D1 Grand Prix
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The D1GP short for D1 Grand Prix (Japanese: D1グランプリ) is a production car drifting series from Japan. Formed in 2000 by the Option magazine and Tokyo Auto Salon founder Daijiro Inada (稲田大二郎) and Keiichi Tsuchiya.
History
The series began in October 2000 as the All Japan Professional Drift Championship (全日本プロドリフト選手権) with Keiichi Tsuchiya and Manabu Orido as judges and Manabu Suzuki (鈴木 学) as commentator, with Daijiro Inada appearing in the judging stand. During the first ever event which took place in Ebisu, with an entry of forty and a crowd of three thousand, drivers were judged individually. That round would be treated as the first round of the 2001 season and would shortly renamed as D1 Grand Prix. From round two onward, unlike drift events which judged the cars indivually each rounds then elimating the rest, the series introduced the one on one round battle called the tsuiso match which has been the tradition for touge races and has since been adopted for drifting events all over the world. Aftermarket parts manufacturers Blitz, then HKS and A'pexi would soon began to get involved by sponsoring drivers starting from there.In 2002, the amount of cars competiting in the tsiou rounds would be reduced from ten to eight and was increased to twelve by round two to allow for an additional round. That would be increased to sixteen by round four which stands to this day.
The series would remain domestic until 2003 when they hosted an exhibition round at Irwindale in California. With a sellout crowd of 10,000, which broke record for the venue and the series, this venue became the series opening round in 2004 and has since expanded to capacitate 15,000 specators. This event saw the introduction of the English speaking commentator Toshi Hayama who continues to narrate on the English dub in JDM option.
That year saw car accessories store Autobacs as the title sponsor and brought the first non-circuit event at Odaiba, Tokyo in January, held in a Fuji Television car park, it would also later be run as a championship round. In December, D1 was held in California Speedway as a non championship US vs Japan event, running alongside the JGTC race as part of the non championship GT Live event. Orido would leave as judge at the end of the season to become a driver. The other regular staffs for 2005 are D1 girls Kazumi Kondo (近藤和美) and Hatsuno Sugaya (菅谷はつ乃) who previously had careers as JGTC Race Queens. For the 2006 season, Hatsuno was replaced by Juli Tamashiro.
In 2005 there were some notables, as Tsuchiya being the sole judge, the series introduced the DriftBox which is an electronic GPS scoring device. As the series have always been Japanese dominated with a few non Japanese making it to the last 16, in the 1st round, after narrowly beating Ken Nomura before spinning off during the exhibition race in 2003, Rhys Millen would become the first non Japanese Driver to make it to the Last 8 round, he would lose to Yasuyuki Kazama after a rerun. The same year saw an introduction of the Street Legal category which was unveiled at the Odaiba round, for cars which is built to be driven on the road. (see separate entry).
Also in October 2005, D1GP ventured to Europe with an exhibition round at Silverstone, this event provided an upset after putting out a good performance in the first run, Irishman Darren Mcnamara would go through to the last 8 after overtaking series regular Hiroshi Fukuda on the first run and being punted off the course. Like Millen did in round 1, McNamara would also fall victim to Kazama after putting out a good fight. With a crowd attendance of 5000, in the following year D1 will run its own national series in the UK. At the non championship US vs Japan event in December saw the series first non Japanese winner for both car and driver (Vaughn Gittin Jr with his Ford Mustang). At the following season opener, Hubinette with his Dodge Viper took things further by making it into the semi final by beating Gittin, only to be beaten by Nobushige Kumakubo in his Impreza.
In 2006, D1 will venture into the highly lucurative Asian market by hosting a feeder series in Malaysia as well as in New Zealand, which gives the drivers who do well in any of the national series a chance to compete at the final event held in the US.
Since the series began, Video Option along with the English language sister title JDM Option (since 2004) have exclusively covered the series.
The Road to D1
Usually drivers in Japan have to make it to the top of the championship table in one of four major national drifting series, Advan Drift Meeting, A'pex Cup, ORC Drift Championship, BN Sports D1 Drift Championship. Outside of the country, drivers have to enter a "Driver's Search". Once they have qualified, they receive a "D1 license," which enables them to enter the Qualifying rounds and the newly introduced national series, plus the exhibition events that they are invited to.
In a championship event, usually entry are restricted to one hundred cars, each car gets an allocation of three individual Tansou (chase run) qualifying runs, only the best one counts. At the end of the day, the top twenty qualifiers joins the ten seeded cars who are determined by the top ten championship tables.
On race day, competitors will go through a starting ceremony then will be given a set of three qualifying runs to make it into the top sixteen Tsuiso (chase attack) battle, which involves two cars running simultaneously. During a "tsuiso" battle, where one car follows another through the course, attempting to keep up with or even pass the car in front. In the tsuiso rounds, it doesn't matter if the racing line is wrong; it matters who has the most exciting drift. Normally, the leading car usually produces a max-angle, but still close off the inside a little to prevent passing. The chasing car usually drifts with less angle, but very close to the lead car. But a car does not even have to keep up, and in fact in some cases a car that was left behind on the straight produces a beautiful drift, winning him that round. A spin, understeer, or collision results in a disqualification of the offending party.
As a D1 licence has a lifespan of twelve months, a driver must qualify into the best 16 spot for an automatic renewal for the next year, failing that they must re-enter the driver's search
D1 Street Legal
As the category were moving away from its grassroots during the earlier days and budgets and development costs were getting higher, the organisers introduced the D1 Street Legal (abbreviated as D1SL ) category at the Odaiba round in 2005 for road driven cars which were different to the main category as they are trailered driven between races.
being a budget series meant there is a tighter restrictions on how a car can be modified. For example the car must have a working car stereo system and must have the original engine to whom it was originally supplied with. Also there is no wide body extension and wings must be within the width of the car, the car must retain many of its original features, especially dashboard, doors,
Initially the new series were treated to two non championship rounds and was given a full seven round the following year. As the series were also geared towards novice drifters, its also attracts D1 star drivers including the Suenaga brothers and Nomuken
2006 Schedule
See 2006 D1 Grand Prix SeasonList of D1 Licensed Drivers
Sorted in order of competing region| Driver | Nickname | Foreign Name | Team/Title Sponsor | Current Car | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Katsuhiro Ueo | 植尾勝浩 | [Car Boutique Club] ERG | Sprinter Trueno AE86 Darren McNamara | McNamara Motorsport | Toyota Levin AE86 with SR20DET | |||
| Eric O'Sullivan | Modified Motors | Toyota Levin AE86 20v | ||||||
| Phil Morrison | Driftworks | Nissan 200SX S14a | ||||||
| Brett Castle | OPT | Nissan 200SX S14a | ||||||
| Julian Smith | DRIFTR | Nissan Skyline R32 | ||||||
| Paul Vlasblom | BMW M3 E36 Touring |
|- ! Nobuteru Taniguchi | NOB || 谷口信輝 || HKS Genki Racing Performer IS220-R || Altezza SXE10) |- ! Ken Nomura | Nomuken || 野村謙 || Blitz Works Drift Performance with Uras|| Skyline ER34 |- ! Youichi Imamura | || 今村陽一 || A'PEXi || RX-7 FD3S |- ! Nobushige Kumakubo | || 熊久保信重 || Team Orange, Yuke's, Cusco and Advan || GDB Type-II Impreza |- ! Masao Suenaga | || 末永正雄 || RE Amemiya/GReddy || Mazda RX-7 FD3S |- ! Yasuyuki Kazama | Waku-Waku Kun || 風間靖幸 || Kei Office || Silvia S15 |- ! Akinori Utsumi | Ucchi || 内海彰乃 || ADVAN DRFT Drift Project Team || Mazda RX-7 FD3S |- ! Takahiro Ueno | || 上野高広 || Car Make T&E Vertex/HKS || JZZ30 Soarer |- ! Gen Terasaki | || 寺崎源 || (Autobacs Secondhand Division || AP1 S2000 |- ! Ken Maeda | Mae-Ken || 前田謙 || Grenade || Mazda RX-7 FD3S |- ! Tetsuya Hibino | || 日比野哲也 || DRoo-p || Toyota Corolla Levin coupe AE86 |- ! Atsushi Kuroi | || || Show-Up!