Benetton International Motorsports
Full Name | Benetton International Motorsports Limited |
Base | Hull, United Kingdom |
Founder(s) | Silvio Bachot |
Team Principal(s) | Silvio Bachot, Giovanni Bachot |
Technical Director |
Benetton International Motorsports Limited (also known as just Benetton) is a racing team based in Hull, United Kingdom. It was founded by former Formula One driver Silvio Bachot originally in late 1997, although in it's current guise was founed in late 2018.
History
Silvio Bachot is a former racing driver, who was fairly successful in both single-seaters and touring cars. Bachot began his career in Great Britain in the late 1960s racing in Formula 3 and then in European Formula 2 before joining the cash-strapped Shadow and North Star teams in Formula One in 1978. After ending his Formula One career he became a successful touring car driver with stints in the Belgian Procar Championship and the World Touring Car Masters.
After retiring from racing completely in 1997, he went to doing business instead. He founded the team in that year, originally known as Bachot Grand Prix, with the base in Strasbourg, in order to help young French drivers, and also to launch his son Jean-Maxime's racing career. The team saw success in France, but it closed down in 2003 after an uncompetitive season following his son's graduation to Formula 3000. The team was then sold off, but then Silvio reopened the team, with the help of his brother Giovanni, who got them Benetton sponsorship during his time racing with them in junior categories in the 1990s, with their base in Hull, known as GB Racing originally (in reference to his brother's assistance, competing in the 2019 season of the GT Super Series part time.
The GT Super Series squad consisted of the part-time #9 entry with German driver Michael Rohnstock and Silvio's son, Frenchman Jean-Maxime Bachot making his second appearance for his father's racing team, only this time at the age of 41.
After 2019, in preparation for a potential full-time car, and elevation to further international competition, Benetton agreed to purchase the naming rights to the team, rebranding them as Benetton International Motorsports for 2020.
The team is of no relation to the former Formula One teams Benetton or Arrows.