Alex will be the youngest driver on the grid when he lines up for the 11th Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai endurance race on the 15th January 2016.
Alex, who at 16 years of age, is still too young to drive on the UK roads, has signed to drive for the Preptech UK race team in the FIA International Endurance Series. The series consists of four 24 hour, and three 12 hour races held around the world in Dubai, Mugello - Italy, Silverstone - UK, Zandvoort - Holland, Paul Ricard - France, Barcelona - Spain and Brno - Czech Republic.
The series attracts drivers from all around the world and includes factory teams and professional drivers. This year, the Mercedes Benz factory team will race for the first time their new GT3 sports cars in Dubai. A total of 100 cars will line up at the start, nearly twice the number contesting the legendary Le Mans 24 Hour race, and nearly 500 drivers will contest the race. Each team must have a minimum of two drivers and a maximum of five.
“Racing in my first 24 hour race along side professional drivers and factory teams is amazing and a wonderful start to 2016. My dream is one day to race in the Le Mans 24 Hour race and this is a great start to, hopefully, realising my dream. I have already contested a 24-hour kart race so have some idea of what will be ahead of me. The Dubai race is unique in that over half the race will be in the dark, a new challenge for me. I will be racing a Clio Cup Car again so I have some knowledge of the car from racing in the UK Renault Clio Cup last year,” commented Alex.
Alex will race alongside Preptech’s other drivers, Andy Mollison, Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke and Australian Cody Hill, in the team’s 240 bhp Renault Clio Cup car specially modified for endurance racing. All the drivers will be contesting the Dubai 24 hour race for the first time.
Each driver can only drive for a maximum of two hours in one go so each driver will drive for a total of six hours over the 24-hour race.
Alex started racing when he was 8 years old and has already spent half of his life in motorsport; getting a chance like this to join Preptech so soon after one of their regular drivers had to pull out, is a fantastic opportunity.
Preptech UK’s owner and team manager, Oliver Barnard, is really excited ahead of the Dubai event: “Obviously losing a team driver, outside of your control, so close to an event is never ideal. We have been communicating with Alex during 2015 regarding some 2016 events, but to have him join us in Dubai is fantastic for him and also for us as a team. Dubai is one of, if not the toughest of all the 24-hour events around the world, and we are aware that this is only our second event but confidence is high. Alex will slot in perfectly with our existing young and fast driver line up. Our expectations have grown following a fantastic first event for us in Barcelona last year. We are proud to have such a great team, all working for success, hopefully luck helps us out a little too!”
Alex is also relishing the challenge ahead: “It is an honour to be offered the chance to join Preptech UK for the Dubai 24 Hours, I’ve been looking into endurance racing for a while now and, although I’ll be throwing myself in at the deep end, the team have shown they are capable of running competitively. I can’t wait!”
Alex will fly out to Dubai prior to the race, so he can take part in a private test at the circuit to familiarise himself with the Gen 3 Renault Clio Cup endurance car he will race and practice the necessary pit stops.
The race starts at 2pm on Friday 15th January and will finish on Saturday 16th January - the winning car will complete over 2000 miles, from start to finish. Last year’s winning car completed a total of 604 laps (2026 miles).
You can keep up to date with Alex and the Preptech team as they contest the Dubai 24 Hour race via Twitter @alexsedgwick9 or his web site at www.alexsedgwickracing.com.