Melbourne racing driver Dylan Young is back in Europe and will return to the Ultimate Cup Series with renowned French team Graff Racing in the F3 Regional class this weekend in Misano, Italy.
Young, the 2019/20 MRF Challenge Formula 3 Vice Champion, will pilot the same regional F3 car that saw him step on the podium six times throughout a successful 2021 campaign.
Dylan will be back on track this weekend from July 8-9 at the Misano World Circuit, home of the San Marino Moto GP.
Racing with Graff Racing, who recently competed at the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans, Young will utilise the running this year in F3 Regional as preparation for a planned move into Le Mans endurance racing from 2023.
Following this weekends outing on the east coast of Italy, Young will then fly the flag as the only Aussie in the field throughout the remaining races at the Hockenheim Formula 1 Circuit in Germany (September 16-18), Magny-Cours Circuit in France (October 7-9) and Paul Ricard F1 Circuit in France (November 11-13) for the Championship Super Final.
A successful '19/20 MRF Challenge campaign saw Young claim the Vice Championship, falling just shy of the title as he went on to clinch 3 wins and 9 podiums across the 15 races along with being the only driver in the field to secure a win at each circuit.
The COVID-19 pandemic then sidelined Young for most of 2020 before he returned to action with Graff in Europe last year in blitzing form, netting 6 podiums in a row despite missing the opening races of the Championship.
He battled hard against the likes of Nico Prost, son of Formula One World Champion Alain Prost and showcased his ability to quickly get to grips with new circuits after a long lay off, something which he hopes to replicate this year.
"I'm absolutely stoked to be back on track after the success I had last year with Graff in the F3 Regional class of the Ultimate Cup Series. Obviously I'll be facing another challenge going straight into this round with a long lay off against drivers with much more recent seat time. But this is pretty typical for me as the Aussie battler and all I can do is laugh it off, put my head down and work my ass off as I know I have the ability to be instantly on the pace like last year when we came in and were up the front instantly."
"This wouldn't be possible without the continued support of some amazing people and companies in my corner and we are all on this journey together so I can't thank them enough for backing me in for what will be a critical season for my ambitions to make the transition to a Le Mans endurance career".
A host of new backers have joined existing partners from last year and Dylan has recently teamed up with POD Car Sales, Zerocap, Speedpanel and Unicote who will join a myriad of companies behind Dylan's campaign.
The action this weekend in Misano will consist of three practice sessions, qualifying and three races and Young is hoping to emulate his form from last season and hit the ground running.
With Graff Racing competing across a number of championships including the European Le Mans Series and Ultimate Cup Series along with famous events like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a strong showing this season could see Dylan move into their LMP3 and LMP2 programmes from next season before targeting a future FIA World Endurance Championship drive.
ENDS