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Alex MacDowall News

MACDOWALL SWITCHES TO LAMBORGHINI POWER FOR 2020 WITH BARWELL MOTORSPORT

2/14/2020

Alex MacDowall will take on another fresh challenge for the 2020 motor racing season, having officially confirmed a deal with Barwell Motorsport to race a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO – for the first time – as part of this year’s rebranded GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.

Carlisle racer MacDowall, who made his debut in the championship formerly known as the Blancpain Endurance Cup last year at the wheel of an Audi R8, will partner Britain’s Jordan Witt and Denmark’s Frederik Schandorff as the trio set their collective sights on a Silver Cup title bid.

MacDowall, the 2016 European Le Mans Series LMGTE Champion, heads into the new season with great confidence having impressed in testing and is determined to return to winning ways during his maiden season with Lamborghini power.

Since winning the ELMS LMGTE crown with Aston Martin, the 29-year-old has raced Porsche, Ferrari and Audi GT3 cars and therefore brings a wealth of wide-ranging experience to Barwell’s line-up in the five round GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.

First testing with Barwell last October at Snetterton in Norfolk, MacDowall immediately gelled with the Lamborghini Huracan and thoroughly enjoyed driving the car. He tested again a couple of weeks ago at Donington Park in Leicestershire.

“As soon as I jumped in the car for the first time at Snetterton I had a smile on my face”, said the Cumbrian, “The Lamborghini is really good to drive, very quick, and a much better all-round car to drive, in my opinion, than the Audi I raced last year in the championship.

“You can turn in and apply a lot of lock without worrying about what the back end is going to do, I was impressed straight away when we tested. We didn’t go to the first test with Barwell expecting to negotiate a deal with them but it went so well and everything kind of went from there really.”

He added: “I’m quite optimistic for the season ahead, Barwell have done well in the championship, we know the car is quick and I’ve got two good, quick team-mates with Jordan [Witt] and Frederik [Schandorff]. I feel good in myself and I’m confident of a strong year, I know the tracks and the aim is to consistently challenge for the podium.”

Off the back of a successful tenure in touring cars, where he became Independents Trophy Vice-Champion in the FIA World Touring Car Championship, MacDowall moved into GT endurance racing in 2014 as a factory driver with Aston Martin in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

After two full seasons, which included an appearance at the world-renowned Le Mans 24 Hours, he then moved into the European Le Mans Series and secured his first international motor racing title with championship victory in LMGTE.

Moving from Aston Martin to Porsche in the ADAC GT Masters in 2017, MacDowall returned to ELMS action the following season and almost made it two LMGTE crowns in three years. Competing at the wheel of a Ferrari 488, the Cumbrian ended the year as Vice-Champion on a dramatic final weekend.

His first official outing of 2020 as a Barwell Motorsport driver will be at the two-day pre-season test on 12th/13th March at Paul Ricard in France. Monza in Italy will host the opening round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup season over the weekend 18th/19th April and the series will then visit Silverstone in the UK for MacDowall’s ‘home’ round.

The six-hour race at Paul Ricard follows as round three before the biggest event of the campaign the blue riband Total 24 Hours of Spa at Spa-Francorchamps on Belgium in July. The five round series concludes on 5th/6th September at the Nurburgring in Germany.

2020 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Calendar
18th/19th April – Monza, Italy – Rd1
9th/10th May – Silverstone, UK – Rd2
29th/30th May – Paul Ricard, France – Rd3
23rd/24th/25th/26th July – Total 24 Hours of Spa, Belgium – Rd4
5th/6th September – Nurburgring, Germany – Rd5 

MACDOWALL SWITCHES TO LAMBORGHINI POWER FOR 2020 WITH BARWELL MOTORSPORT


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