso (4 May 2017). "Oliver Bennett to compete in World Rallycross at Lydden". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  6. ^ "Bennett to debut Mini Cooper Supercar in British RX at Silverstone | MSA British Rallycross". www.rallycrossbrx.com. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  7. ^ "FIA World Rallycross Championship". www.fiaworldrallycross.com. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  8. ^ "ARX Austin - Official results" (PDF). www.chronomoto.hu. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  9. ^ "Gymkhana Grid". www.gymkhanagrid.com. Retrieved 6 December 2018.