Driver Database News

Alice Powell, 2010 Formula Renault BARC Champion finished second in the MRF Series, by taking two podiums spots in front of a very large F1 crowd out in India, on the New Dehli circuit. Alice created a lot of media attention, by being only female racer in the series, receiving many interviews, including from the BBC.

Alice was amongst twenty international drivers to put the Formula 1600 cars through their paces this weekend as she raced for the Team Sidvin team. After only having a 30 lap test last month, Alice managed to put her Sidvin car P2 and P4 on the grid for the races. “I did not expect to get P2 on the grid. The track was very dusty and the tyres took a long time to come on, but when they did I just carried on pushing and pulled out a time. To be part of an F1 support race is fantastic, and we have a decent chance to get on the podium in both races”.

For the start of Race One, Alice got a clean start, but lacked pace for the first few laps and dropped down to third. However, she quickly closed the gap to Jordan King, who competed in 6 races in the MRF car at the start of this year. However, it was only a 10 lap race, so Alice crossed the line in 3rd place, setting the second fastest time in the race.

In Race two, Alice got another great start, and benefited from Jordan King colliding with V8 Supercar driver, Nick Percat, to move up into third place. Two laps later, Powell pulled off a brave move on Kourosh Khani, to take second place. With a 3 second gap to first place, Alice pushed hard ending the race in second, only 1.9 seconds behind the race winner.

Commenting after the weekend, Alice said “It was a brilliant weekend, and a great way to end the season! In the last race, we were the only ones on old tyres, thinking that the new tyres would act the same as they did in quali, and take a long time to come on, but that didn’t happen and old tyres were slower, so to finish in second place was great for us! It was amazing to stand on the F1 podium, twice, in front of such a great crowd! I would like to thank Team Sidvin for their outstanding support this weekend. Next for me, is to continue to hunt for sponsorship to get myself out racing in either GP3 or Formula Renault Eurocup next year”.

On the 16th of October 2011, Alice made history, yet again, by becoming the first ever female to commentate on a motorsport event for ITV. She joined ITV Sport commentator, Richard John Neil in the comms box to commentate on the final round of the Formula Renault BARC Championship, the same championship she won this time last year. Alice did the commentary live on ITV4 at the Silverstone circuit. Richard John Neil said “Alice did a fantastic job! We are extremely pleased with her! I would love to work with her again.”

It was the first time Alice did anything like this and she commented, “I loved it! I thoroughly enjoyed it and I would love to thank ITV and Richard John Neil for this great opportunity and would jump at the chance to do it again!”

Also for Alice, it was the final round of the Formula Renault Championship. Struggling in qualifying with and a slipping clutch for the first few laps in race one, Alice finished P11 for the first race. But it would be the final race of the season which was highly frustrating. Alice fought hard to get P8 by the end of the third lap, but was ordered by the Clerk of the Course to serve a drive through penalty for using too much exit on the exit of Copse corner. Alice ended up finished P10, and P9 in the championship, but 4th in the Graduate Cup.

Commenting on the weekend, Alice said “It was a tough and frustrating weekend for us we struggled with things in qualifying, and we were unlucky with the slipping clutch in race one, and getting the drive through, as many drivers were doing the same thing. However, taking the positives, we raced very well and showed to people that no matter what happens we will always fight through. Huge thanks for my sponsors for all their support this season. I am hugely grateful! Also to Manor Competition for their spectacular work and their support this season, especially to my engineer Sarah, and my mechanic Sam. Next outing is the MRF race in India, which I am so excited about! As for next season, I hope to do Eurocup Formula Renault or GP3, but need to find the budget first.”

Alice will be racing in India on the 29/30 of October as a support race to the Formula One, Alice’s final race of 2011.

To keep up to date on progress in India, follow Alice on twitter, @alicepowell.

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Alice Powell, 2010 Formula Renault BARC Champion and recipient of the 2011 BWRDC’s Elite Gold Star and prestigious Lord Wakefield Trophy, was invited to participate in the MRF Formula Championship shakedown session in Chennai, India on 21st – 23rd September in preparation for the stand alone round taking place on the inaugural Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix weekend in Greater Noida on 29th – 30th October 2011.

