Louis Foster

Louis Foster (born 27 July 2003) is a British racing driver. He currently competes in Indy NXT driving for Andretti Autosport.^[1] He is the 2022 Indy Pro 2000 champion.^[2] Foster previously competed in the 2021 Euroformula Open Championship with CryptoTower Racing and the 2020 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship with Double R Racing where he finished third.

Louis Foster
Foster on the British F4 podium after winning at Silverstone in 2019.
Nationality	British
Born	(2003-07-27) 27 July 2003 (age 20) Odiham, United Kingdom
Indy NXT career
Debut season	2023
Current team	Andretti Autosport
Racing licence	FIA Silver
Starts	8
Wins	1
Podiums	3
Poles	3
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	TBD in 2023
Previous series
2022 2020–21 2020 2019 2018	Indy Pro 2000 Championship Euroformula Open Championship BRDC British Formula 3 Championship F4 British Championship Ginetta Junior Championship
Championship titles
2022	Indy Pro 2000 Championship

Personal life

Louis is the son of former British Touring Car Championship racer Nick Foster. He attended Lord Wandsworth College in Hook, Hampshire. Foster is also a keen hockey and rugby player. ^[3]

Career

Ginetta Junior Championship

Foster made his car racing debut in the final three meetings of the 2017 Ginetta Junior Championship, driving with Elite Motorsport. He then competed in that year's Ginetta Junior Winter Series, where he won the Rookie Championship.

He returned to the championship in 2018 and was a persistent title contender throughout the season. Foster claimed 19 podiums, of which 9 were victories plus four pole positions and two fastest laps on his way to second place in the championship. He scored the most points of any driver but lost out on the title by just eight points to teammate Adam Smalley after dropped scores were accounted for.^[4]

During the campaign, Foster accrued several records; the first rookie to win three races in one weekend, the first driver to win five races in succession and the youngest driver to score an outright victory.

F4 British Championship

Following his successful stint in Ginetta Juniors, Foster moved to single-seaters when he joined Double R Racing for the 2019 F4 British Championship certified by FIA, powered by Ford EcoBoost season. In February 2019, Foster received sponsorship from global used car dealership Copart.^[5]

Foster was immediately on the pace, taking victory in only the second race of the season. He followed that with a sublime weekend in Donington, winning two races and scoring a third-place finish in the other to give him a 17-point lead in the championship table.

Across the rest of the season, Foster accrued another three wins and nine podium finishes - dominating at Silverstone – to finish the year third in the championship, remaining in the title hunt until the season finale weekend at Brands Hatch.^[6]

BRDC F3 Championship

For 2020, Foster graduated to the BRDC British F3 Championship, remaining with Double R Racing.^[7] The opening round at Oulton Park, scheduled for 11 and 13 April, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[8]

The season subsequently began at Oulton Park on the 1st and 2 August. In the opening qualifying session of the year, Louis set the benchmark and claimed double pole position in his debut weekend in the series.^[9] He followed his qualifying success with a maiden podium finish.^[10]

Moving on to Donington Park, Foster claimed his first win the series with a mature drive from the front-row of the grid.^[11] He then claimed a string of top-ten finishes, including climbing ten places from 18th to 8th in the second race at Donington.

Further success came at Brands Hatch when Foster scored three top-six finishes, including a third-place podium in the final race.^[12] The 17-year-old carried this momentum into the series' second visit to Donington Park, where he claimed another race victory, this time climbing from sixth on the grid, alongside two 11th-place finishes.^[13]

Snetterton marked Foster's most successful weekend in the series to date as the Hampshire racer took his second double pole position of the season before converting those into his third win of the year and a further second-place podium alongside fourth and fifth in the additional two races.^[14] It also meant Foster took the lead of the Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup.^[15]

Euroformula Open

 

Foster driving at the Red Bull Ring during the 2021 Euroformula Open Championship.

It was announced in October 2020 that Foster would make his debut in Euroformula Open at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.^[16] Competing with Double R Racing once again, Foster quickly found himself on the pace as he gained four places in the opening race to break into the top ten. Qualifying fifth for the second race, Foster launched himself to third on the first lap and put himself in prime position to take victory in only his second race in the series.

Shortly after making his debut at Spa-Francorchamps, it was announced that Foster would also contest the rescheduled season finale at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya,^[17] with the track hosting four races in lieu of the cancelled round at Circuito del Jarama.^[18] After qualifying 11th, 10th, 4th and 12th, Foster pulled off a number of daring overtakes in races one and two to climb into the top ten, finishing eighth in both races.^[19] Starting from fourth in race three, the 17-year-old leapfrogged two cars on the first lap to take second place and another podium finish in the series, coming within touching distance of the win.^{[20] [21]}

In 2021, Foster switched to CryptoTower Racing to contest the full season. He took pole position at the first round at Portimão and finished in the podium in races 1 and 3, with his brake disc exploding on the formation lap in race 2. Foster secured another two podiums at the second round at Paul Ricard before going on to take a triple win at the third round of the championship at Spa-Francorchamps.

