Victorian Justin Carafa has packed his bags and made his way to Europe where he will contest the 2008 German ADAC Masters/ Switzerland Masters.
With both series' consisting of 8 rounds each the form GMR-KTM privateer, who finished 14th in the 2007 Pro Open Australian Motocross Championship, will have a busy year ahead.
"This all started when my brother Julian went to America on holiday in January to catch up with his good friend
Denis Stapleton(test rider for Motocross Action Magazine)," Carafa told Fullnoise.
"While in America Julian also met up with
Thomas Kneip the owner of TKM Motorsport Kneip racing team which is a German based motocross and Supercross team. They started talking and Julian mentioned me and it sort of fell into place there.
"I rang Thomas 2 days after Julian got home from the states an we came up with a good deal and here I am now 1 weeks away from the opener of the German masters in Furstlich Drehna.
"I‰Ûªm living in a unit 1km away from the work shop an the town has all the stuff I need like a gym, pool and good roads for cycling. I‰Ûªm riding a KTM 450 SXS which I‰Ûªm really happy with, Thomas runs a suspension business here an is one of the biggest tuners in Europe, also having 15 years of GP experience he‰Ûªs leading me down all the right paths for sure.
"I raced an International the first weekend I got here I hadn‰Ûªt ridden in 3 weeks an I couldn‰Ûªt practice while I was here as the weather was bad. So I didn‰Ûªt no what to expect, I came away from the weekend with 16th overall which was I was happy, also not having down a 35 minute moto since Coolum, plus the top 10 were GP riders with Max Nagel winning.
"I‰Ûªm not to sure when I‰Ûªll be coming home yet as there Supercross season runs through Christmas. But I‰Ûªm looking forward to racing here an getting some good results an staying here in the future. A big thanks to my brother Julian for organising the whole thing an my dad for being behind me 100% and Thomas for giving me a chance to race here".
Justin's first race will be this weekend.
Fullnoise will keep you updated with Justin's progress through the season but you can also keep an eye on his website for more information.
www.justincarafa.com
Main Photo: Justin Carafa
Credit: Garry Morrow / Click28.com
