In many sports, the barriers to entry are normally small and it’s usually a case of finding a team or association to join and then spending a few dollars on a uniform and a bit of gear.
To participate in motorsports though – especially if your sights are set on the upper echelons – a lot more resources and specialist knowledge is needed. For most budding racers, their entry to motor racing is via karting, and it’s companies such as Patrizicorse that make the journey a little easier.
Established over 10 years ago by former professional Supercar driver, Michael Patrizi, Patrizicorse is now the country’s largest karting distributor and is the Australian Karting Association’s largest stake holder, with responsibilities including importing and distributing Lecont tyres and Vortex engines.
Further to this key role, Patrizicorse offers a full range of services to the karting industry, including sales of kart chassis, Alpinestars racewear accessories and consumables. The company is also the official supplier of BirelART and Ricciardo Kart machines for the Oceania region.
Additionally, Patrizicorse helps nurture up and coming racing talent through pathway programs such as SP Tools’ ‘Karts to Cars’ and Grove Junior Racing initiatives. Michael also personally mentors and manages several young drivers with numerous World, European and Australian karting champions having passed through the Patrizicorse stable, as well as racers from other categories.
And while the karts may be driven by youngsters, there are no doubts that these are serious machines – on some tracks they’re capable of nudging speeds of 170 kilometres per hour while pulling four ‘Gs’ through corners.
With a growing business and the need to balance racing services with parts and equipment distribution, Michael somewhat fell into transport logistics, through the need to distribute his products.
“I began by running a karting team for my brother and his mate and the business grew from there,” Michael said.
“We didn’t get our first truck an IVECO Stralis ATi 360 6×2 rigid until late 2016 and although this was set-up as a dedicated vehicle transporter, when not at the track the truck was also being used to deliver karts, equipment and spare parts.”
Prior to purchasing the Stralis, IVECO was already high on the list as Michael’s preferred truck brand for several reasons.
“Through my racing career I’ve been fortunate to travel quite widely around the world, and in Europe IVECOs where everywhere, they seemed to be the preferred brand for race transport work,” he said.
“I’m also of Italian heritage so had a bit of a preference for IVECO, but that didn’t stop me from testing a heap of other truck brands before settling on the Stralis – in the end I found I couldn’t go past IVECO.”
Michael’s IVECO is powered by the Cursor 8 engine which produces 360hp and 1500 Nm, and is matched to the Eurotronic II, 12-speed AMT. The three-tier body which was developed by Aldom Transport Engineering in Adelaide, allows the team to securely transport up to 12 karts (along with tools and spares), and features a full Dhollandia hydro lift rated at 2.5 tonnes – this makes easy work of loading and unloading the karts and can also handle the weight of a GT car if required.
Other features of the Stralis and body include a sleeper cab which allows two-up driving for longer trips as well as office space where Michael can hold on-track meetings. The transporter body has insulated, composite walling and roof to keep weight down, and importantly, lowers the vehicle’s centre of gravity.
With Patrizicorse continuing to grow, Michael more recently added a further two IVECOs to his fleet, another Stralis ATi 360 6×2 which is used purely for delivery of karting products, as well as a 19.6m³ Daily 50C18, which features a 180hp / 430Nm powerplant and 8-speed full automatic transmission.
The Daily’s role is predominantly as a kart transporter for local races, providing space for several karts, spares as well as two junior drivers and driver of the van.
“Our original Stralis has performed so well for us, it’s been reliable, it’s comfortable and it’s easy to drive, so when we had to add a couple of more vehicles to the fleet, I had no hesitations about returning to IVECO Brisbane,” Michael said.
“In choosing the Daily van, I really liked that it has the dual real wheels and full-length chassis, it’s more sturdy and has no issues coping with our load requirements.”
Along with its exposure to grass roots motorsport, at a global level, IVECO Group also recently renewed its partnership with MotoGP™ as the official truck supplier, as well as its association with Formula 1 team, Scuderia Ferrari.
