Alex Peroni is a 21-year-old Tasmanian who this year is racing in the Indy Lights, the feeder series to North America’s premier open-wheel racing category – The Indy Car Series.

Alex started racing go karts in Tasmania from an early age and then at 15 went to Europe and raced Formula 4, then Formula Renault and over the last two years FIA Formula 3, which is seen as a stepping stone to Formula 1.

However, the last 12 months saw Team Peroni face many challenges, and so for 2021 it was decided that Alex would head to the USA and compete in the Indy Lights series.

The Peroni family are very close and mother Cathy, father Piero and sister Ellen have all been incredibly supportive of Alex throughout the journey. They have ridden the highs and lows of his career and none more so than when Alex had a monster crash in 2019 at Italy’s Monza circuit which could easily have brought his racing dreams to a halt.

In this month’s Famous Last Words Podcast, I talk with Alex’s father Piero to get an insight into their journey as a family over the years, and what it’s like to be the parent of a very driven young man in such a cut-throat business.

I hope you enjoy this chat with Piero Peroni: