Confidential D1GP Documents Leaked to Wrecked Magazine
Posted by Wrecked Magazine on 10 Mar 2010 at 10:42 am | Tagged as: D1GP, International, Japanese
After reading over them over and over I have opted to not post the complete documents due to the nature of some information in them. I thought about blurring out items but it was just going to be too much work and I wanted to protect also the people who provided us with this information. I feel that even without the actual documents you can count on Wrecked Magazine’s accuracy and reporting since we now have two+ years under our belt reporting to you.
New Year’s Address
2010 marks the 10th anniversary since the start of the new D1 Grand Prix Series Entertainment Drift Competition.
Over this decade, D1 has received wide-ranging and invaluable support from its fans, the media, entrants and sponsors. I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt appreciation.
Thank you all very much.
To commemorate this 10th anniversary, we intend to offer a wide variety of discount benefits in appreciation of this fan support and engage in activities aimed to contribute to society.
In addition, taking into consideration the fact that drift events are now conducted in 30 countries around the world, D1 Corporation plans to formulate a set of uniform international standards, rules and regulations for a global drift competition within the next three years.
As a part of these endeavors, all events in the 2010 D1 Grand Prix Series held in Japan will be brought together to form the International Drift Championship and staged under official international rules.
At the same time, plans are in place to invite leading participants from around the world to a World All-Star Competition.
Further complementing these initiatives, we will call on drift series organizers globally as well as top drivers to attend a D1 Grand Prix World Drift Forum. The purpose of this Forum will be to enhance the understanding of attendees toward the approach, direction, management and screening methods taken with regard to D1 Grand Prix competition and the Japanese competition system, which we hope to position as the de-facto standard.
The milestone inaugural Forum is scheduled over two days on March 27, 2010 and March 28, 2010.
In an effort to expand the driver base, and to promote further discussion in connection with the establishment of a Ladies’ Class women’s only championship, we plan to host a tournament for top women drivers on March 28, 2010 as a part of the All-Star Tokyo Drift Exhibition.
Through these collective means, our goal is to broaden the horizons of the D1 Grand Prix Series as we celebrate our 10th anniversary.
In closing this New Year’s address, I humbly request your continued support and understanding.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Osami Suzuki
President and Representative Director
D1 Corporation
January 15, 2010
This is the first item in the document which is an address from the president of the D1 Corporation. This drops some pretty big bombshells of information that have not been mentioned in the drifting community to date.
A- They are going to formulate uniform international set of standards for drifting within the next three years….. now this is an idea I respect but I think it’s just a little too late for you D1. I have spoken to more than one professional drift organization and the reaction is kind of the same, a blanket of irrelevance. Not even to mention that one series official pointed out the gross negligence for safety at D1GP Japan events which he didn’t think would be embraced by his series or any others. He pointed out series such as Formula Drift and DMCC that have far superior safety regulations for drivers, fans, staff, and personnel. These are interesting points (his words/not mine) but I didn’t feel very unsafe when I attended Fuji Speedway in 2008.
B- World All-Star Competition Invites, what could that be? According to our documents they are trying to hold their own version of the “Redbull World Championship” at Fuji Speedway on October 17th, 2010. This would be the day after the final around of the D1GP Japan series at Fuji Speedway. I guess since they banned their own drivers from coming here they mine as well try to do one now to show they have the goods. I guess we can cancel hope on another Irwindale Speedway promise for a world championship again as well.
C- D1GP is going to have a ladies only tournament at the March 28th All-Star Tokyo Drift Exhibition. This is interesting and I really hope Hiromi Kajikuma makes it out!
D- A D1GP World Drift Forum was mentioned in the post above…. well one of the other documents I have in my hands is an application to this secret drifting club/meeting in Japan. Not really sure the whole purpose of this meeting or who will be attending it. Seems like an interesting reach with a time stamp coming up in two weeks. I have no word on any series actually going to Japan for the meet. Curious to see how soon they will confirm drivers for their World All-Star Competition. I might of dropped out of law school before I got there but in America they normally call secret meetings among industry competitors a special word, collusion. Just thought I would throw that one in there. Good luck to everyone trekking it to Japan and drop us some anonymous phone calls/contact form e-mails about what goes on in the meeting. Thanks!
Sorry that was a handful of information to swallow and if you want to see the D1GP antics and drama that took place when the series was in the United States you can head over and read Isssue 11 of Wrecked Magazine before the series crumbled.
Nice article wrecked. You guys are like the little nerdy guys in school that always gossip and sit behind your computers all day blogging and eating cheetos. Go outside,get some sun and maybe even drive your car. No matter how close you put your mouth to FD’s shaft, D1GP Japan will always have better drivers, tracks and cars. IMG_0670.JPG
I love the real D1gp, in my eyes it is still the benchmark. I think in the next few years there should be a serious line drawn between D1gp level of competition and FD.
