Bad luck stalks Tasmanian race ace

TASMANIAN motor racing young gun Alex Peroni is hoping to finish the season on a high after bad luck hampered his Formula Renault Euro Cup campaign in Round 8 at Paul Ricard circuit in southern France on the weekend.

It was bad enough that his qualifying session was ruined by a faulty fuel pump, which saw him fail to post a time and start from the rear of the grid in Race 1.

It did not deter the 17-year-old Hobart schoolboy.

By lap three, Peroni had rocketed from 32nd to 14th and he was eyeing a place inside the top 10 to collect valuable points.

On the final lap, when placed 13th, the car behind Peroni crashed into the back of him, sending him spinning out of the race.

In qualifying for Race 2, handling issues restricted Peroni to 15th place on the grid, though by lap two he was 10th with a bullet. Then the unbelievable happened — a carbon copy crash sent him limping back to the pits and out of the race again.

Peroni is now ninth in the championship with rounds remaining at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, and Barcelona, Spain, late next month.

He is hoping to step into Formula 3 next year.

“Formula One is always the goal and to do that you’ve got to move up through the categories,” Peroni said.

“Formula 3 is a the next category. It has got a high profile and it’s somewhere most junior drivers want to race.”