Darryl O’Young: ‘Many positives to take away’

Darryl O’Young secured eight points in the Yokohama Independents’ trophy during the opening rounds of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship.

The Hong Kong based racer, in his first competitive outing at the wheel of the ROAL Motorsport BMW 320TC finished qualifying as the best of the BMW 320TC drivers before the weather played havoc on race day at Monza.

“There are many positives to take away from this weekend such as our qualifying pace,” explains O’Young.

“I feel very confident as we head into the next few races. The conditions for Sunday race day completely changed everything for us, as it rained the entire day and rear wheel drive cars are known to struggle in the rain.”

“It’s frustrating as I feel the pole position (of Race 2) was wasted this time in Italy.”

Having lined up 10^th for the opening round of the 2013 campaign, O’Young slipped down the order in the early laps before a trip to the gravel on the ninth lap left him 13^th overall and sixth in the Yokohama Independents.

“In race 1, I struggled for grip in the rain and began getting passed by the front wheel drive cars. Some small contact with Swiss driver Freddy Barth put me through the gravel and this cost me several positions. At the end, I was able to recover but it was disappointing,” explains O’Young about the opening race.

Round 2 saw O’Young line up on Pole Position but the weather meant that he was unable to take advantage of his front row position and he focused on scoring the maximum he could in the Yokohama Independents.

“In race 2, I started from pole position but I knew it would be impossible to hold the lead in the heavy rain conditions. I decided not to give too much of a fight to the front wheel drive cars and focus on scoring as many points as possible. I held the lead only for two corners and the front wheel drive cars passed me like I was standing still,” concluded the #55 ROAL Motorsport racer.

He finished 12^th overall and 4^th in the Independents, which sees him head to Marrakech in 2 weeks time lying 5^th in the Yokohama Independents’ drivers’ standings.