Welcome to DriftInJapan.com

No doubt you have heard of D1 GP the professional Drift competition that started in Japan.

Well, hang on to your britches because the brand new G1 GP gaijin drift competition kicked of with the first ever round during the 2009 Autumn drift festival at Ebisu circuit!

Andy from www.powervehicles.com came up with the idea to have a mini drift comp between the foreigners who were attending the autumn drift matsuri.

When he mentioned it to Kumakubo and Suenaga from Team Orange, they were as keen as mustard to run it and be the judges for it!

So all 16 of us gaijin went to compete on the first ever G1GP at Ebisu Nishi course!

We did it D1 style - 3 runs each where we got judged and then the best 4 went head to head in tandem drift to finally decide the #1 Gaijin Drifter.

Andy and I, even though we're locals, didn't want to show off our skills too much (cough cough) which is why neither of us made it to the top 4. The winner was an Aussie guy who made it over for the matsuri.

G1GP gets media attention!

The first G1GP stirred up enough interest to bring out the Drift Tengoku video crew! They featured the mini gaijin drift event in the Drift Tengoku video released this December.

Check out the snippet of the G1GP from the Doriten video below...



There are plans to continue the G1GP series next year at each drift matsuri!

The dates for 2010 drift matsuri's are:

• May 1 & 2
• August 21st & 22nd
• Nov 13 & 14

So if you think you have what it takes to take a G1 crown, make your way over for the matsuris next year.

Contact me or Andy at Power Vehicles to organize a car for your G1 entry and fun at the next matsuri!

Stu - www.DriftinJapan.com

Labels: drift-tengoku, ebisu-nishi-course, G1-GP, gaijin-drift

Hi drift fans! It's been too long since I've posted on this blog! I've been busy working (English teaching and selling stuff online) and hanging out with Andy and Emily from www.PowerVehicles.com

I met the drift crazy couple Andy and Emily at Ebisu around July this year and we instantly got on like a house on fire.

The same day we met, Andy took me to see his newly acquired garages at Ebisu where he works and keeps his collection of full-tuned, drift power vehicles.

First was his 500+PS competition JZX100 Mark II, then Emily's pink kouki s14 Silvia, show car/full drift spec wide body 180sx and Tsukuba time attack prepped FD RX7. And that was just what was inside the garages.

Outside looks like your local import car sales yard with street going drift cars all shiny and just wanting to be slid...which is because the main business he does at Power Vehicles is buy high performance JDM cars here and then sell/exports them to buyers overseas. Mainly Europe but they will export to any country in the world!

You can get a good idea of what Andy and Power Vehicles gets up to from this video...

Power Vehicles used to be based in Saitama but couldn't stay away from Ebisu circuit so they moved up here to run their business from the best drift track in the world.

Powervehicles.com 2008 Drift Highlights from Powervehicles.com on Vimeo.

Now here in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture Japan, they have a good place to test (Andy loves to 'test') the cars to make sure they are 'driftable' and they were able to have me as their neighbour! How could anyone ask for more? ;)

Power Vehicles also started drift tour packages for anyone who wants to come over and experience drifting first hand. They can organize everything for you from cars to use, to a place to stay to a team orange drift lesson.

Recently, they helped a whole crew from Australia, NZ, and Europe with cars etc. for the Autumn Drift matsuri (festival) in Ebisu.

Thanks to Andy and his 'foot to the floor' way of thinking, he was able to convince Kumakubo and Naoto Suenaga to put on the first ever G1 GP (gaijin only drift competition) where we (myself included) got to battle it out D1 style on Nishi course!

More about the G1 GP later ;)

Learn more about Power Vehicles at the website: http://powervehicles.com and check out their Drift Life Blog to keep up with the latest news from Ebisu.

Fortunately, he updates more than me so you'll always get your fix of drifting there.

Cheers,

Stu - www.DrifinJapan.com

Labels: drift-car-rental, drift-matsuri, ebisu-circuit, G1-GP, power-vehicles

Here's a sneak peek!

Check out this short slideshow with a few shots and clips from D1 Round 6 2009 today at Ebisu circuit Japan.



