name

Michael Gibbins

Born

31st January 1997

Home town

Whyteleafe​

Michael began his racing career in Cadet karts aged 8, the youngest age he could hold a MSA race licence. From there he progressed to Mini-Max aged 11 and Junior Max aged 13, before getting his MSA Car licence at 16 (again the earliest age he could do so) and moving up to sports cars, driving a Lola T590. Michael competed in the Lola for 2 years, becoming the youngest ever winner in his first year, then becoming the youngest ever champion in his second. In 2015 Michael moved up into the Sports 2000 Duratec championship and was a championship contender from the offset. Mechanical failure was the only thing that cost him the championship that year, meaning he had to settle for second. Before the 2016 season got underway, Michael completed his ARDS instructors course, and is now a fully qualified instructor. 2016 saw nail biting season, between Michael and the previous years champion, with the two trading wins throughout the year. This was resolved at the season finale where Michael did enough to be crowned the 2016 Sports 2000 champion. Michael aimed to repeat this feat in 2017, however reliability problems limited him to second place by just 2.5 points come the end of the season. In 2018 he aims to set this right...

MY EXPERIENCES

Michael in a MiniMax kart in 2010

In his first year in cars, he finished 2nd in class and 5th overall, despite having several mechanical difficulties.

A year later he won the championship, only not being on the podium when an exhaust manifold broke off.

2015 saw Michael move up to the Duratec class. A stunning first race, Michael started from the pitlane, and came through to win. However encountering lots of bad luck, Michael was forced to retire from 1st twice. At season end, 2nd in the championship was a good effort, but wanted one better for 2016.

2016 saw Michael challenge for the title for the whole year. Drive shaft failure in the first qualifying session meant Michael had to start race 1 in 36th. He made his title intentions clear, by storming to 3rd place and then winning race 2. Michael went onto to win the 2016 Sports 2000 Championship.

Michael is now looking to have an even more successful 2017, and is looking for more partners to join him on his journey. If you would like to get involved please get in touch!