| Benjamin Pedersen | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality: | Danish | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 1999 5, df=yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Copenhagen, Denmark | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Related To: | Christian Pedersen (CEO-Global Racing Group) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Racing Licence: | FIA Silver
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| Prev Series Years: | 2021-2022 2019-2020 2018-2020 2016-2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prev Series: | Indy Lights BRDC British F3 F3 Americas Championship F4 United States Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Benjamin Pedersen (born 11 May 1999) is a Danish racing driver. He last raced in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 55 Chevrolet for A. J. Foyt Racing.[1]
Benjamin Pedersen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. At the age of four, his family emigrated to the United States, settling in Sammamish, Washington.[2] [3]
After joining A. J. Foyt Racing, Pedersen relocated to Indianapolis, Indiana in 2022.
Pedersen began his single-seater career in 2016, driving for the Leading Edge Grand Prix in cooperation with Global Racing Group, a team set up by his father Christian Pedersen,[4] [5] [6] in the F4 United States Championship.[7] While he had strong start with a podium finish at Mid-Ohio, Pedersen ended up tenth in the drivers' standings.
For the 2017 season, Pedersen remained in the F4 US series, partnering Justin Sirgany and Jacob Loomis at Global Racing Group.[8] [9] This season yielded more success, as the Dane took podiums in the first two events,[10] before ending the campaign on a particularly impressive note, winning twice in the penultimate round and once more at the season finale, held as part of the 2017 United States Grand Prix weekend. These results led to Pedersen finishing fourth overall, beating both of his teammates.
In 2018, Pedersen returned to tackle the F4 US Championship for the final time, where he took two victories, placing fifth in the standings.[11] [12]
Parallel to his F4 campaign, Pedersen competed in the inaugural season of the F3 Americas Championship.[13] Despite missing two events, Pedersen finished third overall, being beaten by fellow GRG driver Baltazar Leguizamón.[14]
In 2019, Pedersen performed double-duties in the F3 Americas and BRDC F3 championships, the latter becoming his first venture into European racing.[15] [16] In the former, Pedersen won seven races, which included a triple of victories at Sebring, which put him second in the standings.[17] Over in British F3, a victory in the reverse-grid race at Silverstone, coupled with a further podium in Snetterton, left the Dane 14th overall.[18]
A full season of the BRDC British F3 Championship was on the cards for Pedersen in 2020, driving for Double R Racing.[19] He ended the season ninth in the drivers' standings, having taken three podiums including another win in Silvestone.[20]
Pedersen switched to the Road to Indy ladder for 2021, driving for Global Racing Group in Indy Lights.[21] The season began with a second place at Barber, although he would fail to take any podiums throughout the following three rounds.[22] The Dane, who by this stage was racing under an American licence, bounced back with a podium appearance at Road America before going on to experience a strong second half of the campaign, with four third-placed finishes elevating him to fourth overall.[23] [24]
In 2022, Pedersen returned to Indy Lights for his sophomore season.[25] [26] Having scored five podiums, which contained his first win in the category at Portland, Pedersen took fifth in the championship.[27]
Having tested for Juncos Hollinger Racing at the end of June,[28] it was announced that Pedersen would be entering the IndyCar Series in 2023, driving for the A. J. Foyt Racing team alongside Santino Ferrucci.[29] [30] In his first Indianapolis 500, Pedersen was named Rookie of the Year.[31]
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Formula 4 United States Championship | align=left rowspan=1 | Leading Edge Grand Prix & Global Racing Group | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 57 | 10th |
| 2017 | Formula 4 United States Championship | align=left rowspan=1 | Global Racing Group | 20 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 147 | 4th |
| 2018 | Formula 4 United States Championship | align=left rowspan=2 | Global Racing Group | 17 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 166 | 5th |
| F3 Americas Championship | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 183 | 3rd | |||
| 2019 | BRDC British Formula 3 Championship | align=left rowspan=2 | Global Racing Group | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 200 | 14th |
| F3 Americas Championship | 10 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 221 | 2nd | |||
| 2020 | BRDC British Formula 3 Championship | align=left rowspan=2 | Double R Racing[32] | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 299 | 9th |
| Euroformula Open Championship | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 15th | |||
| Formula Regional Americas Championship | Global Racing Group | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 12th | ||
| 2021 | Indy Lights | Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 356 | 4th | |
| 2022 | Indy Lights | Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 444 | 5th | |
| 2023 | IndyCar Series | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 129 | 27th |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Leading Edge Grand Prix | MDO1 1 | MDO1 2 | MDO1 3 | MDO2 1 | MDO2 2 | MDO2 3 | NJMP 1 | NJMP 2 | NJMP 3 | ATL 1 | ATL 2 | ATL 3 | HMS 1 | HMS 2 | HMS 2 | 10th | 57 | ||||||
| 2017 | Global Racing Group | HMS 1 | HMS 2 | HMS 2 | IMS 1 | IMS 2 | IMS 2 | MSP 1 | MSP 2 | MSP 3 | MDO 1 | MDO 2 | MDO 3 | VIR 1 | VIR 2 | VIR 3 | COTA1 1 | COTA1 2 | COTA1 3 | COTA2 1 | COTA2 2 | 4th | 147 | |
| 2018 | Global Racing Group | VIR 1 | VIR 2 | VIR 3 | ROA 1 | ROA 2 | ROA 3 | MDO 1 | MDO 2 | MDO 3 | PIT 1 | PIT 2 | PIT 3 | NJMP 1 | NJMP 2 | NJMP 3 | COTA 1 | COTA 2 | 5th | 166 |
(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 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Pos | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Global Racing Group | OUL 1 | OUL 2 | OUL 3 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SNE 3 | SIL1 1 | SIL1 2 | SIL1 3 | DON1 1 | DON1 2 | DON1 3 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | SPA 3 | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | BRH 3 | SIL2 1 | SIL2 2 | SIL2 3 | DON2 1 | DON2 2 | DON2 3 | 14th | 200 | |
| 2020 | Double R Racing | OUL 1 | OUL 2 | OUL 3 | OUL 4 | DON1 1 | DON1 2 | DON1 3 | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | BRH 3 | BRH 4 | DON2 1 | DON2 2 | DON2 3 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SNE 3 | SNE 4 | DON3 1 | DON3 2 | DON3 3 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | SIL 3 | 9th | 299 |
(key)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (Races with L indicate a race lap led) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Rank | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Global Racing Group w/ HMD Motorsports | ALA | ALA | STP | STP | IMS | IMS | DET | DET | RDA | RDA | MDO | MDO | GTW | GTW | POR | POR | LAG | LAG | MDO | MDO | 4th | 356 | |
| 2022 | Global Racing Group w/ HMD Motorsports | STP | ALA | IMS | IMS | DET | DET | RDA | MDO | IOW | NSH | GTW | POR | LAG | LAG | 5th | 444 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)