Alex MacDowall

Last updated

Alex MacDowall
Alex MacDowall Racing Driver 2014.jpg
Alex MacDowall Racing Driver in 2014
Nationality Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British
Born (1991-01-22) 22 January 1991 (age 33)
Carlisle (England)
FIA World Endurance Championship career
Debut season 2014
Current team Aston Martin Racing
Racing licence FIA Silver Driver.png FIA Silver
Car number99
Starts15
Wins1
Poles4
Fastest laps1
Best finish7th in 2015
Previous series
2013
20102011
2009
20072009
2007
2005–2006
World Touring Car Championship
Ginetta GT Supercup
British Touring Car Championship
Spanish SEAT Supercopa
Renault Clio Cup UK
SEAT Cupra Championship
T Cars
BTCC record
Teams Silverline Chevrolet
Drivers'
championships
0
Wins0
Podium finishes5
Poles2
Fastest laps2
Debut season2010
Best championship position9th (2011)
Final season (2011) position9th (100 points)

Alexander "Alex" Hay MacDowall (born 22 January, 1991) is a British racing driver. He is currently competing in the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship season for Aston Martin Racing.

Contents

Racing career

Early career

MacDowall was born in Carlisle. He began his racing career in T Cars in 2005, and remained there for 2006. In 2007 he stepped up to the Renault Clio Cup with Total Control Racing, finishing 32nd overall. He then finished third in the end of year Winter series. In 2008 he improved in the main series to finish seventh overall, and finished third once again in the Winter series. In 2009 he took four victories and finished as runner-up to Phil Glew.

British Touring Car Championship

Silverline Chevrolet (2010–2011)

MacDowall's Chevrolet Cruze from the 2011 British Touring Car Championship. Chevrolet Cruze driven by Alex Macdowall. British Touring Car Championship - Flickr - mick - Lumix.jpg
MacDowall's Chevrolet Cruze from the 2011 British Touring Car Championship.

MacDowall's 2009 Clio Cup performances impressed top British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) teams Motorbase Performance, RML and West Surrey Racing, who gave him tests over the winter break ahead of the 2010 season. In March 2010 it was announced that MacDowall would race a Chevrolet Cruze for the RML-run Silverline Chevrolet factory-supported team, as teammate to Jason Plato. [1] In a wet qualifying session at Snetterton he became the youngest polesitter in the championship's history [2] but the car's gear lever broke as he changed up into second gear at the start of the first race. [3] He failed to finish in the points in either of the other two races. His rookie year was a success though, with two podiums, two pole positions and a fastest lap en route to 11th overall in the championship. Macdowall continued with Chevrolet in the British Touring Car Championship for 2011, ending the season 9th in the standings with 100 points and 3 podium finishes.

World Touring Car Championship

bamboo-engineering (2012–2013)

MacDowall competing in the 2013 World Touring Car Championship. Alex MacDowall 2013 WTCC Race of Japan (Practice 2).jpg
MacDowall competing in the 2013 World Touring Car Championship.

In February 2012 it was announced that MacDowall would race for bamboo-engineering in the WTCC for the 2012 season where his teammate would be Pasquale Di Sabatino. He scored points in his first race at Monza and again in the second race of the day. He left Italy in a three-way tie for the Yokohama Drivers' Trophy championship lead. He took his first win in the Yokohama Independents' Trophy at the Race of Austria. Di Sabatino was replaced by Michel Nykjær for the Race of Brazil and MacDowall missed out on an independent win to Nykjær in race one. His result in race one combined with two non-scores for Yokohama Trophy rival Franz Engstler elevated him to fourth in the standings, 12 points behind Stefano D'Aste. He took his second independent win of the season in race one of the Race of Japan. He went into the final race weekend in Macau with a slim chance of taking the Yokohama Trophy title. In qualifying he secured the reversed grid pole position for race two; at the start of the race he lost the lead to Norbert Michelisz but passed him again to take the lead. Both drivers were then overtaken by Alain Menu and MacDowall dropped to fourth when a tap from Yvan Muller spun MacDowall into the barriers after exiting the high speed Mandarin corner. Muller later apologised for the incident but no penalties were issued to either driver. MacDowall dropped back down to fifth in the Yokohama Trophy standings and was classified in 10th in the drivers' championship, tied on points with Mehdi Bennani but behind on countback due to Bennani's podium at the Race of Hungary.

