Axcil Jefferies
Axcil Jefferies (born 14 April 1994) is a Zimbabwean Professional Racing Driver and Senior Race Instructor at Yas Marina Circuit Abu Dhabi.
| Axcil Jefferies | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  |
| Born | 14 April 1994 |
| Lamborghini Super Trofeo career | |
| Debut season | 2005 |
| Current team | Konrad Motorsport |
| Previous series | |
| 2014 2013–14 2012 2009–2010 | GP2 Series Indy Lights FIA Formula Two Championship Formula BMW Pacific |
Career
Jefferies started his motorsport career aged six in Zimbabwe, and went on to win several national championships in Zimbabwe and South Africa before moving to Europe for 2007 and 2008, winning races in the European Karting Championship.
Formula BMW
Jefferies contested the Formula BMW Pacific series in 2009 and 2010. He finished third overall in the 2009 season, taking pole position at Sepang and Okayama, and winning two races at Sepang and a total of 12 podiums. He completed a limited schedule in 2010, with two wins and four podiums.
FIA Formula Two Championship
In 2012, after not racing for two years, Jefferies returned to action in FIA Formula Two halfway through the season with a best of 5th in wet conditions in Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. He finished 12th in points.
Indy Lights and GP2
In 2013 Jefferies made his debut in the American Firestone Indy Lights series with Bryan Herta Autosport at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and finished seventh. He competed again two months later at the Houston race and finished fifth. 2014 Jefferies competed in The Indy Lights Mid Ohio Honds 200 event finishing sixth on Saturday and fourth in the Sunday Race.
In 2014 Jefferies made his debut in GP2 in Bahrain, showing strong pace in race one he was unfortunately punted by Japanese driver Kimya Sato and forced to retire; with Saturdays final positions determining Sundays starting grid Jefferies had to start from the back of the grid and again put in solid performance making up several positions.
Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship
In 2017 Jefferies has set his sights on a different path in motorsport and is competing in the prestigious Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship. Jefferies dominated the first round in Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi by being fastest in all practice sessions, winning pole position by over 0.5 seconds to his nearest rival and winning the race by 28 seconds. Round 2 was held at Dubai Autodrome, where again Jefferies was on pole in the Pro Class and won both races in Dubai. Round 5 and 6 saw Jefferies on pole again in dominant fashion and winning both races to clinch the overall championship.
Jefferies continued his top form in his debut in the European Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship by setting the fastest time in official practice on Friday for the first round in Monza in Italy . He then qualified 3rd overall on Saturday and Won race one and finished 2nd in race 2 leaving Monza leading the championship. Jefferies continued his good form with two 3rd places finishes at Paul Ricard Circuit in France, a 3rd in Silverstone circuit UK, another win and 3rd at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, a 3rd at Nurburgring Circuit in Germany. Another 2 podiums in Imola Italy saw Jefferies finish 2nd overall in the European Championship. He then finished 2nd in the World Finals where drivers from four different continents made up a grid of 67 cars.
Jefferies has defended his Middle East Championship, this time running with the German team Konrad Motorsport with 5 podiums, including 3 wins, and setting lap records at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
24H Endurance Series powered by Hankook
Jefferies competed in his first 24 hrs race at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France during the weekend of 6 and 7 May 2017 with UAE based team GP Extreme as part of the 24H Series. The team selected him to do the qualifying and he impressed by qualifying the Renault RS01 FGT3 in 4th place overall. After a hard-fought battle Jefferies and team finished 4th overall. In August 2017 Jefferies completed his 2nd 24hrs race at the Portimao Circuit in Portugal, again with GP Extreme in the Renault RS01. The team qualified 2nd and were sitting in the top 3 for the first 12hrs before a mechanical fault dropped them to an eventual 8th-place finish overall.
2019 VLN CHAMPIONSHIP around Nurburgring Nordschleife in Lamborghini GT3 EVO with Konrad Motor Sport. Axcil Jefferies completed a successful 2019 VLN champioship with several podiums and top 10 qualifying positions in what was a satisfying debut at the Nordshliefe. The Konrad Motorsport outfit also fielded Axcil in the 6 hour and Nurburgring 24 Hour race alongside Lamborghini factory drivers Frank Perera, Marco Mapelli and Mirco Bortolotti.
November 2019 Axcil competed in the 24 hours race in Austin Texas (COTA24HRS) with Toksport Motorsport in the Mercedes AMG GT3. The team qualified in 2nd position and battled for the lead for 22 hours with the Black Falcon Mercedes AMG GT3 until a mechanical fault caused the team to lose 5 laps and finishing 5th overall.
2020 January 2020 kicked off on a high with Axcil Jefferies again taking the wheel of the Toksport Mercedes AMG GT3 for the Dubai 24 hour race. As the only Pro driver in the number 70 Toksport car Axcil was selected to qualify in one of the most competitive GT3 driver line ups. He qualified in position 8 with just 0.4 seconds separating the top 10 cars. Taking the start of the race Axcil made up 5 positions on track with spectacular race craft to hand the car over to Martin Konrad in P3. Final classification was P2 in class.
Personal life
2014 Jefferies was appointed as a UN AIDS Ambassador for the United Nations Aids Campaign. 2017 Axcil was drafted into the Lamborghini Young Driver Program. 2018 Appointment as Official Professional Diver for Konrad Motor Sport
Racing record
Complete GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Madpanda Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | Silver | MIS 1 16 |
MIS 2 12 |
MIS 3 9 |
MAG 1 |
MAG 2 |
ZAN 1 |
ZAN 2 |
CAT 1 |
CAT 2 |
CAT 3 |
2nd* | 36* |
* Season still in progress.