Lucca Allen is an 18 year old Irish racing driver who is racing in Super Formula Lights in Japan for his second season. Allen has picked up numerous championships including Kadets in 2014 and F4 SEA in 2019. He was the first Irish driver to win F4 South East Asia ever, and comes into this season with momentum from the end of last year.
Lucca kindly agreed to an interview with DIVEBOMB where we discussed his racing.
Interview by DJ Byrne, Recorded by Ishaan, Edited by Sam Stewart
Photo by instagram @luccaallen1
How are you feeling about this race weekend?
Yeah I feel good, it will probably be tough just because I missed out on the preseason testing due to the Covid restrictions but hopefully I can do well because of racing there last year, so hopefully we have a sort of baseline setup to work off of.
Has Covid affected your training or anything?
I mean I’m just out of quarantine a few days now, so I’ve just been doing whatever workouts I can in my hotel room but yeah training went well over the winter, so yeah should be a good year.
What are you going to do to improve on 9th in the championship last season?
Yeah so last year I wasn’t really looking at championship points as I missed half the season, but we had a best finish of 6th, but yeah it will be hard to beat the B-Max and TOM’’s because they’re the factory teams but yeah there’s 8 guys in the top team so any position we can get into that top 8 is a great success on its own. But yeah I’ve set myself a goal of top 5 in the championship so yeah as close to that or 1 or 2 places better would obviously be great so yeah.
Have your parents always been supportive of you in racing?
Yeah, I mean they weren’t what got me into motorsport, it was my own kind of hobby, and yeah, my dad loves formula 1, so that probably helped getting into it, but yeah my parents and extended family have always been supportive.
Would you say your parents are your biggest supporters or do you know a bigger supporter?
I’m not sure really, there’s probably bigger fans that I’ve met, but in terms of emotional support I’d say you couldn’t get much better than my mum and dad.
Have you ever had a favourite car/series to drive?
So, karting is actually probably the most fun out of them all, obviously it gets faster every category you move up, but in terms of that it gets more fun and faster, so yeah I’m loving this F3 car at the moment, it was new last year to various F3 categories around the world, and yeah Dallara did a great job on this car, because a lot of the cars got kinda shyd off due to the halo adding weight, but Dallara managed to keep it a nice little midcar and a nice bit of downforce as well.
Who was your idol in racing?
Probably Michael Schumacher, I think all-time, I’ve kind of tried to become as a complete racing driver as I can, and I think Michael was probably the most complete racing driver, but obviously theres different opinions, but I think in my eyes its Michael Schumacher is the most complete driver we have ever seen and yeah, in formula 1 right now, I like Daniel Ricciardo a lot, and Max Verstappen and of course Mick Schumacher is another driver I really like because he’s just been slowly getting better and better and trying to perfect being an overall great driver from his recent performances.
Do you think there is any way that racing could be improved?
Obviously, ideally all cars would be similar performance wise, but obviously that’s never going to happen, because obviously manufacturers are a big part of racing, in terms of actual racing, the higher amount of downforce you get, the harder it is to pass anyone or even get close to them, that’s probably why karting is overall a better racing platform, even in the f3 cars it’s really hard to overtake like at all, you just need to wait for them to make a mistake or try use a different line.
Have you ever had a favourite moment in racing?
I’m not sure, you see when u won the championship in 2019 when I crossed the line, because I had to rush to the airport, still in my race suit and everything, and I still remember the moment I was sitting and I got the text saying I had won the championship, but yeah I suppose every race win feels great, and it’s better when you come from the back and you feel like you have earned it a bit more, and the karting championships were great as well, and my first national championship was in Kadets in 2014 and I felt pretty good winning that, if I was to say 1 standout moment I would say my first time heading out in the F4 car, just you know, looking around and thinking jesus, because I’ve always loved racing and karting everything, especially when stuff starts happening, so yeah that was definitely a surreal moment that I kinda keep with me
What are you going to do once Covid is over?
Covid actually isn’t too bad, over here in Japan, like all the restaurants and bars and all that kind of stuff are open, the only real difference is that you have to wear a mask and sponsorship for racing has been a bit harder to get, but yeah, kind of carrying on with normal life I suppose, training and working, and trying to make it out here.
Lucca Allen in numbers:
– 12 Wins – 28 Podiums -12 Super License Points – 5 Poles – 9 Fastest Laps
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Read our recent Formula 2 Ultimate Guide for 2021 Season here.
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