Solid start for Young

Michael Young's 2014 Asia Pacific Rally Championship campaign is off to a great start scoring a podium place on top of gaining valuable drivers' championship points at the International Rally of Whangarei.

As the only registered New Zealander in the APRC, Young has a big task ahead of him to defend his two-wheel-drive title, especially with the introduction of Australian Tom Wilde, in a more powerful Renault Clio G2.

Mike Young during the International Rally of Whangarei. Photo: Euan Cameron.

But the reigning triple champion says he is really enjoying being back home in New Zealand and is pleased with the results in his Cusco Racing Proton Satria Neo.

'Obviously, it's always good to come home to compete on the roads I grew up on, and catch up with all my friends and family. But the most important thing for us, for the first round, was scoring points for the two-wheel-drive and Production Cup championship plus for my team, Cusco Racing,” says Young.

Day one started well for Young, and new co-driver Erin Kelly before the 21-year-old encountered a problem with a loose wheel on stage three, costing him valuable time.

'That was entirely my fault. We changed the tyres prior to the start of stage three, and Erin checked that the wheel nuts on her side were properly tight but I didn't and paid the price. We had to stop mid-stage and lost around three minutes. But better to be safe than sorry as finishing each event is really important.”

The time loss dropped Young to eighth place but by mid-afternoon the kiwi had fought his way back up to sixth and only three and half minutes behind Wilde.

While catching Wilde seemed impossible, Young didn't slow down continuing to set impressive times; especially on stage 11, across 27 kilometres, during day two, where Young finished only five seconds behind Wilde, who had been fast all weekend.

'It's always nice to win of course, but there are a lot of events to go in the championship, and we decided that a solid points haul was more important than anything else.”

The Cusco-backed Young team then finished an impressive sixth overall, along with second in both the two-wheel drive and Production Cup categories and Young credits Kelly for playing a big part in their excellent placing.

'Erin did a great job in and out of the car and I think she enjoyed it. Having her co-drive for me, with her vast experience, was awesome. I'm looking forward to Malcolm [Read, regular co-driver] being back for the rallies in New Caledonia and Australia because he was instrumental in our Asia Cup win last year.”

Young and his Cusco Racing team are now refocusing for the next event, Rally New Caledonia, which doubles as the second round of the APRC and Pacific Cup championships.

New Zealand Co-driver Malcolm Read will return to the team for this event and Rally Queensland before he heads to Europe to work with Hayden Paddon's Hyundai team. Kelly is expected to take over co-driving duties again at the Malaysian Rally.

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