After a disastrous Malyasian Rally, Mike Young is determined to finish Rally Hokkaido on a high for EZY Racing.
Young’s Subaru Impreza WRX had got almost a complete overhaul after his crash a few weeks ago in Malaysia and is ready to make waves in the city of Obihiro in the Hokkaido Island. The Sri Lanka based team’s technical partner Cusco team had made it possible for Young to be competitive with the new look Subaru Impreza.
The Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) heads to Japan this weekend for the running of the fifth round of the 2015 title race. After three wins from four starts, APRC debutante, Sweden’s Pontus Tidemand, holds a sold 43 point lead over his Indian team-mate, Gaurav Gill, while Team MRF Skoda are well clear in both the Manufacturers’ and Team’s Trophy battles.
“Of course it feels great to come to Japan as the championship leader,” Tideland said.
“But each rally comes with a new challenge, especially for me as I do all these events for the first time and never really know what to expect.
“Every APRC event is so unique, which gives you an incredible amount of experience and I have to say that there is a certain excitement in doing a rally you have never done before.
“We are ready to fight for a great result and hopefully it will be a close and exciting race!”
Powered by Japan based Cusco, who have engineered a strong contender for the Asia Pacific Challenge, the Cusco EZY Racing Subaru driven by the 22year old prodigy Mike Young Currently leads the Production Cup in the of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship.
“Malaysia wasn’t the ideal start for our Asia Cup Challenge” said Shafraz Hamzadeen the Founder/CEO of EZY Racing.
“I guess we had all the misfortune you could have in one rally in Malaysia. We took a lot of positives from Malaysia, especially seeing how Mike Performed on Day 2. A Podium was definitely within our reach. The biggest positive we have is the fact that we have Cusco to support us. We know we have a very well-engineered car thanks to the endless hours the Cusco Teams puts on this car. Added to that we have Mike who drives the socks off that car. This combination puts us in a strong position. We saw this in New Zealand and Australia” commented Hamzadeen
Speaking of his team’s chances, Hamzadeen stated that fortune was very integral part of this sport and they would know if fortune had favoured them when they finish the Indian Rally.
“Currently the odds are against us because of the Malaysia Rally. But Rallying is no different to any other sport where you need your fair share of fortune. We are here to take one day at a time and one rally at a time. If we try to think too far, we might end up getting caught the in pressure of each situation. We want Mike to settle into the rally, build his confidence and then see what we could take home at the end of the rally. We know that we have a very fast driver with an extremely dependable technical team in Cusco. We just need to get into the groove.”
When asked how he felt with Mike Young Leading the FIA APRC Production Championship,
“This is a new position for us. EZY Racing is just in its second year internationally. So we are very excited but at the same time keeping our fingers crossed about this position. I reckon it’s because we are leading with 3 rallies to go in the season which sometimes can look a long way to go. We are blessed to have the likes of Mike and Cusco who have such victories and championships under their belt. So we are able to handle ourselves much better” Said Hamzadeeen.
“Winning is not the reason we are here. We are here to justify to our own selves that we can compete with the very best. Winning is an ultimate result of consistency, and we will have those days like we experienced in Malaysia. We are not going to feel dejected because of this. Our focus is to be Sri Lanka’s very first International Motor Racing Team to win a FIA Championship. I strongly believe we are on the right path” said a confident Hamzadeen.
Young has won several titles in the past two years in the APRC including the Asia Cup in 2013, Junior Cup in both 2013 and 2014, 2WD Cup both in 2013 and 2014 along with the Production Cup in 2014. However, this is the first ever season on a Four-wheel-drive car and he felt his relative inexperience with it also had a part to play for the accident in Malaysia.
Hokkaido is the northernmost of Japan’s islands and has widespread forests, mountains and agricultural land. The island is located on the same latitude as northern Italy and France, and due to the North Pacific Current, Hokkaido has long and cold winters.
The Tokachi region, where Rally Hokkaido takes place, is a fairly flat area with mostly agricultural land. The island’s two mountain ranges affect Tokachi’s weather and some stages reach the foothills of the mountains, but that is the closest the rally crews will get to those mountains.
The rally base and the service park is located in the city of Obihiro, which has about 170,000 inhabitants and a big interest in rallying permeates the neighbourhood, thanks to the fact that the city hosted Japan’s World Rally Championship event between 2004 and 2007.
Twenty special stages will be completed between Friday evening and Sunday afternoon. The event starts and finishes with a fast super special stage of less than a kilometre, and the rest of the stages are evenly divided, with 10 stages on Saturday and nine on Sunday, including the super special.
A total of 225.35 km of competitive driving faces the Team drivers.
