Dai Yoshihara

Along with Ken Gushi and Ryan Sage, I was able to ask a few questions to the defending Formula Drift champion, Dai Yoshihara.


How did the announcement of a new racing surface at Long Beach affect how you went about preparing yourself and the car for the event?
We didn't really change our preparation because of the surface change. We were a bit worried about that the car might be a little twitchy since the new surface gives more grip, but we got the new motor which has more power so it didn't really bother me.

Since you finished second, you appear to very comfortable with the changes that were made to the S13 for this year.  Were there any adjustments you had to make due to the added power of the newly reworked engine?
We got more power but because the tire rule changed, we had to use skinnier tires. We changed the suspension setup for that but still it wasn't making good traction. So honestly, I was having a hard time keeping up with some of the cars out there. I had to short cut the line at the turn 9 to the turn 10 to catch up.
In fact, after LB we changed the setup and added some weight to get back to the same tire size as last year, and we just had testing last week. I think the car is a lot more competitive now!

Did the change to the tire rules affect the amount of power that you and your team are allowing the car to use?
Yes, as I said above. I wasn't really able to use the extra power.

Do you feel your results at Long Beach are an extension of the momentum you had going for you last season?
Not really.  I didn't really do well in the last 2 rounds in 2011. This year is an another year. We started over. Well the fact that I won the championship was helped though.

Did you feel more pressure to perform well at Long Beach since you are the defending series champion?
Actually, it was opposite. Because I [won] the championship, I got more confidence and I felt less pressure.




A very big thank you to Dai Yoshihara for allowing me to send him these questions and for his quick response.  I know many fans out there were thinking "It's about time." when he won the championship last season.  Don't forget to look for Behind the Smoke from the GT Channel on YouTube Mondays.