Starting out as a driver himself, Lee Bentham’s career includes a number of Canadian connections in a coaching capacity. Bentham’s racing career began in karting between 1981 and 1992, where he won 19 championships across several series, racking up 224 wins and 310 podiums, while competing in five Karting World Championships in Europe.

Bentham won the 1994 Canadian Valvoline Touring Car Championship before moving to Formula Atlantic the following season. He recorded eight podiums en route to a runner-up finish in Formula Atlantic in 1996 before joining the Player’s Forsythe Racing team and finishing fifth in Indy Lights in 1997.

Bentham won the Formula Atlantic championship with Forsythe Racing in 1998, on the strength of two wins and five podiums. He recorded a race win in 1999, when he finished sixth in the Formula Atlantic championship.

Following his driving career, Bentham went on to become a renowned driver coach. He returned to Forsythe Racing’s Formula Atlantic program, where he coached Canadian James Hinchcliffe in 2006. The following year, he coached Canadian Robert Wickens, with the same team and series. He was a driver coach with Pacific Coast Motorsports at the Champ Car/IndyCar level in 2008, before holding that role with AIM Autosport in 2009.

Bentham was the driver coach for Canadian Zachary Claman DeMelo from 2010 to 2012 before taking on a slightly different role at the IndyCar level. He’s served as the Head of Driver Development for Ed Carpenter Racing since 2012, helping a long line-up of drivers including Josef Newgarden, Ed Carpenter, Rinus VeeKay and Mike Conway.