I'm delighted to bring back Indy NXT star and 2022 IndyPro 2000 champion Louis Foster for another guest slot for this edition of 'A Bunch of Questions'!
When I spoke with Louis last year, he was embarking on his first year of racing in America after a steady and impressive career in Europe.
The year would prove to be fruitful as Louis became champion of the IndyPro 2000 Championship, as he went on to win the title by over 60 points ahead of Reece Gold, impressing many as he won with Exclusive Autosport and has now graduated to Indy NXT with Andretti Autosport alongside W Series winner Jamie Chadwick, Hunter McElrea - another tipped for great things - and James Roe Jr who is in his second season in the series. Next stop: IndyCar.
📸 Louis celebrates his pole position on his Indy NXT debut.
Onto the questions!
1. You’ve won races on 4 continents now: is that a big step in what you want to achieve in racing? Yeah for sure, it's cool to race in different parts of the world, and to have success doing it is awesome. It's something I'll look back on fondly in my older days!
📸 Louis in Formula Regional Oceania action.
2. Did you actively choose America over Formula 1? I did, yes. I made the decision with my dad and my manager. I decided that for me personally, America was the best career option.
3. If not; do you see IndyCar still as a door to getting into F1 too or would you rather focus on IndyCar for your career? It's becoming more of a door nowadays for IndyCar drivers to go to F1 with a the likes of Pato O'Ward, Colton Herta and Alex Palou all testing. It's definitely a door for me but my focus is on Indy NXT and getting to IndyCar, which is my current goal.
📸 Alex Palou has tested with McLaren and taken part in FP1 for the team too.
4. What led you to making the choice to go to America in the first place? You’d had a solid run at racing in Europe, impressing many. It was we mainly due to the feeder series in the US. The way my career was heading it suited me very well. There's a lot more support for for successful drivers, compared to racing in Europe and helps me to compete in single seaters. I think otherwise I'd be racing GT's in Europe or something.
5. Who was the toughest driver you raced in Europe? I'd probably say between Harry King and Zane Maloney. Two very good drivers who I competed with in Ginetta's(King) and British F4(Maloney).
📸 Zane Maloney has so far progressed to FIA Formula 2.
Kaylen Frederick, Kush Maini and Jak Crawford who I raced in Euroformula would all be examples too of drivers who have definitely pushed me in my career.
6. What about the toughest in America?
Reece Gold. Obviously I've just had the one year in America in IndyPro 2000 so far and he was the one who challenged me the most.
📸 Reece Gold.
7. How different is racing in America compared to racing in Europe? Pretty similar really. America is a bit more relaxed in a good way. It's more enjoyable, there's less pressure than in Europe and it's a better experience for teams and driver and it's more fun for sure.
8. You were nominated for the 2022 Autosport BRDC Award, is that a particularly proud moment? It was my 2nd year in a row in there! It's nice to be acknowledged as someone with talent. Definitely a proud moment of mine obviously, and would have been nice to win but enjoyed my time and appreciate the effort of the BRDC and Aston Martin, they do a really good job of it.
📸 Louis(first middle) with the BRDC nominees, Ollie Bearman(left), Luke Browning(second middle) and Jamie Chadwick(right).
9. You won on your debut in New Zealand in the FROC series, how did you enjoy racing there? Would you go back the series? Racing was good and I certainly enjoyed it, it was a very nice way to ease into the season. Maybe I'd go back if it works for me next year, but I don't know.
📸 Louis post-FROC race.
10. Your dad was a racing driver too, did that inspire you to pursue it as a career? Yeah I'd say it did. I was in karts at a very early age, kind of the story of most drivers, Dad got me into karts and you graduate to cars and so on. Dad definitely influenced it, without him I wouldn't be racing.
📸 Nick Foster, Louis's dad, raced in the British Touring Car Championship(BTCC).
11. What’s been your proudest moment in racing so far? Hmm, probably my first oval win. It was kind of a shell shock moment for me.
12. You've sampled both now, so do you prefer oval racing, or street racing? Still streets for me. I enjoy the ovals more than I thought I would, you get an advantage over the drivers who don't race them. Streets are still my preferred but I enjoy both.
📸 Louis on track.
13. As a racing fan yourself, is there anything you’ve been able to collect from racing, i.e helmets, race suits etc? If you have, what’s your favourite thing you’ve got? I can't remember the name, I'd have to have a look but we have a champagne bottle from I think an 80's or 90's rally driver from a WRC race. We don't really have anything else in the house.
Thanks to Louis for the catch up, hopefully we can chat again sometime! Best of luck to him for the season.
📸 Louis celebrates his IndyPro 2000 title.
Indy NXT is back again for round 2 of the season at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama with the race on the 30th of April.
📸 This year's Indy NXT challengers, featuring Louis alongside names like Jamie Chadwick, Matteo Nannini, Kyffin Simpson and Hunter McElrea.
📸 Image credits: Louis Foster, BTCC, Toyota Gazoo Raxing NZ, NTT IndyCar, Andretti Autosport, IndyPro 200 Championship, McLaren Racing, Formula Motorsport Limited.
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