Alice was the only female racer amongst twenty international drivers to put the Formula 1600 cars through their paces last month. The 18-year old, who won the 2010 Formula Renault BARC series driving for Hillspeed, will be racing in India for the first time with Team Sidvin, who has also been running her current Formula Renault UK team mate Jordan King in the Indian series. King won three out of the six MRF Formula Championship 2011 races with Team Sidvin back in February where the season kicked off at the Madras Motor Race Track on 5th – 6th and 12th – 13th February.

“I had a fantastic first trip to India,” comments Alice. “We used the first day to acclimatize as it was 40 degrees! I surprised myself at how quickly I adapted to the conditions and after the seat fit, talks with the engineers and mechanics we took to the track on day two when I completed approximately 20 laps and encountered a couple of issues that needing rectifying.

“We completed about 25 laps on the last day and checked everything on the car as well as its set up because all of the cars were being taken straight to Delhi for the race weekend as they were. Therefore I tried to do as little as possible in my car on the third day so it would be in good form for the races at the end of this month.”

The Greater Noida leg takes place during the F1 weekend and is titled the ‘Delhi Championship with MRF’. It will be the official support race for the inaugural F1 event and offers the winner a reportedly $100,000 prize purse.

Powered by a 1.6 litre, 16-valve Ford Duratec engine and built on a Van Diemen designed chassis, the Formula 1600 puts out 140bhp and boasts of a Hewland five-speed sequential shift gearbox.

Alice adds, “I did not find the car hard to drive at all and really enjoyed it! I am happy with how my body adapted, not only to the weather conditions, but to the car itself too. I was the quickest driver on the last morning of the shakedown and second quickest overall, so I am really looking forward to driving the car on an F1 track. I shall be getting to grips with the Buddh International Circuit on my Xbox over the next few weeks and cannot wait to visit India again – thank you Team Sidvin and the MRF Formula Championship 2011 for this amazing opportunity.”

Alice is currently running P7 in the 2011 Formula Renault UK 2.0 Championship with the final round taking place at Silverstone Circuit, UK on 16th October.

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Current Formula Renault BARC Champion, Alice Powell, had mixed fortunes this weekend at Brands GP, which were the penultimate rounds of the Formula Renault Championship. Alice made it to the weekend, with the help of a Motorsport fan sponsoring Alice for the last two events.

BRDC Rising Star, Powell, struggled in qualifying only managing to post the 12th and 10th fastest time for the races, “I pushed to early on my tyres in the first qualifying and just tried too hard in the second one. It is a lesson learnt that I just need to chill out more!!”

For Race One, Alice got a fantastic start, gaining two positions off the line to move into P10. Throughout the race, she had a great on and off battle with team mate, Josh Hill, who pipped her on the second from last lap, due to a mistake by her out of Surtees bend. Alice crossed the line in P8.

For Race Two, Alice got yet another great start, pulling off a move on Mitchell Gilbert around the outside of the famous, Paddock Hill bend. As Alice tried to overtake Ed Jones, he forced her onto the grass, resulting in Alice losing a place and dropping back to P10. However, a couple in front of her had jump starts and had to serve drive through penalties, which promoted Alice to P8 by the end of lap 3. From then on, Alice pressured Ed Jones but could not find a way past , but still managed to set the 5th fastest lap of the race and finish second in the Graduate Cup, crossing the line in P8 but receiving P6 points, as two drivers in front of her do not receive championship points.

Commenting on the weekend Alice says, “I am disappointed with the way the weekend went. I was hoping for much better results, but the positives are that we showed in the last race that we had the pace, and also that we can start well! I just need to stay calm and focused to try and get a better result at Silverstone in two weeks. I have dropped to P7 in the championship, but only 2 points behind 6th, so it is not impossible!”