In September, for finishing as Euroformula Open vice champion, Foster was nominated for the Autosport BRDC Award.^[22]

Indy Pro 2000

Earlier in 2021, Foster ran in a private test with Jay Howard Driver Development and later ran in the Chris Griffis Memorial Test with Exclusive Autosport, setting the fastest time of the test.^[23] For the 2022 season, Foster signed to drive for Exclusive Autosport for the full season.^[24][25] A dominant season ensued, as the Briton won seven races, taking the title at the final round at Portland.^[2]

Formula Regional

During his 2023 pre-season, Foster joined the 2023 Formula Regional Oceania Championship with Giles Motorsport for the final three rounds.^[26]

Indy NXT

Following his Indy Pro Championship victory, Foster was announced to be signing for Andretti Autosport for the 2023 Indy NXT season.^[27]

IndyCar

Foster tested an Andretti Autosport car at Road America in September of 2023.^[28]

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2017	Ginetta Junior Championship	Elite Motorsport	9	0	0	0	0	75	19th
	Ginetta Junior Winter Series		4	0	0	0	0	76	6th
2018	Ginetta Junior Championship	Elite Motorsport	26	9	4	2	19	671	2nd
2019	F4 British Championship	Double R Racing	30	6	5	9	13	353	3rd
2019–20	MRF Challenge Formula 2000	MRF Racing	6	1	0	2	2	79	10th
2020	BRDC British Formula 3 Championship	Double R Racing	24	3	4	1	6	396	3rd
	Euroformula Open Championship		7	1	0	0	2	57	12th
2021	Euroformula Open Championship	CryptoTower Racing	24	3	2	4	13	315	2nd
2022	Indy Pro 2000 Championship	Exclusive Autosport	18	7	5	10	12	451	1st
2023	Formula Regional Oceania Championship	Giles Motorsport	9	1	0	4	4	147	12th
	Indy NXT	Andretti Autosport	14	2	4	2	6	410	4th

* Season still in progress.

Complete F4 British Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	Pos	Points
2019	Double R Racing	BRI 1 7	BRI 2 1	BRI 3 4	DON 1 1	DON 2 3	DON 3 1	THR1 1 10	THR1 2 4	THR1 3 2	CRO 1 3	CRO 2 6	CRO 3 2	OUL 1 6	OUL 2 6	OUL 3 5	SNE 1 8	SNE 2 4	SNE 3 8	THR2 1 12	THR2 2 Ret	THR2 3 3	KNO 1 Ret	KNO 2 5	KNO 3 1	SIL 1 1	SIL 2 3	SIL 3 1	BHGP 1 Ret	BHGP 2 6	BHGP 3 6	3rd	353

Complete BRDC British Formula 3 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	DC	Points
2020	Double R Racing	OUL 1 13	OUL 2 Ret	OUL 3 3	OUL 4 8	DON1 1 1	DON1 2 8^10	DON1 3 6	BRH 1 4	BRH 2 14	BRH 3 6	BRH 4 3	DON2 1 11	DON2 2 1^5	DON2 3 11	SNE 1 2	SNE 2 4^8	SNE 3 1	SNE 4 5	DON3 1 Ret	DON3 2 12	DON3 3 4	SIL 1 5	SIL 2 5^8	SIL 3 16	3rd	396

Complete Euroformula Open Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	DC	Points
2020	Double R Racing	HUN 1	HUN 2	LEC 1	LEC 2	RBR 1	RBR 2	MNZ 1	MNZ 2	MNZ 3	MUG 1	MUG 2	SPA 1 7	SPA 2 1	SPA 3 Ret	CAT 1 8	CAT 2 8	CAT 3 2	CAT 4 Ret							12th	57
2021	CryptoTower Racing	POR 1 2	POR 2 NC	POR 3 2	LEC 1 3	LEC 2 2	LEC 3 6	SPA 1 1	SPA 2 1	SPA 3 1	HUN 1 7	HUN 2 4	HUN 3 6	IMO 1 2	IMO 2 5	IMO 3 4	RBR 1 2	RBR 2 3	RBR 3 3	MNZ 1 Ret	MNZ 2 14	MNZ 3 Ret	CAT 1 5	CAT 2 2	CAT 3 3	2nd	315