/Riverside || Nissan onevia RPS13 |- ! Kazuhiro Tanaka | || 田中一弘 || Team Orange/M Sports || [[Nissan Skyline#R33|Skyline R33 |- ! Masato Kawabata | || 川畑真人 || Trust Works || Nissan Silvia S15 |- ! Manabu Orido | MAX Orido/Monkichi || 織戸学 || RS-R || JZA100 Supra |- ! Miki Ryuji | Doki-Doki Kun || 三木竜二 || Ogura Racing Clutch || Z33 Fairlady Z |- ! Naoto Suenaga | || 末永直登 || Tie-wraps Club || Nissan Silvia PS13 |- ! Drift Samurai | || ドリフト侍 || Team HPI || FC3S RX-7 |- ! Hiroshi Fukuda | Fluke || 福田浩司 || Power Enterprise || 180SX RPS13 |- ! Kuniaki Takahashi | || 高橋邦明 || Kunny'z || JZX100 Chaser |- ! Toshiki Yoshioka | || 吉岡稔記 || Project Mu Racing || Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 |- ! Tatsuya Sakuma | || 佐久間達也 || APP Racing || Nissan Silvia S15 |- ! Tsuyoshi Tezuka | || 手塚強 || Bee-R || Nissan Skyline R342 |- ! Shinji Matsukawa | || || Club mans || Nissan 180SX(RPS13) |- ! Kensaku Komoro | || || || |- ! Daigo Saito | || || || |- ! Yu Kakemizu | || || || |- ! Jyunichi Miyamoto | || || || |- ! Manabu Fijinaka | || || || |- ! Kouji Togasaki | || || Satoru Works || Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 |- ! Michihiro Takatori | || || Super Autobacs Kyoto Fushimi || Nissan Skyline BNR34 |- ! Shinichi Yamada | || || || Nissan Silvia S15 |- ! Shinji Minowa | || || || Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 |- ! Toyohisa Matsuda | || || Yujin Risingworks || Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 |- ! Hideo Hiraoka | || || Espelir Pro Mu || Nissan Fairlady Z Z33 |- ! Kouichi Yamashita | || || JIC Project D || Mazda RX-8 SE3P |- ! Ken Shinose | || || || Nissan Silvia PS13 |- ! Takumi Nozawa | || || 1093 SPEED || Nissan Silvia S14 |- ! Kenji Takayama | || || R magic Muroga || Nissan RX-7 FC3S |- ! Hidekazu Yoshioka | || || TEAM JULIUS || Nissan 180SX RPS13 |- ! Masayoshi Tokita | || || Canopus || Toyota Soarer MZ12 |- ! Kazuya Bai | || || || Nissan 180SX RPS13 |- ! Makoto Sezaki | || || WiseSuare ＆ Swiift || Nissan S15 Silvia |- ! Yuki Izumida | Dirt || 泉田友紀 || ORC || Nissan Z33 Fairlady Z |- ! Rhys Millen | || || RMR || Pontiac GTO |- ! Samuel Hubinette | || || Mopar || Dodge Viper |- ! Ernie Fixmer | || || Rotora || Nissan 240SX(PS13) |- ! Ken Gushi | || 具志健士郎 || Toyo Tires || Ford Mustang |- ! Calvin Wan | || || Falken || Infiniti G35 |- ! Bryan Norris | || || Kaaz || Nissan 240SX RPS13 |- ! Tony Schulz | || || Toyo/Finish Line || Nissan 240SX S14 |- ! Vaughn Gittin, Jr. | || || Falken/DA || Ford Mustang |- ! Ben Schwartz | || || Falken || |- ! Seigou Yamamoto | || || Team Falken || Nissan Silvia S14 |- ! Rich Rutherford | || || KenGai Phoenix || Nissan 240SX S14 |- ! Daijiro Yoshihara | || 吉原大二郎 || Pacific Rim || Nissan Silvia S13 |- ! Andy Yen | || || JIC || Nissan 240SX S13 |- ! Chris Forsberg | || || Falken/Drift Alliance || Nissan Silvia S15 |- ! Hubert Young | || || Falken || Nissan 240SX S14 |- ! Tanner Foust | || || McKinney || Nissan 240SX |- ! Tyler McQuarrie | || || Jasper Performance || Toyota Supra JZA80 |- ! Ross Petty | || || Rotary Power || Mazda RX-7 FD3S |- ! Alex Pfeiffer | || || RS*R || Honda S2000 |- ! Kouichiro Hamada | || || || Nissan 240SX S14 |- ! Grunewald Conrad | || || J-Spec || Nissan 240SX S13 |- ! Benson Hsu | || || Kaaz || Nissan Sileighty |- ! Tony Angelo | || || Falken/DA || Mazda RX-7 FD3S |- ! Quoc Ly | || || || Nissan 240SX S13 |- ! Henry Schelley | || || || Mazda RX7 FC3S |- ! David Shao | || || || Nissan 240SX S13 |- ! Barry Wong | || || Kaaz || Nissan 240SX S13 |- ! Ryan Hampton | || || Falken/DA || 1969 Chevrolet Camaro |- ! Andrew Hatelay | || || || Nissan 350Z |- ! Rod Millen | || || || Mazda RX8 |- ! Hiro Sumida | || || Falken || Toyota Chaser |- ! Chris Moltz | || || || |- ! Robbie Nishida | || || || |- ! Stephan Papadakis | || || AEM || Honda S2000 |- ! Taka Aono | || || Falken || Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 |- !