The final two races of the season are on the 15/16th of October and will be shown LIVE on ITV4. Alice will also be joining the ITV4 commentary team at Silverstone, to commentate on the Formula Renault BARC Championship.

If you would like to support Alice through sponsorship, please visit www.alice-powell.com or email info@alice-powell.com or call +44 (0)1608 659779.

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Alice Powell endured a tough weekend at Silverstone, this weekend, but fought her way through the field to achieve two top 8 finishes. Moving away from the normal BTCC package, Formula Renault was on the World Series by Renault weekend, which saw crowds of just over 100,000.

There was only one 25 minute qualifying this weekend, unlike the usual 2×20 minutes, with the drivers second best time setting their position for the second race. Alice struggled, only managing to post the 12th best time, and 11th best time for race two, “I am not too sure what to say. The car felt good, but I just did not produce the time. It will make the races very tough, but I am not going to give up.”

For Race One, Alice got a fantastic start, passing two cars round the outside of Copse corner, and a further one through the fast Maggots and Becketts. Taking advantage of cars bunching in front, Powell took to the inside of her team mate, Josh Hill, to gain another spot. By the end of lap one, the 18 year old, was already up to 8th place, but she didn’t stop there. With the two in front of her, Jordan King and Oscar King squabbling for position, Jordan went wide at Copse allowing Alice past and onto the tail of Oscar. Getting a good tow heading towards Maggots, she stuck it up the inside, a bold move, which paid off! A large gap was now ahead of Powell, which she started to close, until a small mistake at the Loop, lost her some time. At the end of the 25 minute race, Alice crossed the line in 6th place, a great effort from 12th on the grid.

For Race Two, she lined up in 11th place. Getting another good start, taking two places, again round the outside of Copse Corner. Now up to 9th, she got forced wide at The Loop, falling back to 10th. However, at Brooklands, a crash between Oscar King and Dan Wells, allowed Powell to slip through and up to 8th. From then on, Alice pushed hard to catch the bunch in front, occasionally having to defending from Jordan King behind. On the last lap, Alice tried a move on Jack Hawksworth, which was unsuccessful, so she had to settle for 8th.

Speaking about the weekend, Alice commented “Qualifying was a disaster, and I am going to work hard over the break to sort it. The races were great, especially race one. I was so fired up and took full advantage of getting a good drive off the line, both times, to attack the cars in front and move forward. It was another fabulous effort by the whole Manor Competition team, and driver coach Lewis Williamson, that I hope to reward them next time out at Rockingham with a podium finish and also to my sponsors, for their continued support.”

Alice’s race engineer and Manor co-owner, Sarah Shaw said “Alice made up for a difficult qualifying session by overtaking more cars than anybody else in each race. In race one she shot from 12th to 6th, putting in some quick lap times along the way. She repeated this impressive performance in race 2, this time getting up to 8th and almost taking 7th place on the last lap, proving that she undoubtedly had the pace to run at the front of the field if only qualifying had gone better…”

Alice’s next outing is on the 17/18 of September at Rockingham, where Formula Renault will return back to the British Touring Car support package.

If you would like to support Alice through sponsorship, please visit www.alice-powell.com or email info@alice-powell.com.

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Alice Powell took the Graduate Cup win in round 12 of the Formula Renault UK Championship at Snetterton, this weekend, as well as finishing 7th and 4th outright, in the two races. This was the first time the Formula Renault Championship had raced at the new Snetterton Circuit.

In first qualifying, Alice struggled, going off the track a couple of times, and ended up only P9 on the time sheet. However, in the second qualifying, she produced a lap that put her 4th on the grid, “I am not too sure what went on in Q1, but I struggled. That was very disappointing, but Q2 was great and put me in a great position for challenging for a podium!”

For Race One, Alice got a reasonable start, but was not in a position to challenge the guy in front. From then on, the race was pretty much follow the leader, and it was only when others on front made mistakes, that Alice took the advantage to gain the position. She crossed the line only a few tenths behind 6th place.

