Deven Grabko

Deven Lewis Grabko (born 10 December 2011) is a Swedish American racing driver currently competing with AD Motorsport in select national and international level karting series in Europe under an American race license.
==Personal life==
Deven Grabko was born in Trollhättan, Sweden. His father is an American accounting and finance professional and his mother is Swedish, and an elementary school teacher.He has one sibling, an older sister. Grabko holds both Swedish and American citizenship, speaking both English and Swedish. Grabko's early childhood activities included both gymnastics and football before he was introduced to karting by his father at age 8. Grabko has lived in both Sweden and the USA, with a two-year stint in San Diego, California during 2017-2018 where he went to kindergarten and 1st grade at Pomerado Elementary School. He now attends Paradis Skolan Elementary in Trollhättan where he currently is in year 6. His interests outside racing include Rubik's Cube, gaming, and Lego.
==Racing career==
===Karting career===
====Mini Classes====
Grabko's racing career started in 2021 at the age of 9, where he competed in Swedish regional and national competitions using the Intrepid chassis with LK Racing. In his first year of competition he placed 6th in the Kart Cup West National Series in Sweden in the Formula Mini category. In 2022 he added a 4th place finish in the Kart Cup West National Series in the same Formula Mini category, and also became Vice Champion in the Swedish Autosport Federation's Western Regional Championship.
For the 2023 season, Grabko switched categories from Formula Mini to the international Mini 60 Gr3 class. In combination with this he also changed teams, from LK Racing and Intrepid Kart to AD Motorsport and Energy Corse.
During 2023, Grabko achieved results that established himself as a leading karting driver in Sweden. He scored his first major race win at the 6th round of the IAME Series Sweden on the Sviestad karting circuit in Linköping, Sweden. Grabko finished in the top 5 in four out of the five national championship series he competed in during the season, scoring 4 podiums in addition to his victory in Linköping. Grabko suffered a DNF in the final of the 2023 Swedish National Championship after running in the top 8 most of the race weekend. He became Sweden's Western Regional Champion in the Mini 60 category.
Grabko's racing during 2023 attracted international attention in the form of Italian racing driver agency Minardi Management, who signed Grabko onto their driver roster half way through the 2023 season.
====Junior Classes====
In the Fall of 2023, Grabko made the switch from the mini classes while still 11 years old. Together with his team, AD Motorsport, and his agency, Minardi Management, Grabko made his international and junior category debut at the IAME Series Italy Final Games in November 2023 where he made an immediate impact by setting the fastest lap in his first session of official free practice as the 3rd youngest driver in the field. Grabko recorded his first International Top 10 result at his next race when he finished 7th at the World Series Karting Final Cup at South Garda Karting.
During Winter 2024, Grabko made his IAME Euro Series debut at the 2024 Winter Cup in Valencia, Spain and again appeared in the IAME Series Italy, taking the checkered flag in 6th position at the Open Games final before an unfortunate front fairing penalty gave him a final classification of 11th.
Grabko re-signed with AD Motorsport for the 2024 season, and will race in X30 Junior and OK Junior categories. His preliminary race program includes appearances in the IAME Euro Series, IAME Series Italy, RGMMC Champions of the Future, CIK-FIA Karting European Championship, IAME Series Sweden, Swedish Kart League, and Southern Swedish Kart Champions Cup.
===Formula Cars career===
====Aquila Formula 1000====
In March 2024, Grabko was only the 2nd driver ever to participate in the Aquila Formula 1000 International Driver Race Academy.
The program is a fast track to formula race car license qualification for young racing talents holding an international karting license. Grabko is to conduct several additional tests in the category during 2024 as he focuses on his kart racing program.
Category:People from Trollhättan
Category:2011 births
Category:American racing drivers
Category:People from Trollhättan