The presentation of Alex Fontana’s 2016 has been completed. The McLaren 650S GT3 the Swiss driver will be conducting in the Blancpain Endurance Series, the worldwide championship of reference for the spectacular GT cars, was put on display in Piazza Riforma where it was seen by hundreds of eager fans and passers by in the city centre who stopped to take a selfie and greet our home driver.
In the presence of the municipal authorities of the City of Lugano who have always backed Alex’s sporting project and the sponsors who have provided unfailing support for the 23-year-old Lugano resident’s career, the programme for the coming season was presented and will see Fontana on track in a few days at Monza, where a numerous group of fans will be cheering him on.
2016 is both a point of arrival and of departure. After a victorious career in karts, Alex made his single-seater debut and was immediately successful in the Formula Azzurra series in 2009. He debuted in Formula 3 the following year and won the European Formula 3 Open title in 2011 with the Corbetta team. From there he began his climb towards the Olympus of motorsport, with a victorious year in Formula 2 and a parallel debut in the GP3 series in which he was to be one of the undisputed protagonists over the next three seasons. On a number of occasions he was invited to the World Series in which he completed a number of excellent tests and scored points in his first race at Monte Carlo. Alex also participated in the Formula E finale in London in 2015 with Team Trulli and enjoyed the privilege of joining the Lotus Formula 1 Junior Team, thanks to which he also tested a car from the blue ribbon series at Le Castellet in 2013.
It was this depth of experience that attracted a constructor of the calibre of McLaren to the Swiss driver. Alex has always been highly appreciated in England is has strong ties with the United Kingdom, firstly through his helmet tribute to Tom Pryce, the Welsh driver who died during the South African GP in 1977, and then with his Formula 2 experiences in Jonathan Palmer’s MotorSportVision team, not to mention the time spent in England with the Lotus F1 Junior Team and the season alongside Teddy Yip Junior in the Status GP team based at Silverstone.
In the 1990s McLaren, a true icon and historic Formula 1 team, ventured into the world of GT and road-going cars, constructing technological and engineering jewels such as the McLaren F1 and more recently the McLaren P1. Following the initial success gained with the McLaren MP4-12C, the Working manufacturer launched the 650S, a model that was fine-tuned and made competitive on the basis of the Blancpain GT series. McLaren GT will be running two cars with Garage 59, its official team in the international championships. The first has been entrusted to the established drivers Rob Bell (GB) and Shane van Gisbergen (NZ), along with the Frenchman Come Ledogar, while the second will be driven by the young talent in whom McLaren has decided to invest for the future, the Britons Andrew Watson and Struan Moore and our Swiss driver Alex Fontana. These three, with their average age of 22, will be one of the youngest crews of the entire championship field featuring over 50 cars.
The Blancpain championship is run in two series, Sprint and Endurance, with Alex taking part in the second; it will see the participation of no less than 12 constructors: Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Mercedes, Nissan, Porsche and McLaren. There will be five races, with durations of at least three hours for the opening Monza, Silverstone and Nürburgring rounds, while the historic Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours will be preceded by a 1000 km night race at Le Castellet.
2016 Calendar
24 April – Monza 3 Hours 15 May – Silverstone 3 Hours 25 June – Le Castellet 1000Km 30-31 July – Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours 18 September – Nürburgring 3 Hours
Press release Alex Fontana
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