CARS GLOBALMAG October 2016 | Página 86

T H E M A N A N D T H E M U S TA N G drift cars work, you’ll see the car on three wheels for example. It lifts the front corner, and we manage to extract a lot of grip out of our Nitto tyres. We have a very well developed chassis and we’ve just done a ton of work developing it. And you know, it’s just absolutely badass, it’s got 900 horsepower, absolutely screams.” YOU’VE BEEN WORKING HARD AWAY FROM THE TRACK TOO. WHAT IS THE “ULTIMATE FUN HAVER”, AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU? “Everyone knows me as a drift racer, and while that’s my passion and, what I’ve come up from, to my core I just enjoy driving and having a good time. If you cut through it all that’s all I think about, and that’s really the main thing I want to do. I’m a car guy, and when you look at the bigger picture, I can be more than just a drifter. I’ve done King of the Hammers off-road racing, I’ve done some grip racing, and I’ve played in the dirt with side-by-side buggies. I have a ton of fun with the racing professionally, and just wanted to own it. I think fun having is very universal, and it’s something everyone can relate to. So it seemed crazy not to share it. Let’s just put the obvious aside, I love drifting, but in the other endeavors I’ve really been having an amazingly good time in sideby-side’s; GTV’s. I have one with a Yamaha YXZ1000 motor and a sequential shifter on it. That’s been a blast. I also did King of the Hammers last year, which is a mixture of rock climbing, desert racing, short course stuff. It’s Ultra-4 category, and an epic challenge. The races are six hours long. I’m actually building something pretty special to do more of that for next season. That’s a bit of an exclusive – as I haven’t publicly mentioned that to anyone up until now! So watch out for that in 2017! I’ve enjoyed some time back circuit racing, I did some Trans-Am and did the NASCAR comps, but for me off road is where it’s at.” IT’S ALL GOOD FOR CAR CONTROL SURELY? “In a lot of ways playing in the dirt lends itself to drifting. Drift has really taught me such good car control to be able to adapt to anything. Anything I get behind the wheel of now, I can feel what the surface is like, what the grip levels are doing and I can be up to speed very quickly. The “Ass-Dyno” is very refined from driving sideways for a long time and havi ng to feel for grip!... I’m having a blast, and I’m really excited that all my supporters are into it” SO MAYBE IT’S TIME YOU CAME AND HAD A PLAY IN RALLYCROSS TOO? “Being here, and getting wrapped up in the atmosphere, it’s hard not to be jonesed for it. I’ve been obviously talking to Ken Block and Andreas Bakkerud about how it all works, and again – these things are all wheel drive drift cars. The way they work, the way they move. The technology and set up is awesome here. I definitely have my eyes on it. I have to be smart though, because my passion for driving and motorsport will make me spend every dollar I own. Who knows though, I’d definitely be interested, I just want to see where things line up.”