Full article coverage coming soon!

But if you can't wait, check out my Drift In Japan Facebook group album with some more pics and vids.

Stu - www.DriftinJapan.com

Labels: 2009, D1, drift, ebisu, japan, round-6, video

D1 round 5 and 6 was held over the 2 consecutive days this weekend at Ebisu circuit.

Yesterday (Saturday) was Round 5 which I missed out on, was apparently sunny and fine. Today (Sunday), the day I chose was showering all day but that's not to say it was bad.



Rain + 600hp D1 cars + a tight Ebisu south course = plenty of hair raising slips and bent fenders!

Luckily it wasn't pouring down so I didn't get soaked but the showers got the track wet enough for some interesting drifting.

Some mentionable fender benders were Orido in his red Aristo and "drift samurai" in his blue Fc Rx7. But a slide into the concrete wall from them wasn't a big shock...they are crazy baka drifters..haha!

The Best 16 was filled with the usual crowd....Kumakubo, Nomuken, Daigo Saito, Kawabata, Hibino etc.




But a few rare entries such as Sakuma in the Toyo S15 was good to see too.

I've met Sakuma a couple of times before and been in the car with him while drifting (awesome drifter obviously) ...and now he's matching up against Kumakubo so good for him.

Other favorites like Tanaka & Suenaga from Team Orange didn't pass qaulifying which was a shame. It would be awesome to see Team Orange take out the final three places one day.

The final battle was between yesterday's Rd 5 champ Suenaga Masao in his white and green FD RX7 and Tezuka Tsuyoshi in the yellow R34 faced R32 skyline who barely scraped in the final entry over Kumakubo in a double "sudden death battle against Kumakubo.

It was Suenaga Masao's lucky weekend as he took the win again today!

Tezuka must have been worn out from the three runs before against Kuma...you could tell he was struggling when he went straight into the door of Masao's FD and lost his front bumper and headlight in the first run of the finals.

This weekend goes down to another great weekend of D1 drift in Japan. I had a great time but would have loved to see Kumakubo take the win...especially since Ebisu is his home track.

Stu - www.DriftinJapan.com

Labels: 2009, chaser, D1, d1-gp, daigo saito, drift, evo-10, japan, JZX100, kumakubo, lancer drift car, round-6, suenaga masao

Ebisu South course is notorious as being one of the most challenging drift courses in Japan, or the world for that matter, for its superior technical difficulty. Those who attempt it either have to have big steel balls, a crap car they don't mind getting banged up (that's me) or a gift for drifting, because Ebisu south course can be like walking onto a minefield if you are not prepared.

Here's a little run through of what it's like drift on Ebisu South course...

The high speed first left sweeper that you enter after coming over a launching pad and down a hill next to a bare concrete wall has you do a little piddle in your pants every time you kick the clutch and nail it down and around, usually in third gear.

There is very little room for error....oversteer and your rear end gets greeted by a not-so-soft wall of tires lined up against a totally-not-soft concret wall. Understeer and you've better have a good set of brakes and tires to pull you up before your front end eats it.



Once you've made it through the first corner safely, you have to throw out the anchor and throw even more angle on to get the car around the second corner which seems to creep up on you like a shinkansen. The wall to stop you plumeting down the ravine here is again a tire-less concrete one.

The rest of the main bottom section is pretty smooth sailing (if you don't mind stretching out the revs in second) back up the hill and to a tight hairpin. After you catch your breath, fix your helmet and wind the windows down for more cool air you get to do it all again.

Ebisu South course might be a challenge but getting through it in one piece is a good feeling, even if you don't get the line, speed and angle of Kumakubo and other D1 drivers. You may want to jump straight on to South course but be warned it may eat you up and spit you out! Beginners to drift....stick to Drift land :)

Cheers,
Stu - www.DriftinJapan.com

Labels: d1-japan, ebisu-drifting, ebisu-south-course, japanese-drifting

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

ps. Have you joined the Drift in Japan group on Facebook yet?

Stay updated and participate in the group over there!

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