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2018 - Its a wrap!!

Well what a year!...

Four stages wins, and a 'Shakey' start

Well what a start to our Hokkaido Rally trip! We left a week early to have a good look around Hokkaido before travelling to Obihiro for the rally. During our first night in Japan, Hokkaido experienced one of their worst earthquakes. What a welcome to Japan and thankfully we were all safe, but stuck in the city of Muroran until the power could be turned on three days later....

A Podium in Malaysia – one better in Japan?

New Zealand rally driver Mike Young is revelling in the opportunity to test and develop the Cusco team’s new 4WD Toyota Vitz (Yaris) in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship. The development AP4 Toyota proved to be fast right from the first stage of 2018. “In New Zealand we were 2nd fastest in shakedown (practice) and on the first three stages, only beaten by Hadden Paddon a WRC Driver - this showed that we were fast and the car was fast too”, said Young. While mechanical issues on Stage...

Podium place in Malaysia

The Malaysian Rally with its heat and humidity is always one of the toughest events of the year. Hard on the car but also on myself and Malcolm (Read) as temperatures inside the car can reach 50+ degrees C. This year proved to be no different with hot humid conditions all weekend. Luckily rain that fell earlier in week held off until the last 5kms of the last stage. Thank goodness! We were always going into the unknown with this rally and how the Cusco Toyota Vitz was going to handle the heat. I...

Last Stage Heart-Break in Australia

The second round of the 2018 APRC in Canberra, Australia started positively with the Cusco Toyota Vitz and the new Dunlop tyres handling the rough rocky conditions really well. We were able to set some competitive times and at the end of Day 1 given our conservative pace were happy to be 5th overall. Unfortunately things started to go wrong from the first stage of Day 2 when the clutch started to slip. Co-driver Scott Beckwith and I managed the situation all day - until 10 kilometres from the fi...

Canberra In-car Camera Stage 7

In-car Camera Stage 7 - Canberra, Australia.Here's some great action from our in-car camera mixed with outside shots of the car. This is a pretty typical stage on Day 1 of Canberra Rally with lots of brows, jumps and rocks. The second pass was a lot easier than the first one, when we number one on the road and there were no lines to follow!Please follow this LINK to my Youtube channel....

Indian Sportskeeda Interview

Indian On-Line Magazine Sportskeeda Interview Reprinted with permission from Sportskeeda.com and Salman Shahid (author)....

Cusco Toyota has huge potential

Hi Everyone. Our first Asia-Pacific event for 2018 with the new Cusco Toyota Vitz got off to a brilliant start with only WRC driver Hayden Paddon faster than us over the first three stages, held on the fast roads in the Northland region of New Zealand. Given that this is the first time the car has run with the new Lexus engine it has given team the confidence to know they have built a great car and now its all about building on that potential. Unfortunately we retired on Stage 5, after a steerin...

Positive Test for Young and Cusco Toyota ahead of Rally Whangarei

New Zealand rally driver Mike Young and co-driver Malcolm Read had their first taste of the car they will contest the 2018 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship in, a 4WD Toyota Vitz (Yaris) built by Cusco Racing Japan and supported by Dunlop....

Toyota for Young in 2018 Asia Pacific series

New Zealander Mike Young will drive a 4WD Toyota Vitz (Yaris) built by Japan’s Cusco Racing and supported by Dunlop in the 2018 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship. The Vitz will be powered by a Lexus 2000 cc direct injection turbo engine supplied as part of a joint project with TRD-Toyota Racing Development (operated by Toyota Customizing and Development Co. Ltd.) and entered in the ASN category. Young’s team-mate for 2018 will be Yuya Sumiyama from Japan who will drive Cusco’s R5 Skoda F...

2017 - A year of firsts for Young

New Zealander Mike Young has reached the end of his 2017 international rallying campaign after competing in five different cars, in five different countries, at five different events around the Asia-Pacific region....

WRC success for Mike in Australia

Mike Young’s first ever World Rally Championship (WRC) event has been a great success after he and co-driver Malcolm Read finished first in the two-wheel-drive category at the Kennards Hire Rally Australia in Coffs Harbour over the weekend....

