Timaru racing driver Corban Sprague has taken another big step in chasing his motorsport dreams.
At the weekend Sprague was given the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a 525-horsepower Dodge Challenger and compete in the first TA2 NZ 1-hour endurance race.
Sprague made a good start to the weekend at Hampton Downs, qualifying in P3, despite making a slight mistake on his final lap and losing a spot at the start of the grid.
‘‘It was my first time on a new tyre, which is obviously done in other cars, but it was quite a different learning experience on one of these cars,’’ Sprague said.
‘‘You’ve sort of got a window where you have to maximise it, and then it sort of just drops away. I just didn’t quite maximise it.’’
He started the race well, keeping pace and matching lap times with the leading cars until a fuel pump failure 25 minutes in forced the young driver off the track.
Sprague said while having to retire from the race early was frustrating, he would still take a lot away from the experience.
‘‘They said they’ve only had to replace one of these fuel pumps in six years. That’s how unlucky it was but that’s motorsport.
‘‘I definitely enjoyed myself. The cars are amazing to drive, it’s good racing and definitely somewhere I can see myself ending up.
‘‘I’m just glad I still got some good mileage, and I think I showed some of my class, which was good for the future.’’
After winning the Mazda Pro8 Championship earlier this year, he said his goal was to compete in the class next year but it would take a lot of money and effort to make it happen.
‘‘It’s a pretty big nudge. It’s obviously a massive step up to get to that level.
‘‘There’s still quite a lot of work that needs to be put in to make it happen, but we’ll see what we can do.’’
Sprague said he was very thankful to all his supporters and sponsors who had helped him get this latest opportunity.
‘‘A big thanks as well to Paul Manuell and the TA2 New Zealand team for being so welcoming.
‘‘I think looking at the weekend overall, it was a pretty positive experience, I had a ball.’’
