It took only four races for Fabio Urbano to reach his first career podium with Brian Graham Racing/TLM Racing with Grote and he did it in exciting fashion during a windy and wet weekend at Shannonville Motorsport Park. After poor weather conditions hindered his debut at Mosport International Raceway earlier in the month, it seemed that the problem would carry into the Shannonville weekend. Friday’s practice session began with rain and left the track riddled with puddles making it difficult for Urbano to find good lap times in his Urbano Electric/Metropolitan Doors Van Diemen. “The wet track not only slowed down lap times for me, but also made it almost impossible to see,” Urbano stated after his final test session on Friday.
Things looked brighter on Saturday and more cars getting onto the track combined with some sunshine removed most of the water and allowed Urbano to push the car a little more. “I felt much more comfortable on Saturday morning in practice and I was able to cut my lap times by almost ten seconds,” said Urbano. Fabio was still a bit off the pace and qualified 11th in the 16 car field for Round 3. The drier track did not exactly mean there were going to be less spins and Urbano benefited by staying calm and keeping his car on the track. “After spinning a lot in practice on Friday and Saturday, Brian [Graham] sat down with me and basically said I have to keep the car on the track.” This strategy seemed to work for Urbano who, although did not have the fastest lap times, was able to finish the race full of multiple spins and 5 DNF’s, including his two fellow BGR/TLM Racing partners, in 4th place just missing out on his first podium. “Just missing out on the podium was the best thing for me. It gave me confidence because I finished so well, but also made me hungry for that podium on Sunday,” stated Urbano after Round 3.
It all came together on Sunday for Urbano and a quicker pace allowed him to move up in qualifying and take the 8th spot. Urbano then moved quickly up to 6th place within the first lap and seemed to close in on the top 5. That was until his faster teammate, Mikhail Goikhberg moved into his mirrors from an 11th place start. A few spins from the top 5 turned the battle between Urbano, Goikhberg and emerging Dan Burchill into a battle for the 3rd spot. The three cars swapped positions every lap until a collision between Urbano and Burchill removed Burchill from the battle leaving Urbano to fight with Goikhberg for 3rd with only a few laps remaining. The two passed each other each lap with Goikhberg running faster in the front half of the track and Urbano topping his pace in the back half. The final lap put the icing on the cake of this great race with Urbano passing Goikhberg in the turn 10 hairpin. Goikhberg pushed hard around the final two turns, but lost control of his car allowing Fabio Urbano to cruise to his first podium finish in 3rd place. “It is all about being comfortable. The more time I spend in the car, the more comfortable I feel and this turns into better finishes,” a jubilant Fabio Urbano stated after taking a sip from his podium bottle of champagne.
This marks the third podium finish for the BGR/TLM Racing team in four races a great start to the season, considering the team is completely made up of rookies. Fabio will make his return to Mosport International Raceway for Round 5 and 6 on June 13th and 14th.
About Brian Graham Racing - Brian Graham Racing has been operation since 1998, racing and winning in the junior formula car ranks. Combining a race wining team owner with a professional, knowledgeable and dedicated crew, the team has achieved success right from the beginning. Below are just few of the highlights BGR has achieved in motorsports with its drivers.About TLM RacingTLM Racing was formed in 2005 and is owned by Chris Tanser, Dave Matkovich and Gerry Merz. Both Chris and Dave have histories in Karting and have participated in the Ron Fellows Karting Championship, so competitive racing is nothing new to them. Gerry, the team's General Manager is a local businessman who has had a passion for open wheel formula racing since he was a boy. Dave, a Captain with SunWing Airlines, is TLM's driver recruitment manager and Crew Chief and Chris overlooks team logistics and organizational programs.
For more information on Brian Graham Racing, please see their web site
For more information on TLM Racing, please see their web site
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