E-news January 2014

Official Publication of Michael Fabri M1 Racing

ROTAX PROTOUR TODD ROAD MELBOURNE

MICHAEL’S FIRST ROTAX DD2 RACE

he 2014 season kicked off at the

second round of the Rotax Pro Tour

held at Todd Road Melbourne the

24th - 26th January. This was Michael’s

first race in the senior class, moving

from juniors to seniors at the end of

September last year. He made his debut

in his Project X Racing Rotax DD2 Exprit

kart at Todd Road under the watchful

eye of Project X Racing principal,

William Yarwood.

Friday’s practice started with the usual

Melbourne climate change from hot and

sunny the previous day to dark clouds

and rain, but by early afternoon the sun

was shining once again and dry practice

began. Michael put in a few dry practice

sessions and by the end of the day was

pleased with his kart set-up and pace.

T Saturday commenced with qualifying

followed by three heat races and on

Sunday the pre-final and final was

contested. At the start of the pre-final, at

turn two, there was a collision between a

few karts causing one to rollover just in

front of Michael. Although Michael

avoided the incident in front, he was hit

behind by another kart; both karts were

entangled momentarily before the race

was stopped by the officials. Although he

suffered very minor damage to his kart,

Michael was, unfortunately, not allowed

to re-start the race by the officials

because he was deemed stationary prior

to the race being stopped.

Due to his exclusion from the pre-final,

Michael started the final in 26th position

from a field of 30.

Michael quickly

coming to terms

with the faster

DD2 class

A great start saw Michael passing a number

of karts before turn one, he then went on

to drive a brilliant race passing a number

of karts to finish 12th overall.

“I knew I had nothing to loose, I just put

my head down and tried to race the best I

could. I had the pace on the karts in front

of me probably because my tyres were

fresher due to my pre-final exclusion. If it

wasn’t for a minor mistake I made trying to

pass another kart in the last few laps,

I am sure I could have finished in the top

ten, but I am happy to finish 12th in such

a competitive DD2 field with some of the

best drivers in the world. To date, this

race is a highlight of my career especially

being my first DD2 race and coming from

the rear of the field makes it even more

memorable. I would really like to thank

Will for the tremendous help and

encouragement he gave me all weekend,

the kart set-up was great. I had a great

time” Michael said.

William Yarwood was especially happy

with Michael’s performance. “Michael

drove really well, he had good speed and

didn’t make many mistakes, imagine

where he could have finished if he had

started further up the field” Yarwood

said.

Michael’s Formula ford test

n motor racing Greg Woodrow knows

more than most. As a champion Karter

and Formula Ford driver and now as

the importer of Mygale's race-winning

Formula Ford and Formula 3 cars he's

seen many a talented driver come and

go.

Now, in an effort to help young drivers

move from Karting into circuit racing,

and to help them avoid many of the

pitfalls that have befallen plenty of

talented drivers in the past, Woodrow

and his team have launched Race

Academy.

It is through this Academy that Greg

decided to test Michael in a Mygale

SJ10a Duratec Formula Ford racing car

at Winton Motor Raceway in Victoria on

the 18th October 2013.

The day began at 8:00am at Winton Race-

way. Whilst Michael completed the

appropriate paperwork, Greg and Justin

Sarton prepared the race car for a full day

of testing. Each practice session was 20

minutes long to give the driver time to

settle in and get used to the car. In

between sessions, Greg analysed the

onboard MOTEC data acquisition system to

track the performance and help Michael

understand areas of improvement during

the day.

Michael said “Although I found the sand

traps and missed gear changes in the

morning sessions, with Greg and Justin

providing excellent driving advice, by the

end of the day I did not make as many

mistakes and got faster. I still have a huge

amount of learning just to get anywhere

near the potential of the Mygale SJ10a.

I

Michael’s Formula ford test

The acceleration, braking, and cornering is amazing and then there are the gear

changes to get used to, it’s totally different to driving a kart”.

“What a fantastic day this was, I can’t thank Greg, Wendy and Justin enough for making this dream of mine possible. I would definitely love the chance to test and eventually race Formula Ford, it is a goal of mine. I know it will take a lot of hard

work, but I am very determined to succeed” Michael said.

Greg commented that Michael did very well in his first FF drive, being only a second

behind the top runners of the Australian FF Championship when they raced at Winton

back in August is a good result especially on old tyres. With driver development he

has the potential to be successful.

Nicholas Andrews, Michael Fabri, Daniel Plant

2013 Series Proudly Supported By:

William Yarwood is one of Australia’s most successful Karters

with multiple State and National championships

PROJECT X RACING 3/11 Westerway Street, SLACKS CREEK QUEENSLAND 4127

FOR ALL YOUR KARTING NEEDS PHONE WILLIAM

Phone 07 3299 2225 Mobile 0459 900 566