Ben Edwards

Ben Edwards (* in Surrey ) is a British motorsport commentator. He is currently Formula 1 commentator for the BBC, where he has replaced Martin Brundle . He was previously the official Worldfeed Commentator for the BTCC and also commented on Superleague Formula races . In addition, he has been the spokesman for the official Formula 1 annual reviews since 2002.

Racing car driver

Ben Edwards started as a racing driver and won the Formula First championship, he was also champion of the Caterham Vauxhall Sports Cars series. Edwards also competed in the Euro Vauxhall Lotus Championship, where he a. a. drove against David Coulthard and Mika Häkkinen .

commentator

Ben Edwards started his commentary career at Eurosport , where he commented on Formula 1 together with former racing driver John Watson .

After Eurosport lost the Formula 1 rights in late 1996, Ben Edwards became the official commentator for the Champ Car series on ESPN International and Eurosport. He worked with Jeremy Shaw , which made the two very popular with motorsport fans. Edwards' most famous comment came from the last lap of the Champ Car race in Michigan in 2000, when Juan Pablo Montoya won a razor-thin ahead of Michael Andretti . Several broadcasters, including Eurosport France, use his commentary in the highlights.

Although Edwards was very popular with the audience, it cost him more and more energy to travel back and forth between England and the USA. Therefore he later reduced his engagement in the United States.

In 2001 Edwards was replaced by Guy Hobbs as champ car commentator, his last appearances as commentator were the races in Japan, Detroit, Mid-Ohio, Germany, Houston and Australia, because Hobbs and Shaw had different duties during this period.

In early 2002, Ben Edwards switched to the English TV station ITV and became a commentator for the BTCC, which he did until the end of 2011. Edwards was also to take on the role of Formula 1 commentator at ITV after the legendary Murray Walker resigned, but James Allen got the job referred to by British viewers as "The Cock" during his time as Formula 1 commentator. His unpopularity led to many fans demanding his expulsion in favor of Ben Edwards and even starting several petitions against Allen.

Ben Edwards was then hired by the English pay broadcaster Sky . Sky or F1 Digital + broadcast Formula 1 from several perspectives in 2002. Co-commentator was his old friend and colleague John Watson. The F1 Digital + project failed in England after just one year after Bernie Ecclestone had the digital transmission from “Bakersville” discontinued after almost seven years.

From 2005, Ben Edwards and John Watson worked together again. Both were the Worldfeed commentators on the A1GP series. Up to and including 2008, fans had the opportunity to hear them on Premiere's A1GP broadcasts , because the pay-TV channel also offered the English soundtrack in addition to the German soundtrack. After the series ended in 2009, Edwards switched to Superleague Formula, where he has also been a commentator since then.

He has been a Formula 1 commentator at the BBC since 2012, where he took on the role of Martin Brundle, who has switched to Sky Sports . Ben Edwards was born in Surrey and currently resides in Norfolk.

Web links

• Short biography of Ben Edwards on the website of his company Entreprix (English)