Alex MacDowall

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alex MacDowall
Alex MacDowall Racing Driver in 2014
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Born (1991-01-22) 22 January 1991 (age 33)
Carlisle (England)
FIA World Endurance Championship career
Debut season2014
Current teamAston Martin Racing
Racing licence 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
TeamsSilverline 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.

Racing career[edit]

Early career[edit]

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[edit]

Silverline Chevrolet (2010–2011)[edit]

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[edit]

bamboo-engineering (2012–2013)[edit]

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[edit]

Aston Martin Racing (2014–)[edit]

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[edit]

Complete British Touring Car Championship results[edit]

(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)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Pts
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
11th 83
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
9th 100

Complete World Touring Car Championship results[edit]

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

Year Team Car 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 Pts
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
11th 68
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
11th 141

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

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results[edit]

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

Year Entrant Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rank Points
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
12th 55.5
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
7th 84

Complete British GT Championship results[edit]

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

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points
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
25th 24
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
21st 11

24 Hours of Le Mans results[edit]

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2015 United Kingdom Aston Martin Racing V8 Brazil Fernando Rees
New Zealand Richie Stanaway
Aston Martin Vantage GTE GTE
Pro
320 34th 6th

Complete European Le Mans Series results[edit]

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points
2015 Aston Martin Racing LMGTE Aston Martin Vantage GTE Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 SIL IMO RBR LEC EST
2
13th 18
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
1st 98
2018 JMW Motorsport LMGTE Ferrari 488 GTE Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 LEC
1
MNZ
4
RBR
Ret
SIL
1
SPA
4‡
ALG
2
2nd 88

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

References[edit]

  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.

External links[edit]

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