The future is looking fast for a young Timaru driver as he continues to chase his motorsport dreams.
After finishing runner-up in the Toyota TR86 Trophy Series in July this year, Corban Sprague has not been resting on his laurels.
In the months following Sprague has broken lap records at Levels Raceway in a Mazda, been behind the wheel of a 525 horsepower TA2 car and taken part in the Hampton Downs Academy, where he was selected as one of only four drivers from 60 to compete in the Tony Quinn Foundation shootout for a $54,000 support package.
He said he had gone into the academy late last month with no real expectations outside of bettering himself.
‘‘You just go up there and they sort of help you develop your skills in the car. That was my reason for going up — improve my driving and see what comes out of it.
‘‘At the end of the day, [Hampton Downs NZ Racing Academy chief instructor] Dan Gaunt pulled me aside and asked if I could come back the next Tuesday to take part in the Tony Quinn Foundation shootout.’’
The shootout was a great experience, he said.
‘‘They described it as a bit of a pressure cooker day. You’re under the watch of guys like Greg Murphy and Josie Spillane all day, both in the car and out of the car.
‘‘We were assessed on our driving and then we had to present our sponsorship proposal to the Tony Quinn trustees. They were really impressed with how my proposal came along and I was happy with how it went, as well as my driving.’’
In the end Sprague did not receive the sponsorship but said there were a lot of good learnings to take away from day.
‘‘Obviously, it wasn’t the result I wanted in the end but it was good to have the opportunity to network with all those people, which is only going to be good for my future going forward.’’
Without the sponsorship money he had to decide against committing to a Toyota GR86 campaign and would instead be returning to compete in the Mazda Pro8 New Zealand Championship, which he had done last year, he said.
Sprague has already shown his ability in the car, making an impressive showing in August during round zero of the championship.
In the event held at Levels Raceway in Timaru, he recorded three sprint race wins, including a short track circuit lap record and won the 1hr enduro cup by a staggering 21 seconds.
He said he was looking forward getting back in the RX-8 for the series.
‘‘We’re just super lucky that we’ve still got our car and we’re able to go run that series. It’s a great series. It obviously taught me a lot and I really enjoy racing the cars.
‘‘The goal is go on and win it it’s pretty straight forward. I won it last year and we showed some great speed, but we had a couple of mechanical problems, which set us back a bit.
‘‘So fingers crossed we’ve got on top of our mechanical problems and we can go out, get some consistent results and fight for the championship.’’
However, after getting a taste of a TA2 car, the ultimate goal would be to get in a TA2 car for a season, Sprague said.
‘‘If not full-time this year, next year. We’re still trying to fund a drive in the TA2 New Zealand championship behind the scenes.
‘‘Funding is the ultimate thing that’s probably going to hold that back and the availability of a car but I definitely want to try and commit to a season.
‘‘As you climb the ladder, it just gets more and more expensive and these TA2 cars are just that next level of funding to run but it is what it is. I’ve just got to go try and find it.’’
Sprague will officially begin his five-round Mazda campaign on November 1 at Levels Raceway.
