January 27, 2021

We lost a friend, a mentor, and a fierce competitor.

Fabio was one of the original drivers in the Redscape Racing League. From the inaugural race in season 1 to his last race in season 7, he was a constant presence on the track. He and I raced side by side every single race. We even got demoted to C2 and promoted back to C1 at the same time. It has been strange not seeing him these past few months after he retired from his races and is stranger still knowing he won’t be coming back. I was also privileged to meet Fabio via Zoom when training him for live racing on TTS and in a couple of races as a replacement driver last year.

We didn’t agree on many things CFR. He didn’t like the aggressive strategies of fighting for position or stuffing cars in corners. Fabio referred to the ‘American’ style of racing as car wars. He just wanted to drive fast and run his own race. I learned much from him – he had been in this hobby much longer and had run his own series in Italy. He was always willing to give his opinion on Redscape League development and offer critique without insult. Fabio constantly apologized for his imperfect English but he always put great effort into communicating with his English-speaking friends.

Fabio was really good at CFR! Here are some statistics from the Redscape PBEM league:

League Races: 18 (through season 6)
Wins: 4
Podiums: 7
Top 5: 11
Grand Prix points: 224 (2nd highest)
Average GP points: 12.4

Season Highlights:
1st in C2 (Season 6)
2nd in C1 (Season 1)
3rd in C1 (Season 3)

Qualified for Redscape Race of Champions II and V

In honor of Fabio’s Redscape career, he is the first Redscape member to be awarded the rank of F1 Driver (Pro VI).

A live, TTS race is being planned to honor Fabio’s life. A good Italian track sounds about right.

R.I.P., dear friend.
______________________

Here is Fabio’s profile page. The Latin phrase translates to: “Once the suns shone bright on you”. Indeed.

There's not much one can add to that, Mike. I always considered Fabio one of the top tier drivers here at Redscape. I felt lucky to race against him in C1 and to briefly be his RM in C2 and RROC. He will definitely be missed.

Fabio was a tremendously good racer and a friendly person to play games with. I got to meet him one year at WBC and played against him many times in email leagues. So sad to learn of his passing.
We had a fantastic race last season in Redscape Circuit 2 on Shanghai. Whoever won the race between he and I would win the series as well. I thought I had the race won until he made a bold move before the 2nd to last corner to edge me out. After many races together over the years, I thought I knew his playing style well enough to predict his moves, but he fooled me. I still had a chance to win at the finish line if I pushed Top speed to 180 and he did not, but both of us had cars behind us waiting to also plot 180 and pass us with a double slip. The math made it possible for me to finish the race in 4th which would put me 5th overall and not therefore qualify for promotion to C1. I also reasoned that if I pushed to 180 and Fabio did not that I would still finish in 2nd (but to MikeP instead of 2nd to Fabio). I knew 2nd place was a guaranteed promotion and decided that Fabio had earned the win with his play against me -- if I couldn't win, then Fabio deserved it. Fabio and I both plotted 160 and he won, neck and neck with me. I think that was my favourite race that wasn't in person at the table.

Some more about Fabio. Just turn on Google translate if using Chrome.

https://www.repubblica.it/salute/2021/01/28/news/covid_storia_di_fabio-284654004?fbclid=IwAR05zpP5Avf4rcFM4Bb--FzGcaVOhk16wO9HyL5LjB57Sb0eNPmBipEkqGM

A fitting tribute. There are many members of this community that have contributed greatly to the game. But none more than Fabio.

I don't log into Redscape all that often and so I missed this up until now. Fabio was a great racer and a good friend, and I will really miss him. A few quick stories...

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About 10 years ago, I entered Doug's play-by-email Speed Circuit league. There were 14 of us, so we ended up playing in teams of 2. I was partnered with Fabio. He was very helpful in talking about strategy and plotting our moves together, and we ultimately won that race. Doug's group expanded and gained members so we never did teams like that again, but from that moment onward he always referred to me as his partner.

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About 5 years ago, Fabio enlisted my help in getting him some more cars for his Speed Circuit league he played in. I have no idea how he found the man, but he had the name and address of a gentleman who made 1/300 scale versions of formula 1 cars.

Only catch was that this guy didn't have email and did all his business through the post. So I wound up being the middle-man for Fabio. I would write to this guy, and then email Fabio the response once I got it. And eventually I helped handle the money. It was a pain in the butt, and slow, but the end result looked pretty great.

Here's a picture of some of them from BGG: https://boardgamegeek.com/image/5304966/prezinsky

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I raced with Fabio as recently as this October on TableTop Simulator, as part of Redscape's Speed Circuit league. He raced in two of the four races before he stepped away.

True to form, he kicked our butts. In his first race, he beat us so badly that he finished a turn ahead of the rest of the field WITH resources left over.

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One of my favorite things about Fabio was how funny he was. He had a very sharp wit and a quick tongue, but he was never mean. He loved competing, but I think what he liked most was spending the time together with friends. It was always a joy playing games with him and I'm sorry I didn't get to do so more often.

SLOTerp wrote:Some more about Fabio. Just turn on Google translate if using Chrome.

https://www.repubblica.it/salute/2021/01/28/news/covid_storia_di_fabio-284654004?fbclid=IwAR05zpP5Avf4rcFM4Bb--FzGcaVOhk16wO9HyL5LjB57Sb0eNPmBipEkqGM

Thanks Mike..
I was that Australian Player.
We corresponded often..

He set an Example and Challenge to us all..

To Leave our hobby and Community in better shape than what we found it in.

Because that's what he did.