Young drives EZY Racing to victory in Japan; creates history for SL

Sri Lanka gains first-ever FIA race victory

Hokkaido, Japan: The little island in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka, were placed on the world map of motor sport, when Sri Lanka-owned EZY Racing – the new kid on the Asia Pacific Rally Circuit – were driven to their very first international win with their 22 year-old driving prodigy Mike Young.

Young drove brilliantly to finish 1st in the Asia Cup, in the Japanese leg of The Asia Pacific Rally Championship in Obihiro, in Northern Japan. Driving the Cusco EZY Racing Subaru, engineered by the Japan based Cusco, he completed what he classified as “the toughest rally to-date” in an unusual Japanese Rally that saw extremely difficult conditions, with heavy rains throughout Day 2.

Rally Japan – a fast rally with conditions similar to New Zealand, and therefore tipped to favour the 22-year-old Kiwi’s style of driving – was turned upside down when torrential rain took out some of the very best of the 22 cars to start the rally, which even included Japanese drivers who knew the conditions well.

Young and co-driver Malcolm Read fought bravely to overcome a blown fuse which stalled the car; torrential rain that made them ride through stagnant water puddles; and relegation in the starting order due to a late arrival at the start, to fight from the back and achieve the pinnacle.

Mike Young (Left) at the Podium Finish. Mike Finished 2nd in Rally Japan and 1st in Asia Cup

“I dedicate this win to the Cusco EZY Racing Team who stuck together during a tough Malaysian Rally where a light mistake potentially cost us the Rally,” said the young Kiwi driver after the Rally. Young was referring to the unfortunate incident that occurred in the Malaysian leg of the APRC Championship in August where he had to retire while running in 2nd position.

“In Malaysia we were gutted. We came out of it strong with a lot of lessons and I was determined to complete this rally. There was a bit of pressure on us as we conceded a huge lead in the Asia Cup to Gaurav (Gill). So this Rally was crucial for us. We had a strategy in place going into this Rally and finishing the rally was our ultimate goal,” continued Young.

Gaurav Gill driving for MRF Skoda Rally Team, retired on the first stage on Day 2, similar to the Cusco EZY Racing driver in Malaysia. Young who displayed a mixture of daredevil driving and controlled aggression, was consistently among the top three in every stage of the 20-stage, 227KM Rally which saw 22 of the leading drivers in the Asia Pacific region compete.

The Sri Lankan-based team, which is in their second year of International Racing, was richly rewarded for some bold and courageous decisions made at the start of this year when they totally restructured their International Motor Racing approach.

“Today will be a day I will always remember in my life and in the corporate culture of EZY Racing. I would first like to congratulate Mike and Malcolm for displaying courage and speed to reward us with this win. I also thank everyone at Cusco for the hard work they did to engineer a very competitive car for us. This win means a lot to us, especially when we look back at the decisions we had to make in the beginning of this year when we boldly moved into the partnership with Mike and Cusco. It was Mikes first ever drive in a 4WD (Four-wheel drive), but we believed he was the next prodigy in Asia Pacific rally driving. Today’s result has vindicated the bold decisions we made,” said an elated Shafraz Hamzadeen who founded EZY Racing in 2010.

Japan based Cusco, a specialised motor parts company, are EZY Racing’s Technical Partner in the 2015 Asia Pacific Rally Championship. Cusco who professionally engineer Rally Cars provided an entire upgrade for the Cusco EZY Racing Subaru prior to the Rally.

“Cusco provided us a brand new engine, gear box, suspension and some crucial parts for this Rally which was crucial to manage the car fatigue from the previous three rallies. We now have fresh legs to go all out in the remaining two rallies in the Championship,” said Hamzadeen.

“Reliability was a key component that we wanted to focus on in 2015. Cusco has provided that for us. Our focus has always been on being consistent. It’s our ability to be consistent that has helped perform and even challenge the far more superior MRF Skoda’s in front. Without Cusco, we would never have been able to achieve this,” continued the Sri Lankan based teams Founder.

The Rally was in no way a smooth task for Young who had a scary moment immediately after refuelling after stage 4. Young who had a 1 minute 16 second lead to Japanese driver H. Takayama in stage 4, was leading the Asia Cup standings and 2nd in the Overall Rally to Pontus Tidemand when he found his car not starting after refuelling.

Malcolm Read, Young’s trusted co-driver, who is also known for his in-depth mechanical knowledge, managed to find the fault on a short circuited fuse and resolve the situation. The EZY Racing driver was however penalised 3 minutes and 40 Seconds for arriving 22 minutes late for Stage 5.

A determined Young who was demoted to 4th Place in the overall Rally in Stage 5, conceded the lead in the Asia Cup to Takayama during this stage before putting in a daredevil display of Rally Driving to fight his way back to the Asia Cup lead and overall 3rd place at the end of Day 2 of the Rally.

With the time penalty giving 2nd placed Japanese driver Masumara in his Mitsubishi Evolution X a 1 minute 40 second lead on the final day, a super charged Young was seen shaving off that advantage from the Japanese driver within 3 stages to regain 2nd place in the overall standings and hold on to his Asia Cup winning position.

With over 25,000 new fans joining EZY Racing’s fast growing fan page www.fb.com/ezyracing on the weekend of the Japanese Rally, Young thrilled the 230,000 fan strong EZY Racing team by giving the team its first International Race Victory.

A super charged young did the impossible in Stage 9 where he beat the Newly Crowned APRC Champion and 2013 WRC Junior Champion Pontus Tidemand, in the untouchable MRF Skoda over the 28.75KM stage by three seconds.

“I had no other choice but to continuously push as the odds were stacked against us after the issue we had in refuelling. I was starting 16th and I believed that helped in clearing some water from the stage,” said a humble Young. “We know our pace quite well. We know that we are fast and what exactly we can expect from the car. The Wan Yu Rally Team was very fast and they had an advantage over us as they weren’t curtailed by the Group N Regulations. However, we knew Cusco stacked in reliability to the Cusco EZY Racing Subaru and that proved to be the key differentiator.”

EZY Racing, which first entered International Motor Sports in 2014, contracted APRC Junior Champion Mike Young in 2015 and partnered with Cusco to become a recognised International Player.

“We believe that reliability is a key factor in motor racing. Earlier this year we realised that we needed to look outward to secure the services to make us reliable. Cusco has been the dream answer. The reliability they have provided to us has given Mike the platform to display his skills, speed and consistency. For a 22 year old, Mike has a very mature head. I guess with over 30 international Rallies at such a young age, he has learnt the art of managing aggression. We have a 100% podium ratio in 2015 in the rallies we completed. In New Zealand we were 3rd in the overall Rally. In Australia we were 2nd and again here. This speaks volumes of our approach. So hopefully we could bring the car home with decent points in China as well to hold on to our lead in the Asia Cup Standings,” said Hamzadeen commenting further on his team’s overall position.

EZY Racing are currently positioned strongly in the Asia Cup Championship with their driver Mike Young currently leading the Championship over MRF Skoda Driver and 2013 Asia Pacific Rally Champion, Gaurav Gill. The Team next heads to China on 30 October and 1 November, where they will be looking to consolidate their position in the Asia Cup and Asia Pacific Cup.