MacDowall stayed with Bamboo Engineering for the 2013 season, partnering new teammate James Nash. He finished on the overall podium for the first time in the WTCC when he came third in race one of the Race of Italy, also taking the independents' victory.

World Endurance Championship

Aston Martin Racing (2014–)

In February 2014 Alex announced that he would compete for Aston Martin Racing, the factory Aston Martin racing team, in the FIA World Endurance Championship. This marked MacDowall's first competitive start in GT racing and saw him race at some of the world's most famous circuits including Le Mans, Spa, Silverstone and Interlagos. MacDowall competed in the GTE Pro category alongside former Bamboo teammate Darryl O'Young and experienced GT racer Fernando Rees.

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded in first race) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap – 1 point given)

YearTeamCar123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930DCPts
2010 Silverline Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze THR
1

7
THR
2

6
THR
3

9
ROC
1

12
ROC
2

12
ROC
3

Ret
BRH
1

7
BRH
2

3
BRH
3

Ret
OUL
1

7
OUL
2

9
OUL
3

Ret*
CRO
1

13
CRO
2

9
CRO
3

10
SNE
1

NC
SNE
2

Ret
SNE
3

13
SIL
1

4
SIL
2

9
SIL
3

10
KNO
1

2
KNO
2

9
KNO
3

7
DON
1

4
DON
2

11
DON
3

Ret
BRH
1

4
BRH
2

Ret
BRH
3

11
11th83
2011 Silverline Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT BRH
1

5
BRH
2

13
BRH
3

16
DON
1

9
DON
2

9
DON
3

4*
THR
1

10
THR
2

7
THR
3

8
OUL
1

3
OUL
2

5
OUL
3

18
CRO
1

14
CRO
2

Ret
CRO
3

8
SNE
1

2
SNE
2

4
SNE
3

5
KNO
1

12
KNO
2

Ret
KNO
3

10
ROC
1

12
ROC
2

15
ROC
3

11
BRH
1

3
BRH
2

Ret
BRH
3

Ret
SIL
1

5
SIL
2

9
SIL
3

4
9th100

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearTeamCar123456789101112131415161718192021222324PosPts
2012 bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T ITA
1

8
ITA
2

7
ESP
1

15
ESP
2

14
MAR
1

12
MAR
2

Ret
SVK
1

12
SVK
2

Ret
HUN
1

9
HUN
2

11
AUT
1

6
AUT
2

Ret
POR
1

10
POR
2

7
BRA
1

6
BRA
2

11
USA
1

5
USA
2

7
JPN
1

5
JPN
2

9
CHN
1

NC
CHN
2

17
MAC
1

9
MAC
2

Ret
11th68
2013 bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T ITA
1

3
ITA
2

20†
MAR
1

6
MAR
2

Ret
SVK
1

8
SVK
2

8
HUN
1

8
HUN
2

3
AUT
1

5
AUT
2

6
RUS
1

13
RUS
2

11
POR
1

13
POR
2

17
ARG
1

11
ARG
2

11
USA
1

4
USA
2

13
JPN
1

2
JPN
2

12
CHN
1

4
CHN
2

13
MAC
1

5
MAC
2

5
11th141

 – Did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearEntrantClassCarEngine12345678RankPoints
2014 Aston Martin Racing LMGTE Pro Aston Martin Vantage GTE Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 SIL
7
SPA
5
LMS
WD
COA
10
FUJ
3
SHA
4
BHR
12
SÃO
5
12th55.5
2015 Aston Martin Racing V8 LMGTE Pro Aston Martin Vantage GTE Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 SIL
6
SPA
1
LMS
9
NÜR
5
COA
4
FUJ
7
SHA
5
BHR
7
7th84