For Race Two, she lined up in 4th place. Getting a good start, she challenged Tio Ellinas, who was in 3rd. However, at the Agostini Hairpin, Alice got hit from behind by Daniel Cammish, damaging the battery plug at the back of the car. Luckily, Alice carried on, losing not a great deal of time. On the first lap, Jack Hawksworth had a heavy impact with the safety barriers, causing the safety car to be deployed.

After 3 laps behind the safety car, the racing then continued, but oversteer at the first corner, saw Powell lose a large chunk of time from the cars in front, which meant she had to heavily defend from the cars behind her. But, she stuck at it, and managed to pull out a small gap and push to catch the guys in front.

With six laps remaining, exiting the Hamilton corner, the car lost all power for a split second, only to see the gap Alice pulled out from Cammish, close, and exiting the final corner she had a train of 3 cars right on her tail. Having thought she had seen off the attack from Cammish, her car cut out again, this time for slightly longer, allowing Oliver Rowland to pull alongside her. However, Rowland, thinking he was clear of Alice’s car, pulled over to the inside, clipping Alice’s right front wheel, causing him to go wide, which allowed Alice back through.

From then on, Alice got her head back down and pulled another small gap in 4 laps, to cross the line in 4th place, for the Manor squad and taking the Graduate Cup victory.

Speaking about the weekend, Alice commented “It has been another mixed weekend for me. I have still learnt a lot from the weekend and to come away with some decent point and the Graduate win is great! Race One, not much went on, but Race Two, kept me on my toes, especially with the car cutting out on occasions! I think I would have pulled a much bigger gap from Dan (Cammish), and even stood a chance for challenging for 2nd or 3rd if I did not had the problem, which was caused by the contact from behind at the start. Big thanks to everyone at Manor for their help, who continue to work so hard and do a great job. I am very much looking forward to Silverstone, which is in two weeks!”

Alice’s race engineer and Manor co-owner, Sarah Shaw said “After all the bad luck Alice has had so far this season it’s great to see her finally rewarded with a good result and Graduate Cup win. She drove a great race and kept a cool head, despite having to soak up enormous pressure when her car began to cut out as a result of damage to the electrics when she was hit from behind at the start”.

Alice’s next outing is in two weeks (20/21 Aug), at the Silverstone Arena Circuit. It will be support to the World Series By Renault Championship, which attracts crowds of over 100,000.

Alice Powell took a clean sweep of victories when she competed in the Performance Direct Radical Clubman’s cup last weekend. She absolutely dominated the meeting taking, pole and fastest lap of the day.

The opportunity arose as a way of learning the new Snetterton 300 circuit before she races there in the Formula Renault UK championship in August , a great deal drive was arranged with experienced team Mansol Motorsport. She had never driven a Radical and Friday was the first time she had even sat in one.

Despite being a sports car, there are quite a few similarities to a single seater with the rear wing providing lots of downforce, they are a very quick racing car. Alice spent Friday testing the car, before race day on Saturday.

Qualifying was pretty close and in wet conditions, with Alice taking pole by only 0.033 of a second from experienced Radical racer David Jacobs. The second race grid was decided on second best times and here Alice took pole by two tenths of a second.

At the start of race one Alice got what looked to be a perfect start, although she later admitted it wasn’t as good as she would have liked. She stayed ahead into the first corner and although Darron Anley attempted to out brake her down the inside, Alice simply took the outside line and just drove away from him. After this she calmly kept up a decent gap, increasing her pace when she needed to if the runners behind started gaining. It was easy to forget that this was her first ever Radical race, you could be fooled into thinking she had been racing them for years. She crossed the line 4.4 seconds ahead of Fredrick Moberg with Darron Anley a further 1.5 seconds back in third.

Race two was cut short after a start line crash on the first attempt to run the race caused a one hour delay while the barriers at the end of the pitlane were repaired. The restarted race was run over only 5 laps but Alice again streaked ahead pulling out a gap of 3.5 seconds over the short race. Fredrick Moberg was again second and Darron Anley also finished in third once more, this time a further 1.9 seconds behind.