World Rally Championship start for Mike

Kiwi rally duo Mike Young and Malcolm Read are ready to tackle the prestigious Kennards Hire Rally Australia, the final round of the World Rally Championship (WRC), this weekend after test driving their Citroën DS3 R3 for the first time yesterday. Even though Young hadn’t driven the car until Monday, he is determined to push for a good result after a successful testing session on roads around Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales where the event is based. The car, prepared by Rallyhire Au...

Back-to-back international rallies for Mike

New Zealand rally driver Mike Young is preparing for two back-to-back international events in India and Australia in November, where he’ll pilot two different European cars to compete with the world’s best....

Not everything goes to plan ......

Cusco Racing Japan invited New Zealander Mike Young to drive their new development AP4 car, a Toyota Vitz at Septembers APRC Rally Hokkaido....

Young challenged with new Cusco Toyota Vitz in Japan

Mike Young is set to tackle one of his favourite events in Japan with his Japanese team, Cusco Racing, this weekend at Rally Hokkaido, also held as the fourth round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC)....

Young fourth and first Group N in muddy Malaysia

Kiwi rally driver Mike Young has finished a credible fourth at the International Rally of Johor in Malaysia. Norwegian Ole Christian Veiby extended his lead in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship with victory while title rival and Skoda teammate Gaurav Gill finished second. Young was fourth overall behind WRC regular Jari Ketomaa and first in Group N. "Third time lucky - we have had some bad luck here in the past," a content Young said afterwards. "It was good to come here and finish. We had a g...

The heat is on in Malaysia

Following is an article written by Dale Budge of the NZ Herald previewing the APRC Rally of Johor, Malaysia....

July 2017 Update

I thought it was time for a quick update about our rallying this year.Going forward, we're aiming to do: - APRC Asia Cup - WRC Rally Australia It has been a tough few months for us with no rallies and no time behind the wheel except for Rallyschool WA. Unfortunately, our one-off event at APRC Rally Canberra didn’t go well. With a crash in testing due to brake failure, the car was too badly damaged to compete in the rally so we had to withdraw. But there is good news below!...

Young wraps up APRC season with 2nd in India

New Zealanders Mike Young and co-driver Malcolm Read finished their FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) season with an excellent second place at a very tough and torturous India Rally while also enjoying multiple APRC championship class success. Based in the coffee plantations near Chikkamagaluru, 240 kilometres west of Bangalore, the event had a massive following of fans who had come to watch newly crowned APRC champion Gaurav Gill win on home soil. As one of the few international driver...

Malaysian Rally bites Kiwi duo

While in third overall at the fifth round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) held in Malaysia this weekend, Kiwi driver Mike Young’s weekend ended in disappointment as he slipped into a ditch and was forced to retire after the car couldn’t be freed. The drama unfolded for Young and Hamilton based co-driver Malcolm Read in the first stage on day two, after the duo climbed their way up to third at the end of the first leg in their Cusco EZY Racing Subaru Impreza. “It was such ...

Podium for Young in Japan

Mike Young has managed to secure third place at the fourth round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) after several close battles, held at Rally Hokkaido in Japan. After sitting in second place for most of the first day in his Cusco EZY Racing Subaru Impreza, Young fell to third after two punctures handing the runner-up position to Fabian Kreim of Germany in the process, who drives a much faster Skoda Fabia R5. “We’re happy to hold onto third place, especially when you consider what...

Young debuts for car manufacturer in China in a world-first

Following his Rally Estonia debut in July where he finished second in class, Kiwi rally driver Michael Young now flies straight to West China and Zhangye, a beautiful historic city near the Mongolian border for the third round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). After enjoying a short break in Europe, Young is now preparing for his next rally, the China Rally held this weekend on August 6th and 7th in Zhangye where he’ll debut the new BYD Hybrid rally car; a first for an FIA-sanctio...

Mike ready for Rally Estonia debut

New Zealand rally driver, Michael Young, is set to compete at Rally Estonia this weekend alongside Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) team-mate Sanjay Takale of India. The duo, which sees Takale driving the Markko Martin Motorsport built Subaru Impreza with Young stepping in as co-driver, say they simply had to make it happen when the opportunity arose. Competing in the open category of Rally Estonia held on July 15-17, Young says he is really excited to compete in Europe for the first time....

Sixth in Japan, now looking to Europe

Mike at Rally Toyo, Japan ...