Championship winners
| Year | Driver | Team | Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Nobuteru Taniguchi | HKS Power | Nissan S15 Silvia RS1 |
| 2002 | Katsuhiro Ueo | Yuke's & Cusco | Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno |
| 2003 | Imamura Youichi | A'PEXi | Mazda FD3S RX-7 |
| 2004 | Miki Ryuji | Top Secret DRIFT | Nissan S15 Silvia |
| 2005 | Kazama Yasuyuki | Kei Office | Nissan S15 Silvia |
Statistics
- Youngest Driver to compete - Ken Gushi, age 18, 2004 Round 1
- Oldest Driver to enter into the Last 16 - Rod Millen, 2005, age 55, 2005 US vs Japan All Star Exhibition
Trivia
- Kumakubo owns Ebisu circuit, which is why D1 originated from there, and is also why Kuma is so good at tsuiso rounds.
- On Kumakubo's hood, the words "Big X." Big X is an outdoor show that combines drifting tricks, motocross, and other extreme sports featuring the experts from each field.
- Big X's drifting squad is called Drift Xtreme, which the top drivers of D1 are invited to join once they are well known. You can see the Drift Xtreme decal on the featured D1 driver's cars. These include, but are not limited to: Nobushige Kumakubo, Nomura Ken, Kazama Yasuyuki, Miki Ryuji, Kazuhiro Tanaka, and Yuki "DIRT" Izumida.
- Many of the D1 Drivers are large celebrities in Japan and in the US, and also usually have grip careers in the Super GT or Super Taikyu races. Manabu Orido and Nobuteru Taniguchi are examples, and Keiichi Tsuchiya serves as a Super GT team manager. Both Inamura and Miki competes in the one-make Altezza Cup
- For the Super GT, Manubu Orido drives the GT500 class Advan Eclipse Supra. Nobuteru Taniguchi drives the GT300 class WEDSSPORT Celica. Both are on the same team in the Super Taikyu and drive a Porsche GT3. Keiichi Tsuchiya used to drive the Arta NSX for the GT500 class, but now manages the Super Autobacs Garaiya in GT300.
- Orido, periods when he is not competing and in school terms teaches safety driving at NATS, (Nihon Automobile College)
- Masao Suenaga, the RE Amemiya driver, was personally chosen by Isami Amemiya to drive the sky blue FD. He was personally taught by Kumakubo, as well as his brother, Naoto Suenaga, who also has a D1 license.
- Youichi Inamura, unlike other competitors in the series who works within the car industry, runs a floristry when he is not racing.
- Manabu Suzuki is well known for working with Option and in car designs, even working on the paint scheme and decals for Monkichi's RS-R Supra.
See also
- Drifting (motorsport)
- D1 Racer Grand Prix UnOfficial Computer Fan Game
- D1 Grand Prix (videogame)
Season Review
External links
- [Official US Site]
- [Official Japanese Site]
- [Official UK Site]
- [UK National series site]
- [D1 Grand Prix Malaysia] D1 Grand Prix Malaysia Official Site
- [DriftLive.com] Unofficial D1GP Event Coverage
- [Official D1GP game]
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