It had been a perfect day with two flawless performances in the races. Things got even better when she was awarded driver of the day after the race. It was also revealed that she was the world’s first ever female winner of a Radical race.

Alice was understandably very happy with how the day had gone;

“It was such a surprise. I did not expect to have a weekend like that! The Radical is a great car and to come away making history and taking a clean sweep is awesome! I would like to thank Mansol Motorsport for all their help!”

Alice’s next race will be at Snetterton and is working to get the money together. This will be in the Formula Renault UK championship on the 6th and 7th August.

www.alice-powell.com
www.twitter.com/alicepowell

Photo by Marc Waller.

This weekend was rounds 9 and 10 of the Formula Renault UK Championship at Croft. Alice was hoping to capitalise on a good points finish at Oulton and take that to Croft.

Qualifying One, was wet, and Alice did not get the best out of the wets, and sadly ended up P9 on the grid. Qualifying Two was hit and miss with the weather, with rain threatening just before the session. The rain held off and out the field went on slicks. For the majority of the session, Powell was P2, but it wasn’t till the later stages that she dropped to P3. “Quali 1 was disappointing, but to get P3 in Quali 2 was great and it was a key opportunity to get a podium or a win.”

For race one, Alice used her worst set of tyres to save the best set for race two. Alice got a great start, challenging for P8 and P7. Sadly, whilst trying to make a move she lost a position and dropped down to P10. For the remainder of the race, Alice put pressure on P9, but could not gain a way through and had to settle for the tenth spot.

Race Two would see Alice line up 3rd on the grid. Again getting a great start, she moved along side Mitchell Gilbert (P2) on the approach to the first corner. However, Gilbert bounced off the kerb into Turn one, resulting in his rear wheel hitting Alice’s front wheel and sending her through the gravel and knocking out her tracking (steering). Alice made it back on track, but in P5. Towards the end of the lap, Powell challenged Oliver Rowland for 4th place, but he squeezed her onto the grass and his rear wheel touched Alice’s front wheel, the same side that Gilbert touched. This knocked her tracking out a bit more and on lap two, she misjudged the chicane, due to the tracking, and clipped the tyres, sadly ending her race.

Speaking about the weekend, Alice said “It has not been a great weekend. Getting 3rd on the grid for race two and getting brilliant starts was a positive, but the rest was very disappointing. We definitely have the pace to get great results, and my team (Manor) and sponsors (Silverstone-Hotels.com, Immun’Age, IWI Watches and Sparco) deserve a good result, but, at the moment, things are not coming together. I just need to try and keep my head up and try and raise some money for the remainder of the season. I would like to thank Manor (Competition) for their efforts at the weekend.”

Straight from Croft, Alice flew out to Germany to test at the Nurbugring, Nordschleife Circuit for Aston Martin. This was a great opportunity for the 18 year old to learn the 15mile circuit, and to gain experience in a GT Sports Car. The Nordschleife circuit is very well known across the motorsport world, not only for its length, but for the challenging corners as well as the exciting races it have produced in the past.

Alice thoughts after the test were, “Wow! It was a brilliant experience and I would love to thank everybody from Aston Martin, and their sponsors, for letting me test. It really was a joy!!”

David King, Director, Special Projects at Aston Martin commented, “We invited Alice to come and experience the Nordschleife at a private test. She was so impressive in her training laps, that we sent her out in a 500bhp V12 Vantage race car, in the rain! As expected, she did a great job and impressed the whole team with her professional approach”.

This weekend was rounds 7 and 8 of the Formula Renault UK Championship at Oulton Park. Alice was hoping to finish both races and collect good points after the disappointments of getting knocked off at Thruxton in May.

Qualifying One was interrupted by a red flag, causing the young female driver disappointment as she was not able to complete her flying lap, due to this. Alice would line up for Race One, P10. Qualifying Two was a different story. No red flag meant Alice could push and get in her flying lap. For the majority of the session, the 18 year old from Chipping Norton, was P3, but it was only in the last few minutes of the session, that she slipped down to P6, “Q1 was disappointing, but that is motorsport. Q2, however, was going great until I just tried too hard and made a few mistakes in the last few minutes, which caused me to drop down the order to P6”.

