Interview: Formula DRIFT 2022 PROSPEC Champion Robert Thorne

The championship was kind of unexpected. Well, of course, the first year, we went into it with trying to have reasonable expectations, hoping to get some top 16s, maybe a top eight, learn something, not embarrass ourselves. Just get a good understanding of the FD atmosphere. Things started falling into place and we ended round two with the championship lead. Then we started taking things pretty serious for the rest of the year, making sure we held on to that lead -- the high was was overwhelming for sure at Utah. We are all prepared for whatever outcome, but when it did come our way, man, it was exciting.

 

This year, moving into PRO, we'll try to do the same thing. Goal one is just preparing the car as best it can be. We know we're going to need 30% more power for 30% more grip. So we're working on that now. The car needs to be fast just on the run up. You see these cars in videos, and they are fly through the run up. You've got 1,200 horsepower cars with sequential gearboxes. You know, time it on a stopwatch and we're nowhere near quick enough in ProSpec. So we're going to definitely step the car up to make sure it's competitive, make sure it's a little lighter, a lot more powerful. And then you've got to be on your game, you know, on a top, top of the pack, qualifying run in ProSpec is going to put you mid-pack at best at Pro. So for sure consistency, I've been getting some practice in on SIM. So yeah, needed everything to be prepared, at least better than last year.