Another Toyota 86 is heading to the 2012 D1 Grand Prix season according to the Speedhunters Facebook page. This one will be driven by Manabu Orido but no Subaru engine inside this one! The Toyota 86 chassis is taking a Lexus IS-F V8 engine and should officially be the first V8 swap in a Toyota 86/Scion FR-S platform. It is a shame that D1 will have three of these in competition while we only will see one in Formula Drift for 2012.
The two Toyota 86 (Scion FR-S in America) heading to the D1 Grand Prix series next year have already been seen doing tandem at the 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon. The car is gaining more and more hype by the minute and it might even convert into car sales. I just love this old school HKS look that NOB will be driving in 2012. The Hibino car also marks the return of Falken Tire to the D1GP series. Check the link below to watch the videos of these two Toyota 86 cars doing tandem!
One of Patrick Mordaunt’s crew members John Jimison posted this up on Facebook this morning and we cannot manage to find this car anywhere else. From the best we can tell the car is for Nobuteru Taniguchi and the return of his awesome HKS style that we grew to love back in the days of D1GP. It looks like he will be joining Hibino in the 2012 D1GP season who was shown driving his Toyota 86 earlier this week.
Another car parked at the 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon this weekend is Mad Mike’s newest creation Drift-N-Ice which is a Redbull Energy Drink x Speedhunters FD Mazda Rx-7. Made Mike released this news on his website this morning and sadly he hasn’t been able to turn a wheel in the car yet! Here is what he has to say about the build and opportunity:
“For me this is a dream come true, to be given this opportunity to compete in Japan and team alongside Kawato San again is an honor. We paired in 2010 for the Red Bull project ‘Drift-N-Ice’ using Kawato’s 13b turbo powered FD RX7 for the job and I was impressed with the performance and workmanship. For the past few months now we’ve been exchanging emails with the team at Magic Co, they’ve built an amazing car for me and I can’t wait to get some seat time.”
While recently Tokyo Auto Salon has been somewhat of a snooze fest for drifting news in the Japanese world it looks like the 2012 show might have some hope. Already announced is Tesuya Hibino (legendary Toyota Corolla driver) will be driving a Toyota 86 this season in the D1 Grand Prix series. The video above shows him flinging it around in this lot. Hopefully some other big drifting news will come out from the Tokyo Auto Salon this year!
The D1 Grand Prix series has posted a new schedule for the 2012 drifting season. After reviewing this schedule they have two direct conflicts with Formula Drift in the United States with Round 3 at Autopolis which conflicts with the US event Evergreen Speedway. Round 4 of the D1GP season finds them at Ebisu Circuit while Formula D is at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This means Daigo Saito splitting time to run both series is highly unlikely. Here is how the 7 round D1GP schedule stacks up for 2012 with a notable absence of Fuji Speedway:
Round 1 – April 14/15 Tokyo, Japan at Odaiba Circuit
Round 2- May 26/27 Suzuka Circuit
Round 3 – July 21/22 Autopolis
Round 4 – August 25 Ebisu Circuit
Round 5 – August 26 Ebisu Circuit
Round 6 – September 22/23 Chubu International Airport
Round 7 – November 3/4 TBD
According to some various reports and the Facebook page of Jarod DeAnda it appears that the rumor right now is that Daigo Saito will be running a Lexus SC430 this season in Formula Drift. We do know that APEX’i has been doing some off season prep work to the car in preparations of what we can only assume would be competition.
We do know that Hankook Tire won’t be supporting the Daigo Saito program next season because his team/support is coming from a new tire company that is entering the series next season. I cannot seem to figure out who this new tire company is but we are quite excited to keep hunting for information for you guys. How do you think Daigo Saito would do in the old APEX’i Lexus SC430?
M7 is making its first big step into Formula Drift next year with a sponsorship of Odi Bakchis. In Japan they support some huge drifters in D1GP with Imamura, Suenaga, and Orido. After talking to Odi he will be running M7 motor oil, M7 gear oil, M7 brake fluid, M7 Spark Plugs, M7 gauges, and a M7 Touch R.A.C.E ODB communicator. On top of all that he is even running a M7/Nobuteru Taniguchi Edition Bride racing seat for the 2012 season. All of this is mixed with the fact that M7 is hitting the US market through Promotion Distribution so you can get your hands on all of these parts for 2012.
An interesting hot topic in the industry you as a tuner might want to get behind and make some waves. Members of Congress are calling for an end of DOT/government resources to be used sweeping up grey market vehicles (such as the Skyline). In Canada a 15 year import law is in effect currently allowing for the import of cars like the R32 Skyline legally. Here is what WhiteHouse.gov has to say:
The Department of Homeland Security spends a shockingly disproportionate amount of its budget not on security initiatives, but on customs seizures. In particular, importers of grey-market vehicles have been targeted by monies taxpayers have intended to be used to secure our country against terrorism and terrorist activity. We call upon the Executive Branch to immediately cease this wasteful activity, and furthermore to change the DOT/EPA exemption time on grey-market vehicles from 25 years to 15 years (to match the vehicle regulations of Canada), recognizing that the 25-year rule was enacted due to support from special interests such as Mercedes Benz North America.
This could open the flood gates to importing D1GP chassis cars and even OEM cars like the R32 Skyline Chaser, 180sx, and many other cars from the 90′s as they become legal here in the next coming years. It’s about time the DOT stopped trying to chase down R34 Skyline owners with our taxpayer money. Good news might be on the horizon for importers everywhere.
If your not out at a bar or having way more fun (playing Forza 4, working graveyard, or sleeping) then check out the Ebisu Circuit Live Cameras. The night time drifting right now is pretty busy as it sits around 7:00pm right now. If your a diehard drift fan this live stream camera from Ebisu Circuit will keep you entertained for hours. Follow the link below:
