Basil Shaaban
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Basil Shaaban (born March 27, 1980 in Beirut) is a Lebanese racing driver. Shaaban graduated with a Bachelor degree in astrophysics from the University of California, Berkeley.
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[edit] Early racing
It was in Lebanon at the age of 14 that Shaaban had his first taste of racing. At the Circuit des Champions go-karting center near Brummana, he enjoyed pushing the car's 5 and 9 horsepower (6.7 kW) engines to their limits. Finding the racing line and controlling the kart's behavior naturally to him. Each time Shaaban's family went back to Lebanon, he would go to the circuit. Eventually, he worked his way up to driving the circuit's fastest 16 horsepower (12 kW), 100 cc, 2-stroke karts.
[edit] Racing in university
Within two years of going to Berkeley, Shaaban could no longer hinder his passion. At that point, he knew he would be happiest as a professional Formula driver. So, in the footsteps of all the great Formula Series drivers, he knew the ladder he had to climb, and thus began his career racing go-karts. He bought a 23 horsepower (17 kW), 100 cc kart from the US manufacturer Trackmagic Karts, based in San Francisco, and began racing in the Northern California region alongside his studies. Over the next few years he won several races, up through the highest level of US karting: Formula ICC.
[edit] Entry into formula cars
After graduating from Berkeley, in 2004 Shaaban began racing in Formula Renault 2000 in the USA and Formula Ford 1800 in the UK. He became the first Arab to win a Formula Ford 1800 race in Europe.
[edit] A1 Grand Prix
Shaaban was one of A1 Team Lebanon's drivers for the inaugural 2005-2006 season of the series, alongside Khalil Beschir and Graham Rahal. Unfortunately, the country's lack of racing experience was apparent as none of the drivers scored any points. However, Shaaban scored Lebanon's highest finishing position of the season in the Feature race in Estoril, Portugal: 11th out of 24 countries.
Shaaban inaugurated A1 Team Lebanon's second season when he raced at the A1GP 2006-2007 season-opener in Zandvoort, Holland.
[edit] SHAABAN2F1
Shaaban officially announced in October of 2006 his bid to become the first Arab to reach Formula One through his program SHAABAN2F1. At a press briefing that he held in Dubai, which was supported by the presence and endorsement of 14-time Middle East Rally Champion Mohammed Ben Sulayem, Shaaban appealed to companies and investors in the Middle East to enter the arena of international athlete sponsorship by supporting his historic mission.
[edit] Formula Palmer Audi
On 1 February 2007, Shaaban tested a Formula Palmer Audi car at Bedford Autodrome in England with a view to taking part in the UK-based series in 2007. His fastest lap time put him among the fastest to test the FPA car this year[1]
