http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php Copyright 2010, Darryl O'Young Darryl O'Young en-US SPHPBLOG 0.5.1 http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100306-104637
I ended the 30min free practice session by setting my fastest time of the day on lap 14 of 17 and clocked a best time of 1:26.5. Suprisingly, this was the 11th quickest of the session and put me 1st in the independents category.

I am very pleased with this result as I had not expected to start off so well. Behind me in independents by 0.1sec was Sergio Hernandez in a BMW.

Although it is good to start off well, I know this is only a start and I will have to keep pushing hard in order to hold this position. There are many fast cars in the independents this year and everyone will definitely improve.

I will work hard to stay ahead and gain confidence in my Chevrolet Lacetti as the weekend progresses. So far, the car feels great and Bamboo Engineering did a great job to give me a very good car right from the start.

Tomorrow has 2 more practice sessions before heading into qualifying in the afternoon. We will work to improve the car and most importantly, I will study the Motec data alot in order to find the areas where I can improve! Follow the live timing on www.fiawtcc.com for tmrws practice and qualifying session...

]]> http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100306-104637 Darryl O'Young Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:46:37 GMT http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=03&entry=entry100306-104637 http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100304-010445
I feel very blessed to have this chance, and I can't be thankful enough to my sponsors LKM and A-Ha Coffee, who have believed in me for the past 3 seasons by supporting me in my European racing and continue to in the WTCC. I also want to thank Chevrolet and the KSO(WTCC) for the support in bringing me into this championship. We had alot of discussions over the winter with all the involved parties so I am pleased to finally be here at the race track to get things kicked off!

This season is a big step forward in my career and I hope to stay in this championship for the coming years... Therefore, my attitude toward this season is to learn as much as I can and look long term to adapt my driving style to these cars and this championship.

The big changes this season will be adapting to my Front Wheel Drive Chevrolet Lacetti. I have been driving rear wheel drive Porsche's for the past 6 seasons so I will have to change my thinking and feeling for the car.

Having spent the past week with my team, Bamboo Engineering, I have already learned alot speaking with my engineers and my team mate. I also had the chance to test a fwd Clio at Brands Hatch, so it gave me a chance to better understand the dynamics of fwd.

I have just arrived in Curitiba Brazil last night as the first race of the season will kick off this weekend. Today I did my seat fitting in the car to ensure I am comfortable with the seating position. It is amazing how far you sit back in these cars and also how low the seat is. With less power in these cars, the handling is extremely important so having low center of gravity and also keeping the weight away from the front axle as much as possible is something the team really works towards.

Even a few centimeters or a few kilograms shifted forward or back makes a big difference, so I found that quite interesting…

Last week,I spent about 5 hours on the team’s simulator in the UK before coming to Brazil so that helped me out a lot too. I was able to get an understanding of the track here and they even put the setup of the Chevrolet in the simulator so I had the same gearing and setup as we will to start Fridays practice session.

Tmrw afternoon, I will be going to a nearby track for a afternoon shake down just to give me a feel of the car and check that everything is ok.. The real action starts on Friday with a 30min practice session before Practice and qualifying on Saturday!
More updates to come! I also hope to get some pictures up soon.

Cheers!
]]> http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry100304-010445 Darryl O'Young Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:04:45 GMT http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/comments.php?y=10&m=03&entry=entry100304-010445 http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091122-230910
I gave it my best shot as the lights went green but I couldn't hold off the high horse powered Lambo into turn 1. The tourque on that car was just too much and his acceleration was strong. Although I had the quicker car today, I wasn't able to get past him in the 10 lap race around the 6.2km Guia Street Circuit.

I gave him maximum pressure the entire race and stayed glued to his rear bumper the whole time. I tried to force him into an error but Sawa drove a strong and consistent race, and although he scraped his left mirror off against the wall, that was as close to a mistake as he would come.

It didn't help me when the yellow flag came out at the Lisboa bend for the last 4 laps, as that is the only real corner to overtake on the circuit and the yellow flag there stopped any hope of getting by the Lamborghini.

Although obviously disappointed to not have won the race today, I am extremely satisfied with my performance on the track as I know I gave it my 100% today and I was really trying to get the win for all the Chinese fans at the race and also watching on television.

Everyone was cheering and I wasj able to even feel it in the race car, so a big thank you to everyone for the constant support! At the end, I had to settle for 2nd place and I'll aim to come back next year to try and grab my Macau GT title back.

Keita Sawa has been a great competitor for many years so its great to see him win at the Grand Prix so a big congratulations to him.

Lastly, Thanks to LKM and Team Jebsen for all the continued support in my racing and at this years Macau Grand Prix.
They have been great sponsors and I wouldn't be here fighting for race wins without them!]]> http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091122-230910 Darryl O'Young Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:09:10 GMT http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=11&entry=entry091122-230910 http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091121-223058
It was a tough one for me today, mainly due to the fact that we had a fuel pump problem in the free practice which stopped my car after only 1 lap into the session.

In Macau, there is limited track time and it is a circuit that requires you to drive laps around in order to re-familiarise with and get used to the barriers, so I knew heading into the qualifying session that I would have alot of hard work ahead.

