FOR 2011 SUPER 1 SERIES & ROTAX MAX EURO CHALLENGE SERIESRising Scottish racer joins multiple championship-winning team for remainder of domestic season and for entire European racing season.17-year old rising karting star Shaun Slavin has joined forces with Dan Holland Racing (DHR) in a deal that will see the Dumfries-born racer compete in the prestigious UK-based Super One and the European-based Rotax Euro Challenge championships simultaneously throughout 2011. Battling against the best drivers throughout the UK and Europe, Slavin is set to enhance his rapidly rising reputation as a future champion of the sport following his deal with DHR and will be using the combination of the renowned Alonso chassis and British, European and World championship-winning HRS Racing Engines run by Nigel Horner. The Drummore resident has just completed a successful two-day test over the weekend for his new team at the Genk circuit in Belgium where he finished an impressive 0.1s shy of the fastest lap in preparation for the opening round of the European series at the same venue this coming weekend. A part-time schedule in 2009 gave Shaun a taste of the intense competition that comes with racing against 90 other drivers from all over the world in the Euro Challenge Rotax Max Senior category and he will be drawing on those experiences heading into the opening round of the season.Competing with the best drivers across the UK, Shaun is also bidding to improve on a debut season in the Senior Max class 2010 which saw the young charger claim a remarkable 4th place overall in the Rotax Super 1 Championship.Despite registering six consecutive top-three finishes last year, the Scottish driver could only muster a disappointing 8th place finish during the 2011 opening round at Whilton Mill three weeks ago following mechanical issues. Determined to maintain the momentum gained in 2010 and in the interests of continuity, the decision was taken in the days after the race, to leave the Coles Racing squad and join forces with the multiple championship-winning DHR team.Shaun Slavin: “I would like to say a massive thank you to Mark Collings at CRG and Adrian Cole at Cole Racing as they took a chance on me, gave me the opportunity to compete and while I’ll always be thankful to them, moving to DHR was a logical move for me as I will now be able to race the same chassis in both series’, work with the same team and personnel and that continuity was something I was looking for in 2011.“My only aim for Super One is to win it this year. Being consistent in every race weekend is vital and I know that providing we can do that as a team, we can challenge for the title. The team have excellent equipment, I have the pace, so hopefully it will prove to be a winning combination.“Although I have competed in three Euro Challenge rounds previously, this is the first time I will  be entering every race and it requires a totally different approach to racing in the UK. The karts are very different, the circuits offer more grip, the weather tends to be hotter and there are an average of 90 drivers in my class for every round so it’s pretty intense.I’d be happy with a top 5 finish in the Euro championship this year but again, consistency is the key to success so that will be my main focus. We’re definitely quick enough to win the title and I will certainly be doing all I can to be crowned champion.”Dan Holland (Team Boss – Dan Holland Racing):“Getting Shaun into our team was certainly something we were looking at last year so when the chance to get together came along, we were delighted to do so. Shaun is a very talented driver with a big future in the sport and he fits into our team very well. He needs a little bit of nurturing and fine tuning as all drivers do but if we can give him the right tools to get the job done, I’ve no doubts he will be successful and I’m very excited by that. He is exactly what we’re looking for.“His debut for us during the test last weekend was a success and he was on the pace straight away which was great to see. After a quick introduction to the team; each of us getting to know one another, learning about his driving style etc, we were able to get down to business and I’m very happy with how things have gone.“He doesn’t need to win every race to be champion in Europe; but finishes in the top three or top five will enable him to compete at the top end of the series. There are so many good European drivers so it is important to try and finish every race and aim to finish in the top 5,then winning the title is certainly possible.“With Super One, he had a difficult start at the first round but that wasn’t in our hands but I think he can still bounce back from that and achieve a good result. The next race at Shennington is going to be a turning point and we need to have a good result there. We need to be in the top three straight away to get a big haul of points. He’s certainly capable of winning the Super 1 title but we’ll be focusing on taking the wins when we can and bagging a decent points haul when we can’t.”Alastair Slavin (Father):“We would like to thank Mark Collings and the entire CRG team for all the help and support they have given us over the last three years. We want to additionally thank Adrian Cole and all the team at Coles Racing because Shaun had a great year in 2010 for them finishing 4th in Super 1.“We are, like many involved in this expensive sport, seeking commercial partners who would like to be a part of Shaun’s future success. If we could obtain any commercial sponsorship even if it’s just to pay for tyres or the race entry fee, we would welcome it.