Update from ValGarbarino.com
It’s been an amazing 2024 for me so far. I started out the year in the Sunshine State for the SKUSA Winter Series at Homestead Miami. The track has always been one of my favorites and I had been looking forward to going back for a long time. We struggled a bit in some sessions but we were able to end the series with a best qualifying result of 5th and a best race result of 3rd. We ended up P10 in the championship after having an unfortunate result in round 1 due to contact. Overall, it was a great warmup for the rest of the year.
It’s been very special to start my first year racing cars. I’ve been driving in Formula 4 in the Formula Pro USA West Championships, a division of SCCA racing in California at tracks like Thunderhill, Laguna Seca, and Sonoma Raceway. It’s been a very intense championship so far after the first 4 rounds at Thunderhill, and I’ve enjoyed pushing myself to the limit in order to get the best results I can.
Round 1 started off strong at Thunderhill. After having multiple days of practice in the car, we were quick all of Friday practice and going into Saturday morning. I was able to grab my first pole position in my first official qualifying session in the car. Going into the race, I had full confidence in myself and the team that we would have everything we needed to win. In the race, I fell to second early on, but continued to pursue the top spot. I was able to keep my composure, making a pass for the lead on lap 5, and defending the spot until the final lap. Unfortunately, I had poor timing with traffic and ended up being overtaken and finishing in second with the fastest lap, just 4 tenths away from victory
Round 2 started not as good as I had hoped. I qualified third after a mistake that ruined my chances of grabbing pole and because of the multi-class element of the starts, I was multiple rows behind first. However, I put my head down and was able to make my way up to P2 by lap 6. On lap 8, I attempted a pass for the lead in the flat-out turn 8, which had me all out of shape coming out of the corner and having to go off track to avoid spinning. I was able to get the car back on track and run down first, eventually making a pass around the outside in turn 1 to take the lead. I was able to hold on to the checkered flag, taking my first win in a car and my first of the season.
In rounds 3 and 4, I struggled early on after having not been in the car for over a month. I was able to get back into the groove and qualify P2 in round 3. In the race, I was held up at the start and early on in the race, which put me almost a full straightaway back from the lead. I was able to close the gap to around 8 tenths, but I had overheated the tires after pushing hard to catch up, and I was unable to make a pass for the lead. We ended up P2 with fastest lap. On Sunday for round 4, I was confident that we could challenge for the win and I knew we would have the pace in the race. We qualified P2 and had a better start in the race. On lap 12, I had a huge run going into turn 2 and I made a pass for the lead. After trading positions for the next 4 laps and making a final move with 2 to go, I held on to take my second win of the season.
I’m looking forward to continuing racing this year with such a professional team like World Speed and improving my skillset going forward. I’d like to thank all of my supporters: World Speed Motorsports, Molecule, Goodyear Tires, Exclusive Racing, VMB Driver Development, Chegg, Harris Group INC, Casa Burrito, and God for always supporting me.
More Information:
- Connect with Val at: www.ValGarbarino.com
- Official PR about VMB selecting Val for the 2024 F4 season…
Val’s next event is at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca June 07-09 – Rounds 5 and 6 of the Formula Pro USA F4 Championship