I hope to see D1 make a serious comeback.
South Pacific drift series, with stops in Thailand, Philippines, Korea, China, and Taiwan…. that would be great!!!
style* not level im sorry
Are they coming back to the states? I have heard rumors of certain pro-ams going to compete @ Round 1 in Odaiba.
D1GP Means a jump-drift entry (ebisu) which is completely awesome in my eyes. Step it up boys, a drift war is unfolding with FD spreading it’s wings internationally. Hopefully there can be a cooperative effort but I don’t see FD conforming to International Drift Law.
marcus, nice job trying to insert a picture off your hard drive. life would be easier if you werent so technically stupid.
i, for one, am glad that wrecked is in existence. a place to get drift news from one source instead of hunting through 100 different msg boards and sites.
D1GP WAS cool…. key word being “was”. Kinda like how indy car was cool, and everyone used to care about the indy 500. Now that race is all but dead… because they couldn’t evolve, they couldn’t keep the fan base.
I think the biggest thing going against D1 is the conspiracy theory and lack of transparency in judging. The DriftBox was a horrid failure. The judges still pick the driver they like best, the runs really don’t matter. If their driver spins, they just call a OMT.
Why are the top drivers from D1 all coming over to FD? because D1 sucks, and they know it.
I hope D1 falls flat on their faces. again. And I hope they stop trying to make themselves bigger than the world.
“. I might of dropped out of law school before I got there but in America they normally call secret meetings among industry competitors a special word, collusion.”
I hope this isn’t a serious comment, do you even know what collusion means? So out of context it is not even funny.
directed to (not a fan) regardless of series judged events always have issues with favoritism because thats the nature of human’s and some one liking someone more than another(an american fan might want his favorite driver to win, and vise versa.. that being said the level of driving d1 has still blows fd out of the water… you notice almost every tandem run is close and very exciting… from what i have witnessed over the years is FD is alot of strategy being involved to the extent of drivers brakes checking, giving gaps, and overall driving with a tactic rather than just going at the course 100% every time… im an american but honestly i respect d1 as a series far more for the pure driving hard aspect of it… GO HARD EVERY RUN! + there tracks are a lot faster
D1 will never fall flat on there faces.. just saying that makes you sound stupid cause you want the best series to die…. makes no sense lmao
team idiot, i think its fair to say hes implying that secret meetings amongst industry competitors generally is due to the attempts at collusion.
I am a fan of D1 drivers not D1. As a fan and as a person working in this industry, I feel all of you that keep cheering D1 on or hope they make a comeback are just like those suffering from domestic violence. D1 just keeps dissrespecting you and slapping you around but you keep coming back for more. When will the cycle end. FD is not the final answer but the only answer now. I mean ask DMCC or Drift Australia or Pro Drift or JDM All Stars or D1NZ or any of the major non-FD series as see what they tell you about what they think about this. I bet you will be surprised.
Sounds really good right? BUT…
- Will D1 subsidize international drivers to go to Japan? Red Bull/FD did.
- Will D1 invite the world, even their closest competitors like drivers from FD USA and FD Asia? FD tried to invite D1 guys but that became a soap opera episode.
- D1 got smart after 10 years of trying to impose D1 law on various countries in the world (USA, Malaysia, UK, etc.) in which they failed in all regions, now they are trying to hype everyone to go to Japan. I guess too many international drivers are filing for US Green Cards.
- Does D1 realize that there is FIA? That will be the only way you can get everyone on the same page. Governing bodies like SCCA (US, JAF (JPN), CAMS (AUS) are all really different.
IMO – D1 is running low on drivers and realize watching the same 10 drivers like Nomuken, Imamura, Ueno, and Kumakubo may get a bit old and need to recruit new drivers from around the world to go compete in Japan.
after what d1 did at rbwc, why the hell would anyone show up to their own world championship, after screwing over the rbwc they need a taste of their own medicine IMO.
also drift biz^^
in reply to the subsidize comment, with the way they f*cked over the UK drivers a few years ago i highly doubt it!
tbh like its been said, i USED to love D1,sure it was the benchmark a few years ago, but look at it now, as far as the cars, tracks and fans are concerned, Formula-D does it bigger, better and harder! screw D1
Fuck D1 its sucks the cars suck. FD is where its at.
D1 teams pay heaps of cash for international drivers to come and race their cars. FD pays bugger all in comparison. I’m the PA for a top Australian drifter and we’re off to Japan soon. Suck it up guys.