BIOGRAPHY

Most of the young kart drivers seem to be following in Dad’s footsteps, or living Dad’s dream, but Alex Lloyd didn’t come from a motorsport background at all. Obsessed with racing cars since he could co-ordinate, he pushed and bullied his family into taking him karting, where his talent saw the young privateer become British junior champion at age 14, with the help of Terry Fullerton, who, Alex says, helped form his mental strength in motorsport, and that all-important never-say-die attitude.

Coached by Ted Hawkins, on a shoestring budget, he raced in Formula Ford – at age 16, he was then the youngest British racing driver - excelling as always in wet conditions, but never in a championship-threatening car.

He was berated several times for his (often costly) over-enthusiastic overtaking manoeuvres, but his exciting driving style was rewarded when he was persuaded into the UK Formula Renault winter series with Falcon Motorsport, where he took a battling 3rd place. This led to a test in Spain with Motaworld Racing, where he was untouchable, demonstrating his abilities in car control and feedback, and convinced Alan Waite, the boss of Motaworld, to offer him a 2-year deal.

Aged then just 17, Alex started the 2002 season as a front-running contender in UK Formula Renault, but persistent engine problems saw him slip down the order to finish a frustrating 9th by the end of the season.

2003 would see his luck change, however, as he contested the Fran-Am World Championship winter series in Florida with Motaworld, finishing 3rd in the five-round series, despite his first-round win (which would have seen him take the championship) being stripped from him for an alleged technical infringement.

The 2003 UK Formula Renault Championship had Alex down as one of the true title contenders, and he did not disappoint, shedding the reputation as a “do-or-die crasher”, tempering his exciting driving style with measured performances, leading the championship in its early stages, and fighting right down to the last race, which he won, to secure the mantle of vice champion, beating the Fortec cars of James Rossiter and Mike Conway, but not quite able to match the power of the all-conquering Manor car of Lewis Hamilton.

This season-long performance earned him a finalist’s place in the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year, where he would again go head to head with James Rossiter, Ryan Sharp and Susie Stoddart, his Motaworld team mate, amongst others. Alex duly won the two-day shoot out at Silverstone, and with it the then BRDC prize of £75,000 and a McLaren F1 test drive, to great excitement, with Autosport proclaiming him Britain’s new F1 hope.

Alex had promoted the Isle of Man strongly since his family move to the island in 2001, earning him the Isle of Man Young Sportsman of the Year award, and there was much talk of backing from the small but steeped-in-motorsport British Island for the following year.

However this failed to materialise, and his perennial lack of funds left him without a drive in 2004, despite high hopes of driving for Alan Docking in British F3.

But the BRDC monies were enough to persuade John Village, who had tested him earlier, to run him for a few races in the latter part of the year in Formula 3000, in his Euro3000 team. Alex was immediately at home in the powerful cars, and amazed everyone by taking the series by storm, taking fastest laps in every race weekend. Again, the frustration of mechanical gremlins robbed him of almost certain race wins, but despite this, three pole positions and one win, with no testing, in just seven appearances, made him hot property, particularly as his racecraft, aggression and sheer speed were stunning to watch. Alex and his fiancée Sam, hardly ever seen apart outside the car, were referred to as the “Posh and Becks” of the paddock, and the media flocked around them.

Superfund, who ran the Euro 3000 championship were hugely impressed and very helpful, and they invited Alex to be the first driver to turn the wheel and test their powerful new-for-2005 700 HP Superfund SF1 single-seater. The car was stunning, but the new Superfund championship sadly didn’t happen.

Ending the year with his all-too-brief prize of a McLaren F1 test left him grinning broadly, but the smile was to be short-lived, as his hopes of now finding backing for a GP2 or World Series by Renault drive in 2005 were once again dashed due to a lack of finance, and Alex was again sidelined.

He shone in a recent shoot-out for a funded drive in the American Pan-Am championship, in Renault V6 cars, but again, the championship itself failed to materialise, leaving him without a drive in 2005, for the second year in succession.

There was hope on the horizon, however, as he was offered backing for his career, if he could find a co-partner for his backer. A potentially dream position for him, but difficult to achieve without a drive to demonstrate and underline, yet again, his youthful potential. The prospect of representing his country, Great Britain, in the inaugural A1GP championship for TeamGB, could have revitalised his search for that extra, necessary backing.

Although it was undoubtedly a handicap this May in the shoot-out for the British A1GP team, being out of a car since October 2004, Alex was chosen as one of the two British drivers. He hoped that his natural speed and ability; how quick he is to learn; his fitness; his feedback; his proven race-winning capacity in powerful cars, and his cool, considered, focussed, media-friendly persona, should have helped him convince the powers that be to give him a try, and he promised he wouldn’t disappoint. However, this did not happen, and Alex never got to drive the car, the team deciding they needed to concentrate on his older team mate, Robbie Kerr (the other driver chosen by the John Surtees led GBR team), who took some time to get up to speed. It was unfortunate that TeamGBR never won a race.

Despite what appeared at times to be continual setbacks, Alex refused to stop trying. In 2006, he turned his attentions to the US, where the racing scene is lively and active, and widely regarded as more of a meritocracy than the UK/European racing scene, where without huge sums of money behind a driver, he/she will not progress.

He was offered a test at the circuit in Savannah, Georgia in the new Champ Car Atlantic series with Jensen Motorsport. Despite his rustiness, he immediately impressed and just missed out on setting a new track record, and this was enough to convince him that the US was where he should be.

With help and introductions from the BRDC, he went to Miami to meet teams, promotors and personnel in the IRL Indy Pro Series, where there appeared to be potential opportunities for a drive. The family decided they would sell their house in order to fund a few races in the Indy Pro series, to give Alex sufficient time to re-acclimatise to racing, after nearly 10 months without racing, and to see if he could impress.

It didn't take long - Roger Bailey introduced Alex to Gary Peterson, team owner of AFS Racing, and Alex competed in the St Petersburg street race in Florida, on the first weekend in April. Amazingly, after such a long lay-off, he qualified on the front row, and finished the main race on the podium, after hogging the TV coverage with a storming drive through the field from 10th, following a puncture. His driving, marketability and attitude attracted immediate attention throughout the paddock, and Alex completed a part season with AFS Racing, although an ear infection took him out of two races in the middle of the year.

This didn't stop Alex taking his and AFS Racing;s first win at the F1 support race on the Indianapolis road course, and another win on the Infineon road course in Sonoma, CA.

Alex bought a house in Indianapolis, and married his long-time girlfriend, Sam in Indianapolis - a place they very much consider home.

In 2007, Alex signed a contract with the front-running Sam Schmidt Motorsports team, whose driver Jay Howard won the 2006 Championship with 2 wins, and the team came 2nd in the constructors/team championship.

2007 also saw Ganassi Racing and Panther Racing bring their resources to the Indy Pro series, together with Andretti Green's continued involvement - now with AFS Racing - to make it the most competitive season the series has ever seen.

Thus far, Alex has completely dominated the season, winning all five of the opening rounds, including winning on the Indianapolis oval, to write himself into the record books as the only driver in history ever to win on the Indianapolis road course and historic 2.5 mile oval. "Best feeling of my life" Alex beamed!

This gives Alex 7 wins from his 13 starts in Indy Pro, with two separate teams - no-one is pretending Alex can win all 16 rounds, but he has vowed to try!!

Currently, Alex has won 7 of the 11 races so far, with a commanding championship lead. Therer are 16 races in the season.