Fabri gets chance with Race Academy

In 2013, Michael Fabri met with the Director of Mygale Australia, Greg Woodrow. In a lengthy meeting, to discuss Michael’s future in motorsport and in particular the move from Karting to Formula Ford racing. Greg kindly explained in detail the future of Formula Ford racing in Australia and gave Michael insight into ways to gain entry and succeed in such a tough sport. He shared his and other young race drivers success stories and experiences and explained it takes determination, courage, perseverance and a positive outlook.

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 many talented drivers in the past, Greg 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 on the 18th October 2013.

The day began at 8:00am. Whilst Michael completed the appropriate paperwork, the team 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 Mygale engineer, Justin Sarton, 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 and getting used to the car, the acceleration, braking, cornering 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’s thoughts were 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.

After subsequent discussions with Michael and his parents, Rick and Brenda and months of thorough deliberation, Greg Woodrow announced that Mygale Australia had selected Michael as one of their highly coveted junior development drivers in their Race Academy Program for 2014.

Upon hearing the news, Michael said “I am honoured to be selected into the Mygale Race Academy, to be given this opportunity to make the progression from karting to open wheeler cars is a dream come true. I can’t thank Greg, Wendy, Justin and the entire team at Mygale enough, the faith and trust they have shown in me is overwhelming. I will try my very best to live up to their expectations.”