Motor Racing: Ezy Racing finishes ranked second in Asia Pacific after China rally

EZY Racing, the first ever Sri Lankan based motor racing team to compete internationally in a FIA accredited Championship were given their very first International Championship in just their second year in International Motor Sports, when their driving prodigy Mike Young secured the FIA Production Cup for 2015 for the Cusco EZY Racing Subaru Team in what was the most gruelling and challenging rally the Sri Lankan Motor Racing team ever had to compete in.   The 22-year-old, Kiwi driver who has provided glory for the Sri Lankan based team in their international journey, experienced the toughest rally in his four years of international rallying when he experienced a multitude of challenges which involved heavy rain, non visibility, power steering problems that limited his driving capabilities and a topple that occurred due to the lack of power steering, to overcome them and complete the Rally to finish third in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship, Chinese Leg and second in Asia Cup Category of the Rally. With five podium finishes in six races, Young was able to give the Cusco EZY Racing team an early advantage in the Production Cup Championship.   "It’s a long championship when you look back. Starting in April and going all the way to December is a long time. Strategically, we decided against running New Caledonia. That gave us a disadvantage as we were one rally less for the APRC Championship. We knew it was going to be an impossible task to beat both the MRF Skoda cars which were far superior to our car. Therefore, we took the risk of competing one rally less and fighting for the runner up position in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship. Eight months later, it seems we made the wise choice as we finished 2nd in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship" said Young.   The 22-year-old finished second best to Pontus Tidemand of the MRF Skoda team and managed to beat 2013 APRC Champion Gaurav Gill to third place in the Championship.   "It’s a great feeling to have been able to give EZY Racing their first Championship. I have really enjoyed this season although it has been a tough one for us ever since we came into the Asian rounds. We had great success in the Pacific Rounds. However, the Asian rounds turned out to be far more challenging and harder on the car than we anticipated. We managed to get the best out of what we had and am very happy and pleased about it," commented the New Zealand driver. The Cusco EZY Racing Team who entered the Final Leg of the FIA Asia Pacific Championship with hopes of winning the Asia Cup, started the Rally off in an amazing fashion when Young finished the spectator stage on Day 1 within five seconds of MRF Skoda Champion drive Pontus Tidemand.   Unfortunately, on Day 2 they were given a rude shock when Young was forced to manoeuvre the Cusco EZY Racing Subaru with no power steering in the narrow and tight concrete to gravel stages as early as the first stage in China that saw the death of a 21-year-old driver in the 2014 edition of the Rally.   Although the 2015 Rally did not see any human casualties, the first day saw the end of the Rally for many drivers as they succumbed to the gruelling nature of the Rally.   "It’s very difficult to drive the car in tight sections where certain stages are over 25 minutes without power steering. It drains the concentration because I had to eternally overwork myself. The fog, rain and lack of visibility also didn't help the cause. So I had to dig deep and make sure that I brought the car to the first service to see if the problem could be fixed. Unfortunately, I had to drive the whole of the first day without power steering which made it very tiring and it takes its toll on you. As a result we lost a lot of Ground against Takayama who was our main competitor for the Asia Cup," said Young after the completion of the 1st Stage that comprised of 7 Super Special Stages on Day 1.   "This definitely was more challenging than Japan for us which was the toughest rally till we experienced this," said Young. Young who was contending for the FIA Asia Cup Championship had to shift himself into Plan B mid way through the first day when he realized that his team will only be able to fix the car's power steering related issue during the end of the day's 45 minute service break.   With the Rally Regulations allowing only 45 minutes at the end of Day 1 to resuscitate the car, and the team having to get penalised for every additional minute beyond the stipulated time, EZY Racing's performance and technical partners, Cusco did an amazing job in ensuring that they fixed almost all the problems within the short time frame.   Young continued to battle on Day 3 as well with power steering issues and despite the lack of power steering which considerably slowed him down, Young was still able to beat Championship leader Takayama in three of the six Super Special Stages on Day 2.   Unfortunately, the time lost during the topple on Day 2 proved to be the decisive factor as Young despite his heroics on the final day, finished 3rd in the Rally and 2nd in the Asia Cup Category in the Chinese Rally.   Japanese Driver Takayama who gained an advantage over Young in Malaysia where the EZY Racer did not complete the Rally having retired early on Day 1, was able to drive that advantage to a Championship leading position.   With Mike’s phenomenal performance, EZY Racing completed their second year in International Motor Sports on a high pedestal.   The Asia Cup has one final round to be completed in India, which if competed would give Mike the possibility of winning the Asia Cup Championship for his new team.   With over 300,000 fans from across Asia, EZY Racing will be looking to end the 2015 Racing calendar on a strong footing.