I studied alot of onboard video's from last years race in order to prepare myself for the qualifying because I knew I had to go out there and push hard right from the start.

Because I wasn't able to setup the car in the free practice, my car was oversteering alot during the session so I had to just try my best and drive around the problem. It was scary at times as my car was oversteering even through the corners that reached over 200km/h, but I somehow managed it pull it all together to clock a time of 2:27.35 seconds. That was good enough by 0.2 seconds to grab pole position over Japan's Keita Sawa in a Lamborgini GT3 Gallardo. Danny Watts of Great Britain starts 3rd also in a Porsche.

Tomorrow's race is going to be an exciting one so if you're in Hong Kong, try to catch it live at 10:30am on Now Sports 1 or TVB. Wish me luck and I hope I can take my 4th win and my 3rd consecutive title since 2007!]]> http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091121-223058 Darryl O'Young Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:30:58 GMT http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=11&entry=entry091121-223058 http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091118-000746
Ive arrived in Macau today for the Macau GT race here at the Macau Grand Prix. It is indeed one of my favourite races of the season as the Guia Street Circuit is just the best track anywhere and everywhere...Most drivers that have raced here would tend to agree...

This year, I'll be again driving for LKM Team Jebsen as I have combined my sponsors from the FIA GT Championship and the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. What's different this year is that instead of driving the standard GT3 Cup Car, I will be behind the wheel of LKM's '09 GT3 Cup S. This car is quite different as the suspension is upgraded quite a bit in comparison to the Cup Car and the front end of the car is much wider which allows the car to be much quicker in an overall lap time. The engine is also a bit stronger with 440hp..

I'm hoping that with the Cup S, I'll be able to surpass my current record lap time of 2:27.11 seconds..It'll be a challenge to reach a 26 second lap but i'm going to push very hard in qualifying to get that time.

On Wednesday, I'm going to have an interview with SCMP Newspaper's online website in which i'll take them for a spin around the circuit in a Porsche. In the afternoon, I'm going to go for a walk around the circuit which usually takes approximately 3 hours, but I find the track walk to be really important and I've been doing it every year here since 2004. For the first 3 years I walked the track, I would do it together with my friend, Charles Kwan and he taught me alot about the circuit. He feels I know the circuit well enough that he doesn't walk it with me anymore.. =)

I'll try to take some pictures and keep you up to date throughout the weekend. Drivers briefing is on Wednesday and my first free practice will be on Friday..

I promise to try and keep more up to date on my blogging!!! =)]]> http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091118-000746 Darryl O'Young Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:07:46 GMT http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=11&entry=entry091118-000746 http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091005-000502
It is the 3rd weekend in a row I've lost a podium position due to some technical failure so its disappointing this weekend...

I started off the race well and was able to hold on to 6th position after the first 20 min, and most importantly , stay with the pack.

My stint was pretty good, but my tires dropped off alot and I struggled a bit with the car, however, my pace still managed to be good and I came in for the first pit stop.

My team mate Holzer drove a strong stint and was able to overtake a few cars.. Because cars were all running different strategies and some cars pit early, we were in P1 for about 20 minutes but we were realisticly fighting for P2.

It became clear as the stint went on that we had P2 in our grasp but it came down to the final mandatory pitstop where Marco came out of the car and I would go back in. The driver change went perfect and I was ready to go in about 10 seconds. I push the start button to get the car started and leave the pit, but the car wouldn't start...

We lost 1 lap which we later found out was caused by an alternator problem which destroyed our battery... We finished the race in P11. Another podium finish lost....

Next race is Zolder in Belgium..

]]> http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091005-000502 Darryl O'Young Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:05:02 GMT http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=10&entry=entry091005-000502 http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091003-233426
Driving the GT3 RSR is very different than the GT3 Cup Car which I compete with in Asia. The styles vary alot due to the design of the car and more importantly, the aerodynamic benefits of the RSR.

In order to maximise the RSR, you must be able to carry alot of mid corner speed, even in the lower speed corners, which is something I continue to improve in.

Last time I qualified the car, i placed the car in 9th position, but I have been able to improve since Hungary and find more of the limit of the car. Although I made a few minor mistakes today in the qualifying session, I put the car in 6th position, which was 0.5 seconds behind the fastest Porsche.

Our team has spent alot of effort to focus on a car that will be good over a 1 hour stint, so we feel this is the strength of our car, which we hope will benefit us in tomorrows race.

I will start the race tomorrow and push hard to gain as many positions as possible before handing the car over to my team mate, Marco Holzer of Germany.

Together, we should be able to put in a strong performance. I will focus on having a clean start in the race and most importantly, stay with the lead pack of the GT2 class before the first rounds of pit stops.

2 weeks ago in Portugal, we were leading the race before an engine failure ended our run. We will try to repeat a good race and have quick pit stops in order to climb up the leader board.

The race is this Sunday and the race will be streamed live on www.fiagt.com. Follow the race on the website, or watch the re-run of the races on ESPN/Star Sports during the weekdays this following week.

