Young Leads Production Cup : EZY Racing resumes Asia Cup battle in Japan

Hokkaido, Japan: Sri Lanka’s national pride in Motor Sports, EZY Racing who transformed themselves to be the island nation’s first truly international motor racing brand arrived in Obihiro, Japan on Sunday in preparation for fast and furious Japanese Rally in Round 5 of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship which flags off on 18 September in Hokkaido.

Powered by Japan based Cusco, who have engineered a strong contender for the Asia Pacific Challenge, the Cusco EZY Racing Subaru driven by the 22-year-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, 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, specially 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

EZY Racing who recently crossed 200,000 fans in their fan page www.fb.com/ezyracing, are fast becoming one of Asia’s top most followed motor racing teams.

“Japan presented us a whole different set of challenges. Personally, for me it’s more like the New Zealand Roads. The surface is softer than New Zealand buts it’s much faster than Malaysia. There are major setup changes the team will be doing for the car. I am eagerly looking forward for the challenge. ” said EZY Racer Mike Young.

CUSCO, a Japanese automotive parts company, who specializes in car suspension parts are more known for their coil over suspensions, and have a large presence in the Japanese after-market automotive scene both in the Japanese domestic market scene and around the globe. They have been a dominant force in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship for over a decade and have produced champion drivers including 2014 Asia Cup champion Yuya Sumiyama. The Japanese rally giant who have successfully engineered numerous cars over the years, face a tough challenge with the Cusco EZY Racing Subaru as it arrived in Japan a few days back from Malaysia.

“The car did take some heavy impact in Malaysia. We saw Team Manager Sugimara advising Mike to ease off on the second day. There are some new parts that will be required in Japan and it’s going to be very difficult to turn that car around in time for Thursday’s scrutineering as the car arrived a couple of days back from Malaysia. However, we hope to give Mike the best position to challenge for the Asia Cup” said Team Manager of Cusco, Sugimara.

Mike who is currently leading the FIA APRC Production Cup in His Cusco EZY Racing Subaru is bullish about his chances to win the Asia Cup Challenge. “For us the Asia Cup begins in Japan,” said Mike who is currently lying third in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship. “The Asia Cup takes the three best results out of the four rallies, so the next few rallies will be crucial for us. There definitely is a bit of pressure on as we need to finish in Japan to have any chance of winning the Asia Cup and that might mean our pace could be slightly slower than normal. A nice smooth start will be essential to get my confidence back and to build into the rally,” Young added.  The FIA Asia Cup Challenge which is currently led by 2013 APRC winner Gaurav Gill, has Chinese driver Fan Fan from Wan Yu Rally Team in second position.

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, Hamzadeen said: Tthis 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 three 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.” “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

Sri Lankan motor racing fans will get the chance to experience the thrills and updates of Rally Japan in EZY Racing’s fan page and in the official APRC media page www.aprc.tv.