Ben Hanley And Prema Together In The 2007 World Series Championship
Feb 15, 2007
Prema Powerteam and Ben Hanley, RDD driver, have reached an agreement to compete in the 2007 World series by Renault. The British 22 year old, who will be competing in his second year in the category, like Prema, doesn’t hide his intentions to win. Hanley will be joined by rookie Xavier Maassen in the team. Ben is a Promising young talent, who made his debut in single seaters in 2005, establishing himself as one of the front runners of the Formula Renault 2.0 Italia Series. Last year he made the jump up to World Series by Renault.
Angelo Rosin? Prema Powerteam Team Principal: “To have a young and fast driver like Ben in the team, makes us proud and confident of good results. We are also delighted that Renault has entrusted Prema to run one of its drivers in this prestigeous category. We will try to do everything to give Ben the right tools to reap the rewards that he deserves. “
René Rosin? Prema Powerteam Team Manager: “With Ben Hanley and Xavier Maassen we are getting ready to front our second year in the World series by Renault. I believe that we have a good mix of drivers. With a talented British driver who can fight for the title, and a fast Dutch man in Xavier, who may lack experience but who will be determined to show his speed and ability against his more experianced team-mate. After a year of bedding in to a new championship and car, where we had various success thanks to Christian Montanari and Greg Franchi, Prema is ready to fight for the title. “
Ben Hanley: “This year my realistic aim is to consistently be in the top 4 and to go on and win the championship. Obviously my self-belief leads me to think I will win all the races as I have always put myself under the most possible pressure I can; this way I can’t be under anymore pressure and always perform a the same level. Prema Powerteam are in their 2nd year in World Seri es, but I believe with the structure and professionalism that they have, mixed with my experience, that we can go on this year to challenge for the championship. “
Follow interview trascript from Renault F1 Press Release (Credit: Renault F1)
Ben Hanley: “I am stronger” The RDD British driver enters his second year in the Programme. He will compete in the World Series by Renault for Prema Powerteam and aim at the title.
Ben, what lessons do you think you have learnt from your first year as a RDD driver? The list could be really long! We just learn so much on all levels that being part of the Programme is priceless. In a year, I have become a better driver physically and mentally. I will be even stronger this season.
What can you tell us about your first season in the World Series by Renault? 2006 was a very tough year for me and my team. The WSR is a very competitive championship. We started off great in testing, I was always in the top 5 a nd then the first few races were encouraging: we had the pace, but a bit of ill luck and lack of experience prevented us from a win. Then, just before Misano in Italy, my engineer, Kevin Picot, passed away in a car accident? From then on, even though the results in Misano were the best we had that season - the team and I found it rather difficult to get the right set up and we struggled towards the end of the season.
What was the most difficult task to achieve in that competitive championship? In all seriousness: to be declared the winner of a race! I won in Misano and then got disqualified for reasons that I found difficult to comprehend? Six months later, we won the appeal and I was reinstated the winner. Though I’m glad it all ended in my favour, it didn’t feel as good as it would have at the time? Hopefully this season, I’ll able to get on the higher step of the podium many, many times in order to make up for that.
What will be your main goals for thi s new season? To win the Championship what else? I have now the needed experience to claim the title.
