Video blog following my test at Fontana: http://youtu.be/Tbz9VpM6R9A

Alex finished his debut race weekend in Long Beach in 14th place and with the first Championship points on the board. In the run up to the weekend Alex had known he was taking on a daunting task to make his first appearance in the Indy Lights series at possibly the most demanding venue of the Championship.
Driving for Brooks Associate Racing, the one practice session on Friday was cut short by heavy rain. This lost the team valuable set up time - not having raced at the circuit previously there was no historical data to work from so the loss of time and the wet conditions were a real setback. As the weekend wore on it was to prove even more challenging than Alex had first thought!
Saturday and the challenges mounted with the loss of practice due to mechanical failure. This meant Alex would go into qualifying with only two full laps of the circuit under his belt. "Just going to have to see what I can pull out of the bag!" was his undeterred response.
Alex's pace during qualifying was impressive, at one point running as high as 6th. However, a problem put him out of the second part of qualifying. With the rest of the field putting their best lap times in at the end of the session Alex had to watch his place tumble to 14th. "I was pleased with my performance in qualifying given no prior running" said Alex "top 10 was clearly possible and this gives me real encouragement for the race."
Sunday morning and in the pre-race warm up Alex found some good speed, moving him up the field and putting him in confident mood for the race. Starting from the back of the grid he was running strongly and overtaking confidently but a small error on the bumpy circuit halted his progress and ended his race just over half way through.
Alex summed up: "There are a lot of positives to take out of this weekend. As a rookie team we all worked really well and we have all learned and gained valuable experience. Its all about building for the future".
This was an impressive first outing for the rookie, with just one small error.  There is no doubt he will be improving and progressing throughout the season.
From Long Beach the team head to Fontana for a 1 day test at the oval track to start preparation for the Freedom 100 in Indianapolis, the next event on the schedule May 25.

Post race thoughts: http://youtu.be/P9Sz55ds9ds

Alex returns to action with a deal to race in the Indy Lights Championship at the highly prestigious Long Beach street race in California on the 15th of April. He returns to action with Brooks Associates Racing - the team he tested with at the official training days at Barber, Alabama with great success.
”I am really looking forward to the opportunity I have got with John and his team. We have gelled really well in testing and I feel we can put on a good show at Long Beach. For me it will be my Indy Lights debut. With the minimal testing we have had I am just going to focus on keeping my head down and working hard with the team to improve each time out on track and build for the future.” said Alex.

Alex's deal results from a lot of hard work by his family and management team after testing at Barber showed how much potential he has, despite having far less track time compared to his rivals. Alex’s management team will continue working hard to secure his full time return to the cockpit and are seeking partners to ensure this becomes a reality. “We are looking for new business partners to safeguard the drive and provide continuity of support for the remainder of 2012 and beyond to ensure Alex can go on and develop the talent he has clearly demonstrated” said his manager.

But for now the only thing on Alex's mind is the joy of being able to race at Long Beach.

Welsh language television channel S4C will be running a series of interviews with Alex over the course of the 2012 racing season. The 5 minute clips will follow Alex in a fly on the wall style as he trains, races and works to source sponsorship. Alex filmed the first instalment today and it will be aired as part of 'Y Lle' to be broadcast at 6pm on Thursday 11th of April.