Japanese

Well it looks like after this 2010 season the guys over here at D1GP USA weren’t the only ones having issues. My buddy Adam over at 7Tune broke this story this morning which I have been working on at the Wrecked Magazine office all weekend. Keiichi Tsuchiya confirmed on his blog he is pulling out of the D1GP series due to “disagreements with other members.” He has also vowed to start a new series from scratch. Keiichi Tsuchiya went as far to say this, “I am sorry to the fans and sponsors. We are going to start from zero and create a new future for drift in Japan.”

On top of all these issues Kazuyoshi Okamura (president of Yashio Factory) came out and said “Daijiro started talking earlier this year about D1 being finished if it stays like this…”, while going to say that, “…the distortion of the principles behind the D1 series has been growing for some time now and continues to grow.”

This comes as huge news and a large shock wave for the Japanese series. Politics and a superiority complex have seem to dominate the series decisions globally and internally for the last few years. On top of everything that 7Tune is reporting we have been told by more than one D1GP team now that Yokohama Tires won’t be returning to D1GP in 2011. This is a huge hit to the series on top of Inada and Tsuchiya leaving I don’t have much hope for D1GP in 2011. So make sure you enjoy the end of this year on Speed Channel because it might be the last of D1GP in history. After you look over this timeline it might not come as a shocker to hear what is happening over in Japan right now. Hopefully these two masterminds of the culture and sport can put together a much better series in the near future and we can leave D1GP and all it’s antics in the past.

Source for Inada/Tsuchiya: 7Tune.com

Wrecked Magazine Timeline of D1GP Events:

November 2007: D1GP Employees Walk Out Days Before Thanksgiving Event
D1GP: Media Director and Moto quit days before Thanksgiving Event

January 2008: Nomuken Unveils Nissan GT-R (Never Drifted in D1GP to Date)
Tokyo Auto Salon Day 1

March 2008: D1GP Announces All-Star Event at Irwindale (Never Happens)
D1GP: All Star Event at Irwindale?!

July 2008: Yoshioka, Miki and Orido Are at Formula Drift Las Vegas
The rumors have come true: Orido is here!

August 2008: The buzz about a D1GP USA Return Hits Wrecked Magazine
Rumors flair about D1GP’s “2009 Season”

October 2008: D1GP Declines Redbull World Championship Invites
D1 Grand Prix up to typical crybaby antics

October 2008: D1GP Forces Daigo Saito to Not Drive at Redbull World Championship
More Redbull Drift Drama: Daigo Saito Not Coming Anymore

October 2008: 2009 D1GP USA Series is Announced
Have no Fear, 2009 D1 series is here!

November 2008: Formula Drift Breaks Silence and Explains Why No D1GP at RBWC
Formula D speaks out about D1/Redbull Drama on Drifting.com

January 2009: Daigo Saito Unveils Ford Mustang (Never Drifted in D1GP to Date)
Daigo Saito’s Drifting Ford Mustang Overload

March 2009: Team Writes “The Rise and Fall of D1″ Talking About Favoritism by Judges 
Hashiriya Exports speaks out against D1GP Japan

March 2009: D1GP Announces FOX TV Deal That Never Happens
D1GP set to announce FOX Affiliate Deal this week

July 2009: James Bondurant Fined $10k and Kicked From D1GP
D1GP USA Bans James Bondurant and Issues $10,000 Fine

August 2009: Quoc Ly Flips and People From Stands Walk on Track to Help
Quoc Ly Flips at D1GP USA Chicago [VIDEO]

August 2009: Team Orange Refuses to Compete and Throws Trophy in Trash
Team Orange Refuse to Tandem at D1GP Chicago and More!?

August 2009: Team Orange Fined $17,500 by D1GP and Leaves USA
D1GP USA Lays Down the Law – Team Orange Fined $17,500

March 2010: They Announce Some Secret World Drifting Forum That Nobody Cares About
Confidential D1GP Documents Leaked to Wrecked Magazine

June 2010: D1GP Finally Announces 2010 Schedule (Never Happens)
D1 Grand Prix Announces 2010 USA Schedule – In June?

June 2010: We Point Out the D1GP USA Marketing Deck is Full of Shit
D1 Grand Prix USA Marketing Deck – Full of Lies and Misinformation

July 2010: D1GP USA Pushes Back First Round of 2010 in Texas to Later Date
D1GP to Push Back Round 1/2 Texas Dates to September or Later [RUMORMILL]

August 2010: D1GP USA Finally Admits No 2010 Series is Happening
D1GP Not Coming to the United States in 2010 – We are Not Shocked

Posted in D1GP, International, Japanese, Major Announcements | 33 Comments »

Matsuri is a great weekend where all the Ebisu Circuit tracks are dedicated to a “festival” or full weekend of drifting. Matsuri will have three dates including a spring, summer, and autumn round. Wrecked Magazine attended the last Spring Matsuri with Formula Drift driver Chris Forsberg which you can view as a gallery here or watch a video here.

