Alex MacDowall
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Alexander "Alex" Hay MacDowall (born 22 January, 1991) is a British
racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...
. He is currently competing in the
2014 FIA World Endurance Championship season The 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship season was the third season of the FIA World Endurance Championship auto racing series, co-organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). Th ...
for
Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Racing is a British auto racing team established in 2004 as a partnership between automobile manufacturer Aston Martin and engineering group Prodrive. The partnership was initially created for the purpose of returning Aston ...
.


Racing career


Early career

MacDowall was born in
Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...
. 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 The Renault Clio Cup Series is a One-Design, one-make racing series created and managed by Automobiles Alpine, Alpine Racing (until 2020 known as Renault Sport). The championship was born after merging the 4 active Renault Clio national cups a ...
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 2009 Clio Cup performances impressed top
British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...
(BTCC) teams
Motorbase Performance Alliance Racing (formerly known as Motorbase Performance) is a British Motorsport, motor racing team, founded in 2004 by former Production Saloon racer David Bartrum. They are best known for competing in the British Touring Car Championship. ...
, RML and
West Surrey Racing West Surrey Racing is a UK-based motorsport team run by New Zealander Dick Bennetts. He is responsible for masterminding the careers of such names as Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen, Jonathan Palmer, Rubens Barrichello, Maurício Gugelmin and Eddie ...
, 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 The Chevrolet Cruze is a compact car produced by General Motors from 2008 through 2023. It was designated as a globally developed, designed, and manufactured four-door compact sedan, complemented by a five-door hatchback body variant from 2011, ...
for the RML-run Silverline Chevrolet factory-supported team, as teammate to
Jason Plato Timothy Jason Plato (born 14 October 1967) is a British auto racing, racing driver who last competed in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) for BTC Racing. He has twice been List of BTCC champions, BTCC Champion, in 2001 British Touring ...
. In a wet qualifying session at
Snetterton Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population ...
he became the youngest polesitter in the championship's history but the car's gear lever broke as he changed up into second gear at the start of the first race. 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)

In February 2012 it was announced that MacDowall would race for bamboo-engineering in the WTCC for the
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
season where his teammate would be Pasquale Di Sabatino. He scored points in his first race at
Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...
and again in the second race of the day. He left
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
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 Michel Nykjær (born 17 September 1979) is a Danish auto racing driver. Nykjær is a two-time European Touring Car Cup winner. Career Early years Between 1989 and 1993 he spent his early racing years in karting. After a break, he returned to m ...
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 Franz Engstler (born 25 July 1961) is a German auto racing driver. Racing career Born in Kempten im Allgäu, Engstler started racing in the European Hillclimbing Championship and the German Long Distance Cup, which he won. From 1988 he competed ...
elevated him to fourth in the standings, 12 points behind
Stefano D'Aste Stefano D'Aste (born 26 February 1974 in Genoa) is an Italian auto racing driver. His early racing career included competing on motorcycles and the Monza International Rally. He has competed in the World Touring Car Championship between 2004 (wh ...
. 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 Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
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 Norbert Michelisz (born 8 August 1984) is a Hungarian auto racing driver. He was the 2019 winner of the World Touring Car Cup and winner of the TCR World Tour in 2023 and 2024. Career Early career Michelisz was the 2006 Hungarian Suzuki Swi ...
but passed him again to take the lead. Both drivers were then overtaken by
Alain Menu Alain Menu (born 9 August 1963) 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 twic ...
and MacDowall dropped to fourth when a tap from
Yvan Muller Yvan Muller (born 16 August 1969) is a French auto racing driver most noted for success in touring car racing. He is a four-time World Touring Car Championship, World Touring Car Champion, winning the title in 2008 with SEAT, in 2010 and 2011 wit ...
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 Mehdi Bennani (, born 25 August 1983) is a Morocco, 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. He became the first Morocc ...
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 Aston Martin Racing is a British auto racing team established in 2004 as a partnership between automobile manufacturer Aston Martin and engineering group Prodrive. The partnership was initially created for the purpose of returning Aston ...
, the factory Aston Martin racing team, in the
FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...
. 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 Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...
,
Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...
,
Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...
and
Interlagos Interlagos is a neighborhood located in the district of Socorro (district of São Paulo), Socorro in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Its name comes from the fact that the region is located between two large reservoirs, Guarapiranga and Billings ...
. MacDowall competed in the GTE Pro category alongside former Bamboo teammate
Darryl O'Young Darryl Hayden O'Young () is a Canadian-born Hong Kong racing driver. Career Early career O'Young began racing in 1988 at the age of eight. Trained by his father he honed his driving skills in karting winning numerous championships. The highlight ...
and experienced GT racer
Fernando Rees Fernando Rees (born January 4, 1985) is a retired Brazilian racecar driver. He started his career racing with go-karts back in 1993 at age 8. Fernando made his international single-seaters' debut in 2001, his endurance racing debut in 2007, a ...
.


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)


Complete World Touring Car Championship results

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


Complete British GT Championship results

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


24 Hours of Le Mans results


Complete European Le Mans Series results

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


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Macdowall, Alex 1991 births Living people English racing drivers Sportspeople from Carlisle, Cumbria British Touring Car Championship drivers World Touring Car Championship drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers European Le Mans Series drivers British GT Championship drivers Ginetta GT4 Supercup drivers Renault UK Clio Cup drivers Mini Challenge UK drivers Aston Martin Racing drivers W Racing Team drivers Lamborghini Squadra Corse drivers Craft-Bamboo Racing drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers