The Welsh Racing Drivers Association has announced the nominations for its new prestigious Tom Pryce Award. The award honours the achievements of young Welsh drivers whilst preserving the memory of Tom as a beacon of achievement. Tom has become legendary as the only Welsh driver so far to win a Formula One race (1975 Brands Hatch Race of Champions).  He is also the only Welshman to date to take pole position and lead a Formula One World Championship Grand Prix (The British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1975). More importantly, he was not only famed for his car control but also as a person who was unaffected by his fame. "We can certainly see something of Tom in the current batch of new drivers and hope this award will show them how much we appreciate their efforts." said WRDA Secretary, Robert Allenden.  Alex is honoured to be amongst the seven nominees for this new award.

For more information on Tom Pryce and his career go to his tribute site at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/guides/halloffame/sport/tom_pryce.shtml

Alex was amongst the sixty potential British Formula Ford Championship contenders who took part in the Formula Ford Sampler Day at Silverstone to test the latest chassis and meet the teams.  The day was organised by series promoter RacingLine to assist established and new teams to find racing recruits for the coming season.  Several drivers from this year's BFFC were in action with new teams, as well as some notable names from other single-seater series and several fresh-from-karting newcomers.
 
Alex, of course, is already signed up with the Myerscough Motorsport Team but took advantage of the day to test out the Silverstone Circuit for the first time.  It turned out to be a very wet day with heavy showers, spaced out to ensure track conditions alternated from very wet to very greasy and back again.  This did, however, provide Alex with an ideal opportunity to test himself on a wet track and see if he could carry through his excellence in wet racing from karting to single-seaters.  He didn't fail (we didn't think he would!) and put in some impressive lap times for a first time drive,  both at the circuit and on a wet track.

Alex sends his thanks to Racing Line for organising the day; to Matt and the Myerscough team for their hard work before and during the day and for setting up the car to perfection, providing him with first class track testing time. 

For more info on the day visit:  http://www.britishformulaford.co.uk

Alex winds up his short but highly successful karting career at Shenington Kart Circuit, racing in the final round of the British TKM Super 1 Championship, securing 8th place overall and placing himself firmly amongst the top 15 seeded drivers in TKM for 2007.

Alex Jones, 18, from Anglesey, won the Zetec class at the British Formula Ford Championship round at Croft Circuit, North Yorkshire last Sunday. This was Alex’s first race, after only minimal testing in the Zetec Van Diemen, run by Myerscough College Motorsport. 

Alex had gained confidence during the weekend, which helped him put this year’s top points scorer, Matt Dobson, under pressure during the last race at Croft. With Alex set to pounce, Dobson spun his car and Alex took the lead keeping his head for the last laps, to bring home his first Formula Ford trophy.  

This first trophy is a great bonus for Alex, whose only other meeting this season will be at Brands Hatch in the supporting race for the World Touring Car Championship on 21-23 September. It will be a great addition to the haul of trophies he has already won in Karting – British TKM 'O' Plate Champion 2006, GYG Grand Prix Champion 2006, MBKC GYG Club Champion 2005, just to mention a few.  
       
Ann Turner, Principal of Myerscough College, said “Today has been my first visit to watch the team in action at the track. It is amazing that I have been able to see the great talent of both Alex, as a bright new driver to Formula Ford, and the skill of the technical team, all of whom are degree students at Myerscough College.”   

2006 British TKM 'O'Plate Champion Alex Jones will be competing in the British Formula Ford Championship in 2008. Alex will race for Myerscough Motorsport and starts an intensive testing programme in August.