Name: Michael Devaney
DOB: 29-11-1984
Age: 21
Nationality: Irish
Home town: Dublin
Marital Status: Single
Height: 179cm
Weight: 71kg

Favourite Music: U2, Mylo, Cranberries, Snow Patrol, The Killers, Kanye West, Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, Guns’n’Roses, Jay-Z, Green Day
Favourite Films: Old School, Goodfellas, Friday, Casino, Crash, Full Metal Jacket
Favourite TV: Rescue Me, Sopranos, Simpsons, Lost, Podge and Rodge
Hobbies: Cycling, Gym, Football, Travelling, Internet, Video Games, Concerts



Career

2006/2007 - Lead driver for A1 Team Ireland in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport’ in the 2006/07 line
2005/2006 - Reserve driver with A1 Team Ireland Competed in 3 races, UK, Australia and Shanghai, Two 4th place finishes.
2005 - German Formula 3 Championship with HS Technik, Vice Champion despite missing the first two races, 5 wins
2004 – German Formula 3 Championship with JB Motorsport, 4th in Championship, 2 wins
2003 – German Formula BMW with Team Rosberg, 4th in Championship, 3 wins
2002 – German Formula BMW with Mamerow Racing, 5th in Championship, 1 win, Voted ‘Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year’
2001 – Irish Formula Ford With Damian Doherty Racing, 2 wins, Voted ‘Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year’
1997-2000 – Karting with Gary Ringland Racing
2000 Irish Junior Karting Champion
2000 Junior Inter-nations Champion
1999 All Ireland Junior Karting Champion
1997 Irish Karting Club Rookie of the Year



Biography

Michael Devaney started his successful career back in 1997 at the age of 13 when his Father Bernard(Former F2 driver and F1 tester) and Mother Anna bought him a Kart, he competed in the final four races of the Irish Junior Karting Championship. Michael made a sudden impact and was voted Irish karting ‘Rookie of the Year’ for the 1997 season. Since then he has never looked back and in the following three seasons of his karting career he wrapped up two Irish titles in ‘99 and ‘00.

After achieving everything possible in Irish karting, Michael and his Sponsors decided it was time to move up to car racing for 2001. He entered in the Irish Formula Ford Zetec Championship with DDR preparing the car and made an immediate impact. He went on to claim 2 wins and 4 podiums which also made him the youngest ever Irish Formula Ford winner in Irish History at the tender age of 16. The Dubliner’s success that year was also noticed by the sports governing body and he was honoured with being the youngest ever winner of the Sexton trophy after being nominated ‘Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year 2001’. The highly prestigious award came with a prize fund of €32,000 which was a huge benefit to Michael’s Career.

The following year was a year to remember as 17 year old Michael moved to Germany to compete in the German Formula BMW Series which is regarded as the most competitive junior series in the world under Formula 3. He battled with current Williams F1 Driver Nico Rosberg throughout the year and eventually went on to record one victory and 6 podiums securing 5th in the Championship in his rookie year in the series. For the second year running he also received the Sexton Trophy and the title of ‘Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year 2002’. After winning the €32,000 award for a second consecutive time, Motorsport Ireland enforced a rule stating drivers can only win the award a maximum of 2 times for fear no other young Irish drivers would get a chance to win the award and prize package.

After Michael’s performances in 2002 he was in demand for drives around the world but it was 1982 World Formula One Champion Keke Rosberg who got Michaels name on a contract to compete with Team Rosberg in German Formula BMW. The season started off with difficulty after a reshuffle in the team’s staff before the season, but with Michael’s leadership the team got sorted and by mid season he was back to his winning ways with 3 wins and 6 podiums.

After two successful seasons in German Formula BMW it was time Michael moved out of the junior series and up to Formula 3 for 2004. It was originally planned for Michael to race in the European F3 series but it fell through within weeks of the first race due to budget problems. Reigning German F3 champions JB Motorsport got wind of this and with only one week to spare before the first race signed Michael to drive for them. Despite having only a week to spare before the first race and only one test day in the car, Michael had won two races and was leading the championship after the 3rd round. The Wins netted him another record of the youngest ever Irish Formula 3 race winner. But the success was short lived as Michael and the team ran into budget problems and were unable to keep up with development and testing. He dropped to 4th in the final standings which for an F3 rookie was a good result but he knew with the right budget he could have done better in the Championship.

For 2005 Michael was again looking to compete with JB Motorsport in the German F3 Championship but again he ran into budget problems so had to look elsewhere for a drive. After missing the first two races Michael was desperate to get out and compete again. He received an e-mail from Team HS-Technik who invited Michael to drive on a race by race contract in the German F3 Series. Despite no testing and missing the first two races the Dubliner stuck it on pole position out of the 33 car field in his first outing for his new team. He went on to win that race which convinced Team HS Technik to keep him on until the next race. His season carried on like this and at every race meeting he produced the goods to convince the team to keep him on till the end of the season. He eventually finished runner-up in the Championship with 5 wins to his name. It could have been much more if he didn’t miss the first two races but the 21 year old was still happy and was grateful to his team for backing him when the norm was to drop drivers who had no budget.

At the end of the 2005 season the A1GP ‘World Cup of Motorsport’ series was set up and Ireland entered a team with Mark Kershaw and Mark Gallagher at the helm. They opted for former Jordan F1 Driver Ralph Firman to drive for the team but they also needed a reserve driver. After much negotiations Michael signed with A1 team Ireland to be reserve driver and after all those tough years coming up the Motorsport ladder he landed his first professional drive. Fortunately for Michael, Firman had to miss the first and third rounds of the series due to prior commitments so Michael was thrown into the deep end but still managed to produce the goods. He claimed Irelands first point at Brands Hatch,UK, and secured a 4th place finish in the sprint race in Eastern Creek, Australia. After his two impressive outings the team’s management decided to put Michael in the car for the final round in Shanghai, China. Again Michael delivered despite being out of the car for four months, for the second time from three outings Michael secured Team Irelands best result in the sprint race with a fourth place finish.

After his perfomances the previous season as A1 Team Irelands Reserve driver Michael will now step up to lead driver for the team which will be competing in the 2006/07 A1GP World cup of motorsport. The first race of the season kicks off in Zandvoort, Holland on October 1st 2006.