Words by Scott Beattie (Dirt Track Nutters)
Pictures by Peter Roebuck
Michael “The Magic Man” Figliomeni was without a doubt one of WA’s best ever Speedway racers. A former champion in BMX and motorcross, ‘Figs’ would then turn his to Speedway, doing a few meetings in a Super Sedan before switching to Speedcars. Figliomeni wouldn’t find success straight away in the new division though, crashing in his first ever race at Claremont. From that point on, he found his feet, going on to become dominant, with some massive wins in his career including 32 Speedcar feature wins at Claremont alone and building up a fearsome reputation across the nation.
He was a 4-time Australian Champion, 7-time WA Champion, 3-time Laurie Matthews Memorial winner, a 6-time New Years Speedcar Derby winner, a winner of the Australian Speedcar Grand Prix amongst many, many others including in America. He raced Sprintcars with success also, claiming a win at Claremont, the WA 360 Sprintcar Title, the Krikke Boys Shootout, and five Sprintcar features in the first season of the (then) Car Craft Sprintcar Series to finish second overall, which he backed up with a win in the 03/04 season.
Much of his success was also achieved aboard his self-constructed cars, his FIGhter Chassis becoming popular. All of this, as well as his on track and off-track attitude to other competitors, crews, officials and fans made him a much loved and well-respected competitor.
He died tragically on the 28th of October 2006 at the Perth Motorplex during a race meeting. He had competed in the first two heats of the night and won both, but after the second Michael suffered a massive heart attack in the pits and sadly passed away, sending the Speedway community into shock.
In 2007, the Figliomeni family, along with the Perth Motorplex, arranged a Tribute race for Michael that was held annually for ten years. The race grew in stature, with drivers attracted from all over Australia and the world to pay tribute, becoming one of the most prestigious races on the National Speedcar Calendar. After ten years, the Figliomeni family decided the time was right to bring the race to a conclusion, last held in the 2016/17 season. However, with the Australian Speedcar Championship being held at the Motorplex this season, Motorplex Management, the Figliomeni family and WASDA have banded together to bring the race back for one more time as the Prelude to the MOBIL 1 82nd Australian Speedcar Championship, and with some huge support from racers and sponsors, it is certainly going to be hotly contested!
Thanks to the following businesses for their support to bring the Magic Man Prelude to the championship to life, with $10,000-to-win on offer tomorrow night!
- Fig’s Garage
- Esslinger Engineering
- Unique Metals & Laser
- Di Candilo Steel City
- RentWA