Complete Formula Regional Oceania Championship Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	DC	Points
2023	Giles Motorsport	HIG 1	HIG 2	HIG 3	TER 1	TER 2	TER 3	MAN 1 1	MAN 2 2	MAN 3 13	HMP 1 Ret	HMP 2 8	HMP 3 2	TAU 1 2	TAU 2 8	TAU 3 15	12th*	146*

American open-wheel racing results

Indy Pro 2000 Championship

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Ran	Points
2022	Exclusive Autosport	STP 1 3	STP 2 2	ALA 1 4	ALA 2 3	IMS 1 14	IMS 2 13	IMS 3 1*	IRP 1	ROA 1 1*	ROA 2 13	MOH 1 1*	MOH 2 2	TOR 1 1*	TOR 2 1*	GMP 4	POR 1 1*	POR 2 2	POR 3 6	1st	451

Indy NXT

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (Races with ^L indicate a race lap led) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Rank	Points
2023	Andretti Autosport	STP 14^L	BAR 14	IMS 2	DET 19	DET 3^L	RDA 6	MDO 1^L	IOW 7	NSH 6	IMS 17	GMP 2	POR 1^L*	LAG 18	LAG 3	4th	410

References

1. "Louis Foster Joins Exclusive Autosport for the 2022 Indy Pro 2000 Season". www.indypro2000.com. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
2. Smith, Daniel (7 September 2022). "Team UK member Louis Foster claims Indy Pro 2000 Championship title". Motorsport UK. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
3. "Profile – Louis Foster Racing". Retrieved 24 March 2020.
4. Paice, Simon (14 November 2018). "2018 BTCC Supports Season Review: Top 15 Drivers". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
5. "Louis Foster teams up with Copart for Debut British F4 season". 19 February 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
6. "Advantage Maloney after Carlin racer storms to victory in Brands Hatch opener | British F4". fiaformula4.com. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
7. . BRDC British F3 Championship. 31 January 2020. Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
8. . BRDC British F3 Championship. 17 March 2020. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
9. Wood, Elliot (1 August 2020). "Louis Foster takes two BRDC British F3 poles on Oulton Park debut". Formula Scout. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
10. Wood, Elliot (2 August 2020). "Frederick gets redemptive British F3 win in Oulton Park race three". Formula Scout. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
11. . BRDC British F3 Championship. 15 August 2020. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
12. Woollard, Craig (30 August 2020). "Kush Maini earns Hitech GP its first British F3 win of 2020". Formula Scout. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
13. Wood, Elliot (20 September 2020). "Louis Foster wins reversed grid BRDC British F3 race at Donington Park". Formula Scout. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
14. Woollard, Craig (4 October 2020). "Foster beats Frederick in wet BRDC British F3 race three at Snetterton". Formula Scout. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
15. . BRDC British F3 Championship. 5 October 2020. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
16. Wood, Elliot (12 October 2020). "Double R calls up Louis Foster for Euroformula debut at Spa". Formula Scout. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
17. Wood, Elliot (27 October 2020). "Louis Foster stays in Euroformula for Barcelona after debut weekend win". Formula Scout. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
18. Wood, Elliot (22 October 2020). "Euroformula cancels Jarama season finale, Barcelona to host four races". Formula Scout. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
19. Wood, Elliot (31 October 2020). "Yifei Ye crowned Euroformula champion with dominant Barcelona win". Formula Scout. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
20. Wood, Elliot (1 November 2020). "Ye overcomes penalty to win third Barcelona Euroformula race". Formula Scout. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
21. Partners, M. B. (2 November 2020). "Further podium success for Foster in Barcelona". Mysite. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
22. "FOUR FINALISTS SELECTED FOR 2021 ASTON MARTIN AUTOSPORT BRDC AWARD". British Racing Drivers' Club. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
23. Wood, Ida (1 November 2021). "Foster fastest as he evaluates IP2000 teams, Putsch signs for Legacy". Formula Scout. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
24. "Louis Foster Joins Exclusive Autosport for the 2022 Indy Pro 2000 Season". www.indypro2000.com. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
25. Series, F1 Feeder (23 February 2022). "Your expert guide to the 2022 Indy Pro 2000 driver lineup". F1 Feeder Series. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
26. Wood, Ida (26 January 2023). "USF Pro 2000 champion Louis Foster to join FRegional Oceania grid". Formula Scout. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
27. "Foster joins Andretti Autosport for 2023 Indy Lights season". www.motorsport.com. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
28. "Andretti team impressed after Foster's first IndyCar test". RACER. 20 September 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.

External links

• Louis Foster career summary at DriverDB.com