Some very sad news out of Japan today. Veteran D1 driver Atsushi Kuroi has passed away after injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. Kuroi was popular not just in Japan, but in all the countries where he drove. Anyone who's seen him drive knows the kind of talent this man had behind the wheel of his Nissan One-Via. Besides being known as a
2009 proved to be a very exciting year for D1. Youichi Imamura became the first driver to win two championships, his first back in 2003 behind the wheel of the Apexi RX-7. His Auto Produce Boss built S15, based on Yasuyuki Kazama's old 2005 championship winner car, allowed him to grab points consistently at each round allowing him to finish ahead
There are many ways to express personal passion for cars. Some people work as engineers, managers and marketers for the world's car companies, others spend their time working and building cars either for themselves or for others, or some like myself are involved with automotive media and spend their time shooting and writing about all things automobile
These are the posts I love the most, allowing readers to get a more down-to-earth look into companies and personalities. Away from the limelight it is always so refreshing to see just how normal people are and the guys at T&E were a great bunch to spend the best part of a day with. I dropped by their main shop in Yokohama to try to get a behind
It was hard to pick a second D1 driver to do a small retrospective on, following the post on Ueo's career as a professional drifter. There are just so many great drivers in Japan to choose from, but after much deliberation it just had to be Nobuteru Taniguchi. Taniguchi is one driver I have great respect for, having managed to build a racing career
With the D1 Grand Prix all done for a good five months I thought it would be cool to take a look back over the last few years and more to the point at some of the top drifters that have participated in the Japanese drift championship. I've picked two names that are synonymous with D1, drivers that for some reason or another are no longer competing
The GP Sports kitted RSP13 from the D1 post seemed to go down well so I just prepared a wallpaper of it. You can grab the widescreen and standard resolution versions over on the desktops section. - Dino Dalle Carbonare
Photographer: Dino Dalle Carbonare Resolution: 1600x1200 Description: GP Sports kitted RSP13 at the 2009 D1-GP final in Fuji Speedway
Photographer: Dino Dalle Carbonare Resolution: 1920x1200 Description: GP Sports kitted RSP13 sitting in the paddock at the 2009 D1-GP final in Fuji Speedway
I really can't believe how fast the D1 Grand Prix season has gone by this year. The new twin-round format certainly makes it seem that way, but at least every race weekend was jam-packed full of action for 2009. Round 8 ended with the drivers thanking the crowds for their continuous support, with Imamura, the new Champion, taking the lead in a big