Alex MacDowall

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

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 competing at Brands Hatch during the 2011 British Touring Car Championship season. 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. In a wet qualifying session at Snetterton 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 ninth in the standings with 100 points and three podium finishes.

World Touring Car Championship

bamboo-engineering (2012–2013) 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 tenth 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 (2014–2015) In February 2014, MacDowall 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)

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 THR1 THR2 THR3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 DON1 DON2 DON3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 11th 83 2011 Silverline Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON34* THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 9th 100

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) 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 SPA LMS COA FUJ SHA BHR SÃO 12th 55.5 2015 Aston Martin Racing V8 LMGTE Pro Aston Martin Vantage GTE Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 SIL SPA LMS NÜR COA FUJ SHA BHR 7th 84

Complete British GT Championship results (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 OUL1 OUL2 ROC1 SIL1 SNE1 SNE2 SPA1 SPA2 BRH1 DON1 25th 24 2015 Oman Racing Team Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 GT3 OUL1 OUL2 ROC1 SIL1 SPA1 BRH1 SNE1 SNE2 DON1 21st 11

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2015 Aston Martin Racing V8 Fernando Rees Richie Stanaway Aston Martin Vantage GTE GTEPro 320 34th 6th

Complete European Le Mans Series results 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 13th 18 2016 Aston Martin Racing LMGTE Aston Martin Vantage GTE Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 SIL IMO RBR LEC SPA EST 1st 98 2018 JMW Motorsport LMGTE Ferrari 488 GTE Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 LEC MNZ RBR SIL SPA ALG 2nd 88 ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.