Chances are that unless you’re an avid petrol-head then you won’t be overly familiar with the name Dylan Young. He may not be a household name in Australia in the same vein as a Daniel Ricciardo or a Mark Webber yet but he has much in common with the feted Aussie superstar drivers of Formula One (F1).
Melbourne born and bred, Dylan grew up close to the Albert Park Circuit which hosts the Australian Grand Prix each year so you could say that racing has always been close to his heart in more ways than one.
After a brief stint in karts, Dylan’s career progressed globally through the Formula BMW Pacific Championship, following in the exact footsteps of current Australian F1 star Daniel Ricciardo. His career then continued to flourish with races alongside multiple F1 Grand Prix’s in the support categories under the watchful eyes of F1 team bosses.
Dylan has relished in the challenge of going up against the world’s best. He was team mates with Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, during the 2016/2017 MRF Challenge Championship and who is now racing in F1 for Haas.
Dylan has also competed against the likes of Harrison Newey, son of Red Bull F1 designer Adrian Newey, former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat and current F1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari who recently finished 3rd place in the Hungarian Grand Prix behind World Champion Lewis Hamilton.
Euro Adventure
Dylan recently secured a partnership with renowned French auto team Graff Racing to compete in the Formula 3 Ultimate Cup Series in Europe.
Everyone always wants to make a good impression on their first day at work but Dylan took it one step further. In fact three steps further as he delivered a stunning debut performance with three podiums at the Paul Ricard F1 Circuit, the venue that recently hosted the French Formula One Grand Prix, during the weekend of July 16-18. A truly incredible bow for his new team!
Driving the F3 Tatuus T-318 powered by a Renault engine, he finished with a P3 in Race 1 and Race 2 before clinching 2nd place in the final race of the weekend out of a field of 19 drivers. He also achieved the fastest lap time in Race 3, passing Nico Prost, former Lotus Renault F1 reserve driver and son of four-time Formula One World Champion Alain Prost, during the opening lap on the way to P2.
As the only Australian in the Championship, Dylan’s performance raised eyebrows amongst the paddock due to the fact he had been out of race action since February 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite absolutely zero testing or action since clinching the ’19/20 MRF Challenge Vice Championship in February of last year, he drove like an absolute champion.
‘Great Performance’
Given the rest of the drivers in the field had been racing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and had a wealth of experience with the car and the circuit, Dylan and the Graff team were extremely pleased with the results and believe race wins are on the horizon from the next round at Le Mans in September.
“Overall I’m pretty happy with the weekend,” Dylan said post-race in somewhat modest fashion.
“Due to COVID-19, I was out of a seat since February last year with no driving so I think we showed a pretty strong performance for this weekend with a podium in each race. Especially the last race with P2 where it was fun to have some fights on track and get the fastest lap.
“I want to send a big thank you to all the team at Graff for giving me such a great car with no issues all weekend. My engineer Antoine and mechanic Sylvain were absolutely awesome and I think now the aim is to push for race wins from the next event!”
Pascal Rauturier, Team Manager at Graff Racing was understandably delighted with his new recruit’s performance and is looking to the future with confidence: “In collaboration with the team, all our drivers have shown great performance all weekend. Congratulations to Dylan for the three podiums and the best time in race 3!”
Next up are events in Le Mans, France (September), Magny Cours, France (October) and Estoril, Portugal (November).
‘Restructuring’
Prior to signing with Graff Racing, Dylan had raced in the highly competitive 2019/2020 MRF Challenge Formula 3 Championship where he secured 2nd place in the drivers standings. As the only Australian in the field he stormed home with 3 wins and 9 podiums across the 15 race international season including victory in Bahrain where he finished ahead of David Schumacher, son of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher. Dylan fell just short of securing the title from Belgium’s Michelangelo Amendola despite winning the final race of the Championship in Chennai in February, 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic then saw Dylan sidelined for most of 2020 which allowed him to set about restructuring a new service offering focusing on the European region, before he signed with Graff Racing.
With Graff Racing competing across a number of championships including the European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series and Ultimate Cup Series, a strong showing this season could see Dylan target a future LMP3 and LMP2 birth with the team. Graff took 2nd place at the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans and with Dylan’s aim being to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship there is a platform available for them to extend their partnership for years to come.
“I’m over the moon to be getting back on track after the mess of 2020,” Dylan commented after signing with Graff Racing. “To say I’m pumped is an understatement!”
‘Aussie Battler’
Dylan is one of only a handful of Australian racing drivers who have been competing internationally recently on the F1 pathway.
Crucially, he is a rare example of a driver who is competing without financial backing from family, something that is frequently prevalent in the highly costly sport. This has demanded enormous character, hunger and drive to endure the financial and emotional obstacles that have been presented over the years. Yet Dylan’s relentless pursuit has seen him become one of Australia’s most marketable drivers as he has successfully built a team of investors and Australian brands who together are sharing in his journey. Dylan personifies the Aussie battler, as his website states!
With the blistering start to his European adventure with Graff, expect Dylan to be a man in demand as race teams from across the world take notice and express interest in chasing his services. International racing options via the likes of the renowned IndyCar, the Le Mans 24 hours & FIA World Endurance Championship are almost certainly to come his way. Success on foreign soil could also see him become a household name in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship and newly founded Australian S5000 category.
Dylan’s dream is to have a long and successful career either overseas or at home. As stated at the outset, you may not be overly familiar with the name but expect to be hearing more and more of him in the months and years to come...
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