EZY Racer Mike Young Promises International Glory to Sri Lanka
Over this year our relationship has grown and we are very comfortable. Malaysia was a set back for me, however the team stood by supporting me through the tough times to bounce back. Moments like this measure you and the rest and I believe we have grown stronger. Young who is currently visiting Sri Lanka on the invitation of his team EZY Racing, plans to meet with the team’s Sri Lankan Motor Racing Fans before he heads off to Katukurunda to provide trackside support to his fellow team mates Sajaad Zuhair and Dilan Seneviratne in this weekend’s race.
Colombo, Sri Lanka: EZY Racing’s Asia Cup - Japanese Rally Winner Mike Young , who recently brought glory to Sri Lanka by delivering the first ever FIAsanctioned race win for a Sri Lankan team, promised to commit himself to deliver more glory to Sri Lanka in an exclusive media event organised in felicitation of Young’s achievement in Japan. “I am glad to have been able to provide Sri Lanka its very first International Motor Racing Victory in a FIA sanctioned event. I hope this will be the beginning of many. We are currently positioned very strongly to compete for theAsia Cup Championship. We will go all out for it and hopefully by December when we complete the last leg of theAPRC for 2015 in India, I will be able to be in a position to give Sri Lanka its very first FIA Championship” said Mike Young to the media who had gathered to meet him.
Young who is currently visiting Sri Lanka on the invitation of his team EZY Racing, plans to meet with the team’s Sri Lankan Motor Racing Fans before he heads off to Katukurunda to provide trackside support to his fellow team mates Sajaad Zuhair and Dilan Seneviratne in this weekend’s race. Speaking at the event Young went onto state “EZY Racing has given me a great opportunity to represent them internationally. This allows me to connect with their Asia fan base which currently crosses 250,000 across this part the world. This visit is the beginning of many where I plan to connect with EZY Racing’s fans across Asia. This is my first visit to Sri Lanka and hopefully this will be the beginning of many as EZY Racing is scheduling several fan engagements for me throughout next year which would see me travelling here again.”
The 22Year old four time JuniorAPRC Champion and 2013Asia Cup Champion was identified as EZY Racing’s International Rally Driver earlier this year. Young who has competed under the Sri Lankan teams wing for 4 rallies has an unblemished 100% podium record in every rally he has completed in 2015 for the Cusco EZY Racing Team. Driving a standard Group N, 4WD Subaru WRX for the first time in his motor racing career,Young has been able to be very competitive in the championship which is dominated by the MRF Skoda Cars which are tailor made for Rallies, where he has occasionally beaten the Skoda’s on the fast terrains. The 2013 Asia Cup Winner, is currently lying 2nd behind Japanese driver Hiroshi Takayama who holds the advantage over Young who retired out of the Malaysian Rally in the very first stage on Day 1. The Kiwi Driver was however very confident that he would be in a strong position to give the Sri Lankan team more glory as he prepared to close the gap. “We are currently a few points away from him (Takayama) as he gained on us in Malaysia, after our retirement. We showed decent pace in Japan and hope to start from where we left. In Japan he definitely knew the conditions better than us. I am hoping our previous experience in China would give us an advantage. We also have Gaurav who is extremely fast right behind us, so its going to be an exciting Rally in China in two weeks time” said Young. Speaking further of his Journey with EZY Racing, Young stated that his relationship with the team has grown since the first Rally in New Zealand and he was very comfortable now with the entire team. “International Rally Racing is tough. You meet for about a week where you prepare for a race and then you’re off to another country. You don’t actually get a time off the field to develop relationships. We signed up on each others credentials. Over this year our relationship has grown and we are very comfortable. Malaysia was a set back for me, however the team stood by supporting me through the tough times to bounce back. Moments like this measure you and the rest and I believe we have grown stronger. The body language of every member has changed and the Cusco EZY Racing camp is an extremely comfortable camp to be with” Said Young.
AlongsideYoung, EZYRacing’s Founder/CEO Shafraz Hamzadeen who was hosting the media at this special felicitation, stated that Mikes visit to Sri Lanka hopefully would be the first of many. “When we partnered earlier this year, our goal was to take one step at a time. Its not easy to form relationships when there are three nationalities and cultures involved. We are from Sri Lanka, Cusco is from Japan and Mikes from New Zealand. I believe we have managed ourselves very well this year and grown in our relationship in every race. This stands as a big confidence factor for us. Mike’s success in International Rallying has made him very famous in Asia. Therefore we thought that the first step is to get Mike to meet fellow Sri Lankans like our fans and the media who have been an instrumental part of our success”.Young who is on a 4 day visit to Sri Lanka is expected to be spending time with fans and the local motor racing team during his stay.
Hamzadeen specially commended the efforts of Cusco whose partnership with EZY Racing has helped them transform themselves to a serious contender. “It is critical to have the correct driver and car combination. This was the lesson we had in April last year atAPRC. In order to be competitive you need to be able to be able to consistently perform and for this the reliability of the car is the most essential ingredient. Our results in this years championship where we have finished in the podium at every rally we have completed, stands as a true testimony to Cusco’s engineering capabilities. Without this excellence from Cusco we definitely won’t be where we are today” . The Founder of the famed International Racing Team went on to state that both Malaysia and Japan showed the true prowess of Cusco’s engineering and technical expertise when they handled two extreme situations professionally “In Malaysia we were left with heavy damage to the car on the first day. Cusco demonstrated their brilliance by turning the car around and Mike went on to challenge for stage wins. In Japan, it was the toughest rally we have had in our International journey. 22 cars started the rally and they all struggled to survive. Many cars were seen having reliability issues. Thanks to Cusco this was one thing that we did not have to worry about. This gives us a huge comfort factor for both the team and the driver when you know you have a reliable set of people handling your car”
Commenting onYoung’s visit to Sri Lanka, EZY Racing’s CEO stated “We want Mike to meet his fans in Sri Lanka and in addition understand the local motor racing culture. There are many fan engagement activities we have planned for 2016 and we want Mike to be an active part of it. This visit is more of a testing ground for him to get culturally acquainted with Sri Lanka. Hopefully within the next four days he will be able to understand the racing culture, the fans and the stakeholders involved so that we could plan fruitful EZYRacing engagements with Mike for Sri Lankan motor racing enthusiasts in 2016.”
Young who is scheduled to meet his fans on Friday will be seen on trackside during the Katukurunda Races organized by SLADAR over the weekend supporting EZY Racing’s Sri Lankan driving duo Sajaad Zuhair and Dilan Seneviratne. “Its going to be exciting. I am scheduled to meet Sajaad and Dilan for the first time tonight. Watching them on their home turf is going to be something I am looking forward to. I understand that this is one of the biggest races in Sri Lanka and it’s a privilege to be able to be there” said Young.
EZYRacing’s technical Partners Cusco are also expected to visit Sri Lanka along with MikeYoung to explore possible avenues of furthering their partnership with the Sri Lankan Motor Racing Giant.
Its going to be exciting. I am scheduled to meet Sajaad and Dilan for the first time tonight.Watching them on their home turf is going to be something I am looking forward to. I understand that this is one of the biggest races in Sri Lanka and it’s a privilege to be able to be there