Xavier Fabra's Fatal Crash @ Catalunya 2005 (Aftermath)
- 9 months ago
French rider Xavier Fabra suffered a serious fall during a twenty-four-hour endurance race at the Circuit de Catalunya on the early hours of Sunday, 03 July 2005. He was transferred in critical condition to the Granollers General Hospital, where he passed away shortly later. Xavier Fabra, that rode a Suzuki GSX-R in that event, was competing for the French team EMPP Endurance, of which he was also the General Manager. The organizers of the race issued a press communiqué informing that the race would be completed but the prize-awarding festivities after it was cancelled, being replaced by a minute of silence in remembrance of Fabra.
Fabra began his racing career in 1987 competing in the Promosport 250 series, but would migrate to endurance events in 1989, when he finished the Bol d'Or in twentieth place sharing a Honda Motor Center Orange with Rigoni and Gaultier. Fabra would go on to enter other thirteen editions of that classic race, only missing it in 1993 and 1998 and not being able to qualify in 1994, but he was never able to achieve a result as high as the one scored in his debut. Fabra was a regular also at the 24 Heures du Mans for motorcycles; with the exception of 1996, he raced in every edition of that race since 1993 with a best finish of thirteenth besides Belgium Michael Goffinghs - with whom Fabra would forge a strong friendship - and Frenchman Olivier Gabillon in 1999.
In 1999 Fabra began to race under the banner of the Team EMPP Endurance, with motorcycles tuned by Jean-Marc Chevalier and Yoann Keffer; such an association would remain active until Fabra's death. The team is based in Jonquières, in the French department of Vaucluse, and for this reason Fabra usually raced as number 84 - a reference to the postal code for Vaucluse. In the international scene Fabra competed in the the FIM Endurance Stocksport Cup in 1999 (being classified respectively seventh and eleventh in the final championship standings), 2000 (eleventh) and 2001; in this latter season he shared his EMPP Suzuki GSX-R 750 with Dominique Bonvicini and Marc Granié. Fabra also raced in several editions of the 24 Heures de Liège in Spa-Francorchamps, scoring a remarkable sixth place in overall classification with a Kawasaki in 1997 - a result he would repeat two years later. His palmarès also include an eighth in the 2000 24 Hours of Oschersleben.
R.I.P
Fabra began his racing career in 1987 competing in the Promosport 250 series, but would migrate to endurance events in 1989, when he finished the Bol d'Or in twentieth place sharing a Honda Motor Center Orange with Rigoni and Gaultier. Fabra would go on to enter other thirteen editions of that classic race, only missing it in 1993 and 1998 and not being able to qualify in 1994, but he was never able to achieve a result as high as the one scored in his debut. Fabra was a regular also at the 24 Heures du Mans for motorcycles; with the exception of 1996, he raced in every edition of that race since 1993 with a best finish of thirteenth besides Belgium Michael Goffinghs - with whom Fabra would forge a strong friendship - and Frenchman Olivier Gabillon in 1999.
In 1999 Fabra began to race under the banner of the Team EMPP Endurance, with motorcycles tuned by Jean-Marc Chevalier and Yoann Keffer; such an association would remain active until Fabra's death. The team is based in Jonquières, in the French department of Vaucluse, and for this reason Fabra usually raced as number 84 - a reference to the postal code for Vaucluse. In the international scene Fabra competed in the the FIM Endurance Stocksport Cup in 1999 (being classified respectively seventh and eleventh in the final championship standings), 2000 (eleventh) and 2001; in this latter season he shared his EMPP Suzuki GSX-R 750 with Dominique Bonvicini and Marc Granié. Fabra also raced in several editions of the 24 Heures de Liège in Spa-Francorchamps, scoring a remarkable sixth place in overall classification with a Kawasaki in 1997 - a result he would repeat two years later. His palmarès also include an eighth in the 2000 24 Hours of Oschersleben.
R.I.P