Australian racing driver Dylan Young secured points in each race of the final MRF Challenge round held at the MMRT Circuit in Chennai, India from January 29-31.
Young finished in 9th place in the opening three races whilst struggling to find a proper set up with his MRF F2000 car. However, once he and his engineer rectified the set up, Dylan was instantly on the pace to finish 7th in the final race of the weekend, holding off the speedy Harrison Newey (son of Red bull F1 designer Adrian Newey) who had finished on the podium in the opening three races.
The MMRT circuit in Chennai presented the MRF Challenge field with a vastly different test to the previous circuits with its bumpy nature. Likewise, a star studded grid was on show with 7 time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher’s son Mick joining the series along with regular drivers including Harrison Newey, son of Adrian, and eventual champion Pietro Fittipaldi, grandson of two time Formula One World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi.
Young was confident going into the final round, having secured podiums at this track in the past but the constantly changing condition of the circuit left Young chasing a set up to give him the assurance to attack. The birthday boy was left disappointed after not delivering himself a present in qualifying by being further up the grid but the rest of the weekends races showed Young’s pace and race craft would overcome the set up gremlins.
Race 1 saw Young finish in 9th place after a race long fight with Britain’s Max Fewtrell and this was backed up by another 9th place finish in Race 2. In Race 3, Young was hit from behind by another driver who launched over the field and caused a safety car period. With damage to his front wing, Dylan again finished in 9th place whilst battling with balance issues inside the cockpit.
The final 20-lap race of the 2015 MRF Challenge season was held under sweltering temperatures and Young instantly got a great launch off the line gaining one position. He then made up another place against Harrison Newey into Turn 2 before the fast charging Tarun Reddy, who was leading the majority of Race 2, soon loomed in Dylan’s mirrors. But Young now had a car underneath him he was confident in and he was able to stabilize the gap to Newey and Reddy behind whilst closing in on 6th place in the dying laps.
“I really want to thank my engineer Rob for this weekend,” Young said. “I had a new engineer for this race and it can always take some time to gel together but Rob stuck at it and gave me a really well balanced car in the final race and I think it was a great way to finish the weekend. Overall, Round 1 in Abu Dhabi really impacted my season by not being up further in the points but I think as the season wore on, I started to showcase more where I should be, especially given I had the whole year off. I also want to thank my engineer for the opening 3 rounds Matt, along with my engineer Les and all the team at MRF & JA Motorsport. Last but definitely not least, I wouldn’t be here racing without my sponsors & investors so I’m forever grateful to them all for joining my journey and being a core part of my team.”
The 2016 MRF Challenge Championship will see a huge upgrade with a new car featuring over 250bhp, paddle shift, improved brakes & aerodynamics whilst also weighing significantly less on the scales. The new car is expected to be a lightning five plus seconds a lap faster than the current car and Young wouldn’t rule out coming back for another season.
“I’m working with my backers now about plans for this season and I have some ideas about my program for this year but I’d love to come back and race this Championship again with the new car as it’s such a fantastic series with some of the best young talent out there to go up against so I can’t way to sample the new machine later this year when the next season kicks off.”
Dylan’s 2015 season was supported by Melbourne Deluxe Property as a major sponsor with support sponsors including IntelliTrac, Besser & Co Estate Agent, Fillr, the Melbourne Watch Company, Secure Parking & Original Mobiles.
ENDS