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Team Orange team mates Kumakubo (Lancer Evo 10) and Suenaga (Evo 9) show us their twin drift skills at Ebisu D1 Round 1 2009 during the lunch break.



Then in the Best 16 elimination round later that afternoon, Kumakubo in his lancer Evo 10 leads the drift against an S15 Silvia...Kumakubo went through this run but lost the next run against Tezuka in the yellow R32 skyline.

Stu - www.DriftinJapan.com

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Labels: D1, d1-2009, drift, evo-10, evo-9, kumakubo, lancer-evo-10-drift-car, lancer-evo-drift, team-orange

A big shout out to Pete from www.peteleong.com for letting me use his pro shots of the 2009 D1 round 1 practice day last.

Pete is a fellow gaijin who lives in Fukushima and used to drift a purple FC RX-7 but could never quite match the awesomeness of the black Ceffy.

While it was a good match on the track, you can tell just by looking that I am no match for his photography skills.
The winner of the 2009 D1 Gp round 1 was Nomuken in his R34 Skyline sporting newly designed bodykit, graphics and sponsor.

D1 drifting in the snow...this Lexus didn't make the it through qualifying....it's got a supercharged motor of some sorts..sounds nice :)

Kumakubo (owner and 2006 D1 Champ) was debuting the brand new EVO 10 Lancer drift car built by team orange and JUN autos. He seemed to be struggling with oversteer on practice day but finished in 7th place in the first round.

Imamura Yoichi in the PRODRIVE S15 silvia...a good solid driver but the car suffered engine trouble in the final run in Round 1. He finished 2nd behind Nomuken.

Drift Samurai in his newly resprayed FC RX-7 (was yellow last season). Great sounding and performing car but didn't manage to make the Best 16 in round 1 this time.



This JZX100 Chaser from WELD is equally as much a showcar as it is a drift car. The engine bay is spotless and the polished alloy and chrome shines so much that you need sunglasses when looking at the detail.

Thanks again Pete for the awesome shots. See more of Pete's of professional drifting showcase photography on Flickr.

Enjoy!
Stu - www.DriftinJapan.com

Labels: d1-2009, d1-japan-2009, d1-photography, evo-10, evo-X, lancer-evo-10-driftcar, pete-leong, weld-jzx100

The 2009 D1 GP Japan drift series kicked off with the first round in Ebisu over the March 28th 29th weekend.

A sell out crowd filled the Ebisu south course stands and braved the ZERO degree chills and snow to see the best drifters Japan has to offer!

To cut to the chase, here are the Top 8 results from Round 1 of D1 GP Japan 2009:

1. Nomura Ken (white R34 skyline)
2. Imamura Yoichi (red S15 slivia)
3. Saito Daigo (red JZX100 chaser)
4. Tezuka Tsuyoshi (yellow R32 skyline)
5. Suenaga Masao (white FD RX-7)
6. Kuroi (blue Toyo S13 one-via)
7. Kumakubo Nobushige (Evo 10 Lancer)
8. Koguchi (dark red 180sx)

All eyes were on Kumakubo in his new Evo 10 Lancer drift machine (7th place) so it was a shame to see him get knocked out against Tezuka in the R32. Tezuka was in fact drifting like a champ all day, so it was good to see him advance.

Another upset was Saito Daigo (last years overall champ - JZX100) getting knocked out in the semi-finals vs. Imamura (red S15)....Saito's car is an abolute monster and he was driving it aggressively all day.


The final round brought Nomuken and Imamura head to head.

Imamura lead the first run but his engine broke, stopped and he couldn't start it for the second run so Nomuken won by default.


It started snowing just before the final round so everyone was in a hurry to get home anyway...so thanks Yoichi, you saved us a few extra minutes of pain!

A great day of drifting even though it was freezing cold!

The next rounds in Ebisu will be round 5 and 6 in August (summer) so it will be nice and hot and I can watch it without shivering and catching a cold.

Ueno's Series 3 BMW drift car was in the pits but never made it out to the track. The car is beautifully made and will be great to see it out drifting amongst the Japanese cars.

Also, Saito Daigo's Mustang was on display but not driven...that car is supposed to be prepped and ready for the track during this season some time. Keep your eyes peeled for that!

Round 2 of the 2009 D1 GP Drift season will be held in Autopolis on April 26th.

Unfortunately, it's at the other end of Japan and as much as I'd like to go, I'll have to skip it. But I'll keep you updated on the results from that and the rest of the 2009 D1 drift season!

Live hard - Drift safe!

Stu
Owner of www.DriftinJapan.com

Labels: 2009, BMW-drift-car, D1, d1-2009, d1-japan, d1-japan-2009, D1GP, D1GP-japan, ebisu, evo-10, evo-X, kumakubo, kumakubo-evo-X-10, lancer drift car, lancer-evo-10-driftcar, mustang-drift-car, nomuken

Ok, it's well into the new year and the 2009 D1GP Japan drift calendar is out so I'd better post it up here.



And then there's even this video that introduces each round and circuit.



Mark your calendars because this year's D1 in Japan is bound to have lots of wild turns with the new variety of drift cars appearing.

Notice how some of the rounds will be held back to back in one weekend? That means great for spectators who can watch 2 rounds over 2 days straight. But bad for drivers if they crash or break their cars on the first day.

