The second event of the 2010 D1GP season was held over the weekend at Autopolis. Dino had another event, so he couldn't be there to shoot, but it was Masao Suenaga who took the victory after defeating Daigo Saito in the final. The event also included American drivers Sam Hubinette, Pat Mordaunt, and Mike Pollard, who drove JZZ30 Soarers borrowed
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
Up until this year it was always the Japanese that were going overseas to expose the world to their drift culture, but 2009 looks like it will be the year when Japanese drifters and drift fans will finally get a taste of international drifting on their home turf. We already saw Vaughn Gittin Jr. bring his all-American V8-powered madness to Japan earlier
I was leisurely browsing through the pages of the Feb. 2009 issue of Option Magazine tonight when I came across some big news about 2008 D1GP series champion Daigo Saito. For 2009 he will be leaving his JZX100 Chaser behind and switching to a Ford Mustang GT. Yep, that's right....a Mustang in the Japanese D1 series. Saito's official website
After a hiatus for 2008, D1 Grand Prix has announced that it plans to return to the states next year with four drift events held at stadiums all over the country. D1 says their events will focus on the overall entertainment of drifting and will use what they call the "D1 Dojo" course to make the action fast paced and accessible to spectators
I just got back to my apartment in Tsukuba City after the LONG drive home from Fuji Speedway. Driving the highways in Japan is NOTHING like in the US and let's just say that a Sunday night is not the ideal time to be driving on the Tomei Expressway coming back from the tourist haven of Mt. Fuji. I'm about ready to fall asleep here at the computer
September will be over in a couple days, and as the '08 drift season begins to draw to a close I thought this would be a good time for a quick review of the current standings in the Japanese D1 Grand Prix and D1 Street Legal series. First up, let's look at D1GP which has just one remaining event this year which will be on October 25 and 26 at
It looks like veteran D1GP driver and Vertex shacho Takahiro Ueno will be saying goodbye to his iconic red Soarer following the end of the 2008 D1 season. According to a press release from Vertex USA, Ueno will be retiring his beloved Soarer and switching to an all new BMW 335i coupe which will be powered by none other than a Toyota 2JZGTE engine. The
This weekend will be the fifth round of the D1 Street Legal series at Maze Circuit and in addition to the stand-alone D1SL match, there will also be a grip race between a number of D1 drivers in their drift cars. I remember a few years ago Option had a special D1 machine class at their Tsukuba Super Lap contest and it was really fun to watch the D1
OK so maybe all of the exact drivers have not been determined yet, but the slots on the roster for the first ever Red Bull Drifting World Championship have been announced. The event will be held on November 15th and 16th in Long Beach, CA and will include 32 drivers from 12 different countries and all of the major drift series around the world. The