Complete British GT Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearTeamCarClass12345678910DCPoints
2014 PGF Kinfaun-AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 GT3 OUL
1
OUL
2
ROC
1
SIL
1
SNE
1
SNE
2
SPA
1
SPA
2
BRH
1

6
DON
1

6
25th24
2015 Oman Racing Team Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 GT3 OUL
1
OUL
2
ROC
1
SIL
1
SPA
1
BRH
1
SNE
1

9
SNE
2

7
DON
1

9
21st11

24 Hours of Le Mans results

YearTeamCo-DriversCarClassLapsPos.Class
Pos.
2015 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Aston Martin Racing V8 Flag of Brazil.svg Fernando Rees
Flag of New Zealand.svg Richie Stanaway
Aston Martin Vantage GTE GTE
Pro
32034th6th

Complete European Le Mans Series results

YearEntrantClassChassisEngine123456RankPoints
2015 Aston Martin Racing LMGTE Aston Martin Vantage GTE Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 SIL IMO RBR LEC EST
2
13th18
2016 Aston Martin Racing LMGTE Aston Martin Vantage GTE Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 SIL
1
IMO
5
RBR
4
LEC
3
SPA
5
EST
1
1st98
2018 JMW MotorsportLMGTE Ferrari 488 GTE Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 LEC
1
MNZ
4
RBR
Ret
SIL
1
SPA
4‡
ALG
2
2nd88

Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alain Menu</span> Swiss racing driver (born 1963)

Alain Menu is a Swiss racing driver who is currently working for Team BMR as a driving coach. He was one of the most successful touring car drivers of the 1990s, winning the prestigious British Touring Car Championship twice. He drove for Chevrolet in the World Touring Car Championship between 2005 and 2012 with a best finish of second in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pasquale Di Sabatino</span> Italian racing driver

Pasquale Di Sabatino is a professional racing driver from Italy. He has previously competed in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series where he was a race winner. He drove in the World Touring Car Championship for bamboo-engineering in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michel Nykjær</span> Danish racing driver

Michel Nykjær is a Danish auto racing driver. Nykjær is a two-time European Touring Car Cup winner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luca Rangoni</span> Italian auto racing driver (born 1968)

Luca Rangoni is an Italian auto racing driver. He is a married man with one son.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mehdi Bennani</span> Moroccan racing driver

Mehdi Bennani is a Moroccan racing driver who currently competes in the TCR Europe with Sébastien Loeb Racing. He was TCR Europe Champion in 2020 with the Belgian team Comtoyou Racing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Nash (racing driver)</span> British racing driver (born 1985)

James Elliott Martyn Nash is a British auto racing driver. On 16 October 2011, at the final round of the 2011 BTCC season, he clinched the independents' championship. In 2014, he is competing in the Blancpain Endurance Series for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craft-Bamboo Racing</span> British auto racing team

Craft-Bamboo Racing is an auto racing team. It was founded in 2014 after the merger of Craft Racing from Hong Kong and Bamboo Engineering from the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pepe Oriola</span> Spanish racing driver

Josep "Pepe" Oriola Vila is a Spanish racing driver. He became the youngest driver to race in the World Touring Car Championship when he competed in the 2011 season. Oriola is not only the youngest driver to start a WTCC race at the age of 16, he’s also the youngest to be on the podium and to have won a race. Feats he achieved in Brazil in 2011 and Morocco in 2013 respectively. His record of being the youngest driver ever to compete, score championship points and win a race in the prestigious WTCC remains to this day. In 2018 he competed in the World Touring Car Cup and finish 6th in a close title fight till the last rounds in Macau. In 2019 he switches from factory driver of CUPRA to Hyundai Motorsport. Oriola also won the 1st ever 24h race of only TCR Cars in Spa Francorchamps in 2019 with the team Red Camel-Jordans. He is part of the team Changan Ford in China Touring Car Championship CTCC where in 2019 won 3 races.