Let me know if you're planning to make it for rounds 1 , 5 or 6 at Ebisu. You'll see me there so give me a shout out.

See ya aorund,

Stu
www.DriftinJapan.com

Labels: d1gp-japan-calendar-2009, d1gp-japan-schedule-2009

It's a brand new year and a new 2009 D1GP drift season is about to begin here in Japan!

With the new season also comes a few new D1 drift cars. It's always cool to see a new line up of cars from your favorite D1 GP Japan drivers.

Kumakubo's New Evo 10 Drift machine!

Kumakubo from Team Orange has yet another orange Evo drift car. He will debut in his newly prepped Lancer Evo X which he tested out at Tokyo Auto Salon earlier this month.


Rumors have it that Suenaga Naoto will be inherting Kuma's old Evo 9 to drive in the 2009 D1 season. Naoto was driving the orange GC8 Impreza for the last couple of years.

2008 D1 Japan Champion Daigo Saito Switches to American Muscle!


2008 D1 GP Japan champ Saito Daigo will be driving this red Ford Mustang in the 2009 D1 Gp Japan drift competition adding some "international" spice to the D1 mix this year.

Daigo won last years D1 GP Japan championship in his dark red Mark II Chaser.

It'll be interesting to see how this torquey American v8 machine handles on the Japanese drift circuits against the Japanese turbo units.

Some other changes to watch out for....

The color scheme of Suenaga Masao's FD Rx7 which used to be wrapped in the sky blue Amemiya colors will be racing in white, green and black...still the same car though by the looks of it.

Another change is the blue Toyo 180sx behind him which is what the 2007 D1 champion Kawabta will be driving in 2009. He used to drive a S15 Silvia which won him the trophy in the


This slick new 355i BMW is Ueno Takahiro's new drift machine!

Quite a radical change from the old red Vertex Soarer he was know for for so many years.

Apparently, the soarer is one of the hardest cars to drift. Good luck to him in his new "expensive" European weapon.


With a broad variety of new drift cars entering this years D1 season, it makes for some very interesting battles!

Can't wait to go to the first round in Ebisu in March.

Stay tuned as next I'll be posting the D1 GP 2009 Japan season calendar.

Cheers,
Stu

:)

Labels: kumakubo-evo-X-10, lancer-evo-10-driftcar, new-d1-drift-cars-2009, saito-daigo-mustang-drift-car, ueno-bmw-drift-car

I just came across this video on youtube and couldn't stop laughing. It's not about Japanese drifting but if you like cars and funny videos, then this will be right up your alley.



I guess this is one way to make a mid-engined car easily.... ROFL.

Now we know where some of the backyard ricers learn how to do some of their cool mods.

Stu

Labels: funny-car-video, red-green-show

RC drifting is gaining popularity across the world. It's always been big in Japan here but it's getting even bigger!

I bought my RX-7 FD 1/10 scale drifter last spring and have recently been playing with it more and more since a new RC drift circuit opened in the next city, Koriyama.

I've been twice in two weekends...I tell ya, the better I get at RC drifting, the more fun it is!

This isn't my RC car but my mate Sakai san's, who is also a mechanic at the local GTR Skyline and Nissan specialty workshop. He loves RC drifting even more than real cars.

Check out his JZX100 Chaser with the Weld graphics!



I'm not the best photographer..it's hard to take small cars going fast!



Enjoy,
Stu - www.driftinjapan.com

:)

Labels: chaser-rc-drift, rc-drift-japan, rc-drifting

The Nissan 180SX or 240SX as it's known in USA and Canada has to be very close the most popular drift car. Every practice day or drifting event you go to, you are sure to see a 180SX!

The light weight chassis and sleek styling make it a favorite drift car, basically, it has all the right bits in the right places to make it a popular choice for drifters.

Turbo engine, rear wheel drive, good balanced chassis and curvy styling will have the 180SX a famous drift car for the rest of time.

Let's take a look at the basic specs of the Nissan RPS13 180SX or 240SX:

• Produced from 1989 to 1998
• Sister car to the S13 Silvia
• Features fastback roof, hatch back trunk (boot) and pop up headlights
• First models came with CA18DET (non-turbo CA18 not offered in 180SX)
• Later was sold with SR20DET and SR20DE

Engine specs:

1. CA18DET - 1.8l turbo engine - 127 kW (173 hp)
2. SR20DE - 2.0l non-turbo engine - 102 kW (137 hp)
3. SR20DET - 2.0l turbo engine - 153 kW (205 hp)

There are 2 main versions we go by here in Japan. "Zenki" and "Kouki". Early and late model respectively.

The main differences to tell them apart is when the 180SX got a major facelift in 1992. It got a new front bumper and rear tail lights. It was then facelifted again in 1994 but not severely.

The 180SX is so popular and good for drifting despite it's age that there are several 180SX's still being drifted in the D1 drift league in Japan and of course other countries.

The 180SX is a great and affordable car for the beginner drifter right through to the professional.

One more thing is that drift parts are everywhere and cheap! I might be making one of these bad boys my next drifter ;)

Stu
www.driftinjapan.com


Leave your comments - YOROSHIKU!

:)

Labels: 180sx drift car, 240sx drift car, nissan 180sx, sr20det