Young stays calm as weather turns ahead of Rally China

By Malik Gunatilleke in Longyou, China

With the Chinese leg of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) 2015 looming large, a turn in the weather cast an added air of intrigue over the competition as the drivers put their cars to the test during yesterday’s shakedown.

EZY Racing and Cusco’s driver Mike Young was excited to get behind the wheel again with his co-driver Malcolm Read ahead of the main event and was keen to put his car to the test in wet and windy conditions.

“The first run was good and it will be a good test because stage one will be pretty much the same course. We didn’t get to test the mud tyres but I think we’ll probably go with them come race day,” he said.

Strategically, Young claims that his team will probably ease into the race on Saturday and play it by ear on day one which will allow them to determine how to go about day two.

Following a largely smooth run along one of the rally’s gravel stages, Young stated that he had experienced a problem with his steering which made it difficult for him make left turns. However, speaking to the Daily FT on the sidelines following the shakedown he insisted that it wasn’t too much of a cause for concern.

“I imagine the car has taken quite a pounding in Japan. No concern really; we’ll make a quick change to the power steering rack and I think we’ll be alright for tomorrow.”

The sudden change in weather had brought along with it some challenges of its own. With visibility and control now a bigger issue, the drivers will have their work cut out for them. However, Young was confident that the weather would not play too much of a role stating that Rally China had often thrown these hurdles at the drivers. Choosing the right tyre in these situations could prove crucial; a decision the EZY-Cusco team will have to make on race day.

“The weather will make it more interesting. There’ll be a few puddles about but this track has a lot of gravel. If there’s more dirt it can be slippery. The decision on the tyres will have to be made on Saturday morning. I’d prefer if it was dry but in rallying you are prepared for these situations,” Young added.

With his sights firmly set on the Asia Cup and improving on his points tally, Young said his immediate objective was to finish the China race while Sri Lanka’s EZY Racing will hope that its star Kiwi driver will help them build on the second place finish they managed to achieve last year.