DRIVER UPDATE : Darryl O’Young

 

A rain swept race could not halt a determined Darryl O’Young from clinching points in his opening races to the 2010 World Touring Car Championship in Curitiba, Brazil on Sunday.

 

The Hong Kong based driver started his Championship season in fine style with a third place podium finish in the Independents category in Race 1 wet conditions and placing sixth in Race 2 to keep him on course with an overall fourth place finish in the Independents’ Trophy from both the 16-lap races.

 

The 2-time Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Champion has been fast all weekend, topping a practice and beating even a factory-supported SEAT before qualifying second in the Independents.

 

As for the race, rain began to fall prior to Race 1: “It rained hard about 30 minutes before the race so it was going to be a great challenge because I had never driven the Chevrolet Lacetti in the rain before,” said the LKM-sponsored O’Young.

 

“But I was quick enough and managed to hold onto second position up until the final lap. On the final lap, I closed in on Sergio Hernandez the Independents’ leader and tried to overtake him into turn 4.” The 2008 Independents Champion defended on the inside while O’Young looked outside to try and outbrake his opponent. “However, Sergio pushed me out wide and causing me to slide onto the grass and crash into the tire barrier. Fortunately, I was able to keep the car going and recovered to finish the race in third position in the Independents class.”

 

European commentators had high praise for O’Young fighting for the win with an ex champion in his WTCC debut while racing a front-wheel car only for the first time. Many others are impressed by how quick the Canadian-born Chinese has adapted to Touring Car racing.

 

“There is only a 10-minute period to repair the cars between the two races. Bamboo Engineering did a brilliant job getting my car ready to be back on the grid in the short time allotted, but I guess the damage was just a bit too severe. After the race started, I found that I had a large amount of understeer caused by the damage from the previous race. I did all I could do to bring the car back and finish the race to score points, but there was no chance to challenge for the win,” he said.

 

“It is disappointing not to win but I learned a lot and the experience was invaluable. I'm looking forward to the next race to build on the great start we had this weekend,” he said. It will be an exciting season ahead and the WTCC rookie can’t wait till May 2nd to get back behind the wheels of his Chevrolet in Morocco, Africa.

 

 

Prepared by Marvel View Sport Management Ltd for www.darryloyoung.com