Drivers in the 2021 Prospec Championship will compete on GT Radial Champiro SX2 RS tires as the brand becomes the official tire of the series.
The tires are made at the Giti Tire (USA) Ltd. plant in Chester County, South Carolina.
Prospec is an evolution of the 2020 Pro2 Championship, and will allow fields of up to 32 drivers to compete in four events throughout the year alongside the Formula Drift Pro teams. Here's a look at the schedule for the season:
May 21-22, Orlando Speed World, Orlando, Fl.
June 18-19, Englishtown Raceway Park, Englishtown, N.J.
Aug. 27-28, World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill.
Oct. 22-23, Irwindale Speedway Irwindale, Calif.
“With solid performance from our new Champiro SX2 RS during its Formula DRIFT debut in 2020, the drifting community took notice!” says Mike Meeiem, GT Radial USA motorsports manager. “As a result, we decided to build the SX2 RS in the popular 255/35R18 size at our South Carolina plant to showcase our American manufacturing at U.S. racetracks. With eight solid Pro drivers and now the Official Tire of Prospec, it’s a huge testament to what we have accomplished in our motorsports endeavors of late. We are looking forward to enjoying exciting competition on GT Radial tires.”
The Champiro SX2 RS is an evolution of the SX2 design which has been popular with competitive drivers and everyday enthusiasts. The tire features an all-new tread compound that delivers a step up in performance in dry and wet conditions.
With the introduction of the Prospec Championship, Formula DRIFT will phase in a number of updates to the technical and sporting regulations over the next few seasons to continue evolving the series into an affordable, competitive format for upcoming drift drivers. Prospec will be promoted at the highest level across all Formula Drift social media and online platforms, including its popular livestream broadcast. Event qualification and competition will take place on the same days as the senior Pro category.
“Evolving the Pro2 category into the new Prospec Championship will allow us to provide teams and drivers with an affordable, competitive championship designed to appeal to drift fans around the world. Part of its development includes standardizing a number of components to control costs and keep performance levels close. So, we are delighted to introduce GT Radial as the first element in this new venture and look forward to a long relationship together,” said Jim Liaw, President of Formula Drift.