Unlike Saturday, the sun was not shining on Sunday. Rain poured an hour or so before Race One, making tyre choice hard. However, slicks it was, even tho, off line was slightly wet. Alice lined up P10, and got a great launch off the line, gaining two places before the first corner. However, while making the second move, Alice was forced onto the wet, causing her to have to slow dramatically before making the turn, which sadly made her drop three places. However, Alice made her way back to 9th place.

Race Two produced the same track conditions as Race One. For Alice, it would be quite a quiet race until the last lap, occasionally pressuring the driver in front and having to defend at times, from her team mate behind. On the last lap, the Fortec driver of Felix Serralies made a mistake coming out of the Knickerbrook chicane, allowing Alice to get alongside him. Serralies, forcefully pushed Alice onto the grass, causing her to lose time, as well as the chance to gain a position. Powell had to settle for 6th and left the weekend P9 in the Championship and 4th in the Graduate Cup.

Speaking about the weekend, Alice said “It was a tough weekend. I was definitely expecting better results, but I scored points this weekend which is good! However, we do have some work to do before Croft as putting a lap, with all sectors together is key. We hope for better results there. ”

Commenting on Alice’s performance, her engineer, Sarah Shaw said “Alice had a frustrating weekend; in Q1 she was on a very good lap when the session was interrupted by a red flag – this meant that her lap time was not recorded and she had only done one other flying lap. The drivers who got out of the pitlane first were able to get one more flying lap before the chequered flag, and several of them improved their time, but unfortunately Alice was near the back of the queue and took the chequered flag at the end of her out lap. This meant she qualified an uncharacteristic 10th.

Q2 was better but a mistake on her best lap cost her nearly 2 tenths – she qualified 6th but had the potential to be much higher up the grid.

Both races took place in damp / drying conditions. Alice got good starts in both and drove really well, showing good race pace and pressuring the drivers in front. Oulton Park is a track where overtaking is very difficult even in bone dry conditions, but with the circuit still damp and slippery off line it was almost impossible. Still Alice made the best of the situation and brought home some valuable points”.

The next rounds of the Championship are on the 18th/19th of June at Croft.

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

BRDC Rising Star, Alice Powell, was one of 800 guests who attended the opening of Silverstone circuit’s state-of-the-art new Pit, Paddock and Conference complex – The Silverstone Wing.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, KG, who is President in Chief of the BRDC, (pictured here with Alice) formally opened the new building that represents the second stage of a multi-million pound investment in the Home of British Motor Racing and heralds an exciting new era for British motor sport.

The official opening ceremony took guests on an evocative journey through the history of Silverstone, including appearances by many of the biggest names in the history of British motor sport. Five of Britain’s six living Formula World Champions – John Surtees OBE, Sir Jackie Stewart OBE, Nigel Mansell OBE, Damon Hill OBE and Jenson Button MBE – were in attendance, along with fellow Formula One luminaries, Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Frank Williams, Christian Horner, Ross Brawn, David Coulthard and Murray Walker.

The worlds of MotoGP and World Superbikes were also represented at the launch, by a host of Britain’s best riders, including Cal Crutchlow, Jonathan Rea and James Toseland, who showed their support for their home circuit and the stunning new facility.

Following the opening ceremony the guests, who also included BRDC members and selected media, enjoyed exploring the new complex, which includes 41 garages, a race control building, a podium, media centre, hospitality and VIP spectator zones.

Alice said of the event and on being part of motorsport history, ” I was honoured to be invited by the BRDC to come to the opening of the “Wing”. To be in a room with such great racing drivers and people was incredible. The facilities that Silverstone and the BRDC have produce are outstanding and I really can’t wait to race there in August and October.”

Alice is now preparing for her next race, which is in two weeks (June 4th and 5th), at Oulton Park.

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.