Below are the 2011 dates for entertainment:
Spring Matsuri (April 30th-May 1st)
Summer Matsuri (August 13th-14th)
Fall Matsuri (November 12th-13th)

Posted in International, Japanese, Schedule | 2 Comments »

D1GP Ebisu Circuit All Four Wheel Off Big Entries

This is a great video featuring Daigo Saito, Matsui, and Hibino drifting at D1GP at the south Ebisu course. The only thing this video is guilty of is being too short. Sit back and enjoy the clips from Option’s newest DVD. Matsui wound up with a 100 qualifying score after his insane entry.

Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/d1gp-ebisu-circuit-all-four-wheel-off-big-ent

Posted in D1GP, International, Japanese, Video | 3 Comments »

Ken Gushi has been updating his blog about his trips around Asia that have included Fall Matsuri and Formula Drift Thailand. Here is a picture he uploaded featuring Ryuji Miki (right) and Ueno (left) who he ran into over in Thailand. It looks like Ken Gushi has been having some fun over in Asia and follow his blog for these adventures along with more. We haven’t heard much from RSR/Scion Racing about off-season changes or plans with this car so it sounds like they have a solid plan for 2011 to run that same package with small improvements.

Source: http://kenshirogushi.blogspot.com/

Posted in Formula D, International, Japanese, Ken Gushi | 1 Comment »

Daigo Saito Insane Entry at Ebisu During Matsuri

We actually have some even better footage (including on car) of this same entry from Matsuri earlier in 2010 that will be coming out so soon. This video actually got me excited about all that great footage. Someone just shot this from the recent Matsuri and somehow Daigo Saito’s Chaser is still alive and sliding at the south course over at Ebisu still.

Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/daigo-saito-insane-entry-at-ebisu-during-mats

Posted in International, Japanese, Video | No Comments »

Masato Kawabata drove his Team Toyo Tires S13 to victory at Fuji Speedway this weekend marking the end of the 2010 season for D1GP Japan.Youichi Imamura already won the championship before Round 7 started so everyone was just drifting for pure passion and a higher rank moving into the 2011 season.

Posted in D1GP, International, Japanese | No Comments »

According to eBay this is the car that Kazama drifted to victory at Irwindale Speedway back in March of 2o06. After that the car wound up in Norway as promotional tool for the Norwegian drift championship. The motor was just rebuilt this spring and the car is ready to be delivered to your doorstep. The asking price is $42,000 which I cannot imagine they will be getting anytime soon.I could see the car moving at about $10,000 less than that or something close to that number. The eBay listing has a full modifications list in the description.

Buy the Kei Office S15: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/270640831560

Posted in D1GP, International, Japanese, Lifestyle | 3 Comments »

Speed TV is bringing D1 Grand Prix to America this weekend. In fact, the show kicks off on Speed at 3:30pm PST which is just short of 30 minutes away. Here is a link to the events layout per date: Updated 2010 D1GP Schedule on Speed TV which you can glance at. Today’s 60 minute program will cover the Tokyo Odaiba event that happened back in March.

EDIT: Just checked the DVR and it said 3:30pm! So you have a few more minutes of NASCAR qualifying to watch.

Posted in D1GP, International, Japanese | 4 Comments »

Kansai All-Star Drifting 2010 – Insane Tandem

One of the best videos we posted last year was the Kansai All-Star 2009 video and now we got our hands on the 2010 Kansai All-Star video and it is twice as awesome. This ten minute video shows that they put even more cars on this track and they keep sliding with one of the longest and biggest tandem battles you will witness in your lifetime.

Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/kansai-all-star-drifting-2010—insane-tandem

Posted in International, Japanese, Video | 6 Comments »

Summer Drift Matsuri at Ebisu Circuit by Remi Schouten

Check out this great piece from the current Drift Matsuri that just took place at Ebisu Circuit. Wrecked Magazine attended Spring Matsuri with Chris Forsberg which you can see Part 1 of by clicking here. This video is from the current event that just happened over the past weekend in Japan. The video was shot by Remi Schouten who captured the true essence of Matsuri from all the tracks.

Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/summer-drift-matsuri-at-ebisu-circuit-by-remi

Posted in Grassroots, International, Japanese, Video | No Comments »