The 2012 World Touring Car Championship season was the ninth season of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, and the eighth since its 2005 return. The championship, which was open to Super 2000 cars, began with the Race of Italy at Monza on 11 March and ended with the Guia Race of Macau at the Guia Circuit on 18 November, after twenty-four races. Robert Huff won the Drivers' Championship and Chevrolet won the Manufacturers' Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 FIA WTCC Race of Brazil</span>

The 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Brazil was the eighth round of the 2012 World Touring Car Championship season and the seventh running of the FIA WTCC Race of Brazil. It was held on 22 July 2012 at the Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba in Pinhais, Brazil. Both races were won by Chevrolet with Yvan Muller winning race one and Robert Huff winning race two.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Guia Race of Macau</span>

The 2012 Guia Race of Macau was the twelfth and final round of the 2012 World Touring Car Championship season and the eighth running of the Guia Race of Macau. It was held on 18 November 2012 at the Guia Circuit in the Chinese special administrative region of Macau. The race was part of the Macau Grand Prix weekend, headlined by the Formula Three event. Both races were won by Chevrolet in their final event as a works team; Yvan Muller won the first race and Alain Menu won the second race, while the team's third driver Robert Huff became series champion with second to Menu in the second race.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 FIA WTCC Race of Spain</span> 2011 car races in Valencia, Spain

The 2011 FIA WTCC Race of Spain was the ninth round of the 2011 World Touring Car Championship season and the seventh running of the FIA WTCC Race of Spain. It was held on 4 September 2011 at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Guia Race of Macau</span>

The 2011 Guia Race of Macau was the twelfth and final round of the 2011 World Touring Car Championship season and the seventh running of the Guia Race of Macau as part of the World Touring Car Championship. It was held on 20 November 2011 on the Guia Circuit in the Chinese special administrative region of Macau. The race was part of the Macau Grand Prix weekend, headlined by the 2011 Macau Grand Prix Formula Three.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 FIA WTCC Race of Italy</span>

The 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Italy was the opening round of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship season and the ninth running of the FIA WTCC Race of Italy. It was held on 24 March 2013 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy.

The 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Morocco was the second round of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship season and the fourth running of the FIA WTCC Race of Morocco. It was held on 7 April 2013 at the Marrakech Street Circuit in Marrakech, Morocco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 FIA WTCC Race of Austria</span>

The 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Austria was the fifth round of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship season and the second running of the FIA WTCC Race of Austria. It was held on 19 May 2013 at the Salzburgring in Salzburg, Austria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 FIA WTCC Race of Russia</span>

The 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Russia was the sixth round of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship season and the maiden running of the FIA WTCC Race of Russia. It was held on 9 June 2013 at the Moscow Raceway in Volokolamsk, Russia, 97 kilometres from Moscow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 FIA WTCC Race of Argentina</span>

The 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Argentina was the eighth round of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship season and the maiden running of the FIA WTCC Race of Argentina. It was held on 4 August 2013 at the Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo in Termas de Río Hondo, Santiago del Estero Province, Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 FIA WTCC Race of the United States</span>

The 2013 FIA WTCC Race of the United States was the ninth round of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship season and the second running of the FIA WTCC Race of the United States. It was held on 8 September 2013 at the Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 FIA WTCC Race of Japan</span>

The 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Japan was the tenth round of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship season and the sixth running of the FIA WTCC Race of Japan. It was held on 22 September 2013 at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka City, Japan.

References

  1. "Chevrolet confirms official entry". British Touring Car Championship. 22 March 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  2. "Historic pole for MacDowall". crash.net. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  3. "Plato wins to take lead". crash.net. 8 August 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Alex MacDowall at Wikimedia Commons

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Mikkel Mac
Johnny Laursen
Andrea Rizzoli
European Le Mans Series
LMGTE Champion

2016
With: Darren Turner & Andrew Howard
Succeeded by
Jody Fannin
Robert Smith
Preceded by
Nico Bastian
Timur Boguslavskiy
Felipe Fraga
(Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup)
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup
Silver Cup Champion

2020
With: Patrick Kujala & Frederik Schandorff
Succeeded by