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Local racer drives first Formula car test

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

Fayetteville resident Sean Israel, 18, has had a lifelong fascination with cars and racing. He has been racing go-karts for approximately six years, but these aren’t your run-of-the mill amusement park go-karts. The go-karts Israel drives average 100 miles per hour and the racing is intense. It has also paved the way for Israel to try out for formula car racing teams.

Recently, Israel traveled to Moroso Motorsports Park in West Palm Beach, Fla. He drove a Van Diemen Formula Continental, a 2.0 litre single seater that reaches 140 miles an hour. The tryout was for 10/Tenths Motorsport and Israel thinks it went really well.

“The car was better than I ever thought; smooth and very responsive. The set up was great from the beginning Ð once I got the shifting down, the rest of the day was just play time,” Israel said. “I talked with the ower about what to expect from the car and just concentrated on driving.

Israel, a graduate of Starr’s Mill, will attend Perimeter College this fall and plans to major in mechanical engineering. He is hoping to have a long racng career and one day hopes to get into Formula One racing or the American le Mans series.

Israel also owns SMI Motorsports, which he started three years ago with his parents so that he could enter races as a privateer and not under a big manufacturer. “By operating as a privateer, I’ve had more freedom,” Israel said explaining that he could choose which races to run and when his vehicle was ready.” It has also been a family affair as his father, Adrian, has worked as his mechanic and his mother, Christine, handles his public relations.

There are more tests in Israel’s future as well as a race in the Formula Ford Zetec/Cooper Tires series in October. His advice for many of the aspiring drivers in the area is “to never give up and to keep your heart in it.”