]]> http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry091003-233426 Darryl O'Young Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:34:26 GMT http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=10&entry=entry091003-233426 http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090928-091334
In qualifying, I drove some good laps, but I struggled with an oversteer that cost me some time. I put the car in P3, which was 0.3 seconds behind the pole sitter Christian Menzel.

At the start of the race, Menzel and Sugden came together in Turn 5 giving me the chance to move up to P2, although Menzel was able to open a 2 second gap as I had to avoid hitting Sugden.

The chase was on and I was able to close the gap over the next two laps to bring the lead down to 1 second. My car felt great and the changes to the setup over night made a massive difference to correct the oversteer probelms we had on Saturday.

However, soon after, my engine began developing a small misfire. This slowed me down maybe 0.5 seconds a lap, but I was still able to keep pressure on Menzel for the first half of the race. The misfire continually got worse each lap until the final 3 laps where I was losing massive straight line speed slowing me down about 2 seconds per lap.

The 3rd and 4th place cars of Baird and Watts soon caught back up to me and although I tried my best to defend, they easily overtook me down the straights on the final lap to take the final podium positions..I crossed the line in 4th.

It was an extremely disappointing result for me as I know I had a car to challenge for the win today. To have engine problems for the second consecutive weekend brings across some frustration, however, I am fortunate that I was able to maintain the 4th position and finish the race.

I know there's nothing I can do about the problems, so I'll just have to keep my focus ahead to the future races, especially next weekends FIA GT race in France at Paul Ricard.


]]> http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090928-091334 Darryl O'Young Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:13:34 GMT http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=09&entry=entry090928-091334 http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090925-155118
I missed writing about my last race in Potugal last week so I'll give you a quick run down of the events that happened.

Marco Holzer, my team mate qualified the car in Portugal as it was his turn to do so. He did a great job and put the car in P2. However, one of his lap times were taken away after running wide on the last turn, so he started the race from P3.

Marco drove a strong stint in the first 50 minutes of the race and was in P4 when he came into the pits. We had a phenomenal pit stop overtaking 2 cars in the process.

I drove out of the pit lane in 2nd position and soon caught the leading Brixia Porsche and overtook him taking the lead of the race.

Our lead did not last long however, as after another 10 minutes our engine failed forcing us to pull into the pits. It was a real shame as we had a genuine shot at winning the race!

I'll have to put all that behind me this weekend as I am now in Singapore for the Porsche Carrera Cup. We are a support race for the Formula 1 Singapore GP.

The track has changed a little bit but not in drastic fashion. A few corners have been tightened and some widened to change the characteristics slightly. Some parts of the circuit have also been resurfaced which will make it a bit smoother.

Last year I was able to win here, so I'll be looking to do the sam eagain this weekend. I missed out on pole position last year by 1 tenth of a second so I'm going to try and grab pole on Saturdays qualiyfing session.

Today's free practice will be at night under the lights of Singapore so that will be very interesting. Our race however will not be at night but in the late afternoon.

Come back here to see how the free practice goes tonite..more updates to come...

Ciao!]]> http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090925-155118 Darryl O'Young Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:51:18 GMT http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=09&entry=entry090925-155118 http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090831-001710
I started the race in the #61 Prospeed Competition Porsche from 9th position on the grid. It was a very scrappy first few laps as everyone fought hard for position at the start of the race.

I managed to get pass Sugden on the 2nd lap moving me up to 8th place. The next 30 min was just straight driving hard as the pace of the field was quick and it was important to stay in touch with the front pack.

In front of me, Robert Bell began struggling with grip in his Ferrari so I began to attack him. I managed to late brake him into turn 1 to take 7th position.

My pace was good and I continued driving hard till the 50 minute mark when we came in for our first pit stop. Unfortunately,the wheel nut jammed during the pit stop costing us a valuable 15 seconds extra during the stop. Despite this problem, my team mate Marco Hozler drove a very strong stint, and although at one point he was stuck behind two ferrari's, he was able to overtake them again moving us up the order. It was a shame because if the pit stop hadn't gone wrong, we would have had more clean air to run rather than getting held up by the Ferrari's.

Because we planned for Marco to do a longer middle stint, we were able to lead the race for nearly 20 min of the race...At the final 15 min of the race, I changed back in for the mandatory second pit stop and finished off the race for the team.

I came out of the pit in 4th position and crossed the chequered in the same position. We finished a mere 15 seconds behind 3rd position and the final podium spot. Our results may have been better if our pitstop had gone better as we had a genuine shot at the podium. This is a team sport and all we can do is try to improve together as a team and learn from this experience.

We are pleased with the result and this moves me up to 11th position overall in the driver's GT2 standings and still very much in contention for a top 5 in the driver's championship!

Our team mates in the #60 car, Westbrook and Collard made a fantastic come from behind victory to win the race taking the lead on the last lap! This moves us up to 1st overall in the team championship.

Here is a link to the final results and also the overall driver standings in the GT2 Category.

http://www.fiagt.com/results.php?event= ... e%20Result

http://www.fiagt.com/points.php?season= ... mp;event=1]]> http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090831-001710 Darryl O'Young Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:17:10 GMT http://www.darryloyoung.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=08&entry=entry090831-001710