FEATURE
ALEX PERONI RACING TO A FAST FUTURE Interview Stephanie Williams Pictures Supplied
Hobart born and bred, 18 year old Alex Peroni is making waves in the world of motorsport in Europe. He recently won the Grand Prix of Monaco, marking the pinnacle of his fast-moving career to date. What role has spending your early years in Hobart played? I was born in Hobart and spent all of my childhood there. I think living in Tasmania affects how you see the world and how you think, and so it’s played an important role in my life. From a racing point of view it gave me my first opportunity to get into a kart, have a bit of fun and learn driving in a relaxed environment. However from the age of eight we had to start racing outside Tasmania to race with the more competitive drivers in Australia and then Europe. Being from Tasmania toughens you 4
mentally and you always expect to have to move out of your comfort zone to follow your dream. I think this happens a lot for Tasmanians chasing their professional career. For us it was a big leap to then race in Europe when I was nine but not so big that you wouldn’t try. I remember that for many mainland drivers it was crazy to think you would leave your home to go racing while for us it was just another step in an exciting journey. I’ve now been living mostly in Europe for over three years and even that was just a natural next step. I see lots of Tasmanians deciding to go the mainland to study, work or compete and I think we are just naturally more open to the idea of travelling to chase our dreams.
You recently won the Grand Prix of Monaco, how did it feel to hit the podium in such an iconic motor racing location? Winning at Monaco was the pinnacle of my eleven year career so far. We’ve been working so hard to overcome a very difficult start of the season. Our speed hasn’t been bad but I’ve been involved in some accidents, including a big one at Monza, and we’ve had some technical issues that at Silverstone compromised our weekend, so hopefully Monaco gets our campaign back on track. In reality at Monaco half of the job is done in qualifying because it’s such a difficult track to pass on. Qualifying on pole was awesome and then winning was finishing the job. It was very emotional and we have to chase that feeling again!
