Australian racing driver Dylan Young delivered a much stronger result in Round 2 of the 2015 MRF Challenge Championship in support of the FIA World Endurance Championship event at the Bahrain Formula 1 Circuit from November 19-20.
Young managed to clinch a best result of 8th place, finishing just half a car length behind 7th place. However, a review of the result shows Young should have been gifted 7th place after being passed under yellow flags two laps prior to the chequered flag.
In first practice Young set the 8th fastest lap, less than 0.1s shy of 6th place. Whilst many predicted improved track conditions for qualifying, the field of 18 cars were in for a shock when they ventured out to set their qualifying laps under the lights. The cooler conditions proved difficult with the lap times ultimately being slower than the morning practice session. Young was caught out with a spin on his first flying lap that greatly hampered his tyres & meant he couldn’t capitalize on a tightly fought session, eventually dropping to 12th.
However, a great start in Race 1 saw Dylan move up the field by Turn 1 & enter a race long fight with Harrison Newey, Max Fewtrell & Sam Dejonghe. Young made a move on Newey with 2 laps to go for 7th place, slipstreaming up the pit straight before backing out of a move after seeing waved yellow flags into the braking zone of Turn 1. However, upon reviewing the video, it was noted that Young was ahead along the pit straight prior to the first yellow flag & therefore should have been elevated to 7th in the final classification. Nevertheless, Dylan almost managed to snatch 7th place in a drag race to the chequered flag that saw him finish just half a car length behind Newey.
Starting from 8th place for Race 2 which was set under the lights, Young made yet another strong start off the line to jump up to 7th place by Turn 1. He was then unlucky to have to brake heading into Turn 2 to avoid hitting the rear of two drivers ahead and was then jumped by drivers around him on the long run up to Turn 4. This time, his fortunes didn’t change as Tarun Reddy & Tatiana Calderon clashed directly in front of him & Young had to come to a near standstill to avoid t-boning Reddy. He lost multiple positions by being stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time & the scrappy first lap dropped Young from 7th in Turn 2 to 13th. From there, Dylan managed to pass his way back up to a fight with 10th placed Max Fewtrell but when making a move into the first two corners, the pair clashed wheels & Young lost ground before having to claw his way back to finish just shy of another top ten position in 11th place.
“I think we made some pretty strong ground this weekend,” Young said. “I had some really good fights & a lot of fun in the races and our pace shows we should have been much further up in qualifying. Ultimately I felt I had the best pace of the weekend in Race 2 but I was just really unlucky to be caught out on the 1st lap but had we got through cleanly I think we would have been fighting for a possible top 6 finish. After a lot of time out of a seat this year I feel I’m making some good gains with my engineer & it’s just putting all the pieces of the puzzle together to keep pushing towards the front & I feel we’re in good stead to attack even more next month in Dubai! I want to thank all my sponsors for believing in me along with MRF & JA Motorsport.”
The series heads to the Dubai Autodrome for Round 3 and races 7-10 on December 17-19 before the Championship finale concludes at the MMRT Circuit in India from January 29-31, 2016.
Dylan’s 2015 season is supported by Melbourne Deluxe Property as a major sponsor with support sponsors including IntelliTrac, Besser & Co Estate Agent, Fillr, the Melbourne Watch Company & Original Mobiles.
The MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship is considered to be the fastest one make single seater championship across Asia and the Middle East. The Formula 3 equivalent car is designed by Italian firm Dallara who is the largest racing car manufacturer in the world. The MRF Formula 2000 car is powered by a 2.0 litre 210 BHP Renault Sport Engine that propels the drivers to racing speeds of up to 250km/h.
ENDS