Ramin Abdolvahabi, a longtime competitor in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, died on September 23 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Abdolvahabi was a co-driver with Rob Ecklin, Jr. in the No. 9 Stoner Car Care Aston Martin. He and Ecklin had just achieved their series goal – the Bronze class victory at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring weekend – when Abdolvahabi was diagnosed.

A nationally recognized neurosurgeon, Abdolvahabi was based in Wellington, FL. He graduated from the Medical College of Virginia, interned and completed his residency at Wayne State University in Detroit, and set up practice in the Palm Beach area of Florida.

While he was proud of his many professional accomplishments, and the many lives that he helped to improve along the way, it was at the racetrack that Abdolvahabi found his passion. He particularly loved his home track, Sebring Raceway, with its history as a former World War II airbase.

“You could drive Sebring for years and never get bored,” said Abdolvahabi back in 2022. “And it has such a legacy, with its history before it was a racetrack – what it went through, how it was changed. There’s no track like it in the world, and after 80 years, no one wants to change it.”