Never took many pics this time but here’s some action from the finals of the D1 SL Round at the West Short Course…..

Read the rest of this entry »

It seems like it’s all happening at the Nishi [west] course just now!  This time it’s the D1 Street Legal guys taking their turn on the  great fun track.

Read the rest of this entry »

As promised, here’s the action from the Tsuiso (Battle) rounds at the season Finale Rnd 5 in the D1 East Divisional Series….  As you can see from the above pic Masato-san is once more in the wars!  After his brief encounter with our JZX100 in round 4 he once again had a battle scar after following his competitor threw up a stone during a course out shattering his front screen.  Luckily he could borrow a S13 Silvia and continue on…..

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s some pics from the qualifying in the last round (5) of the D1 Divisional series.  This round was to decide the Series title too, with only 2 points separating the top 4 Drivers.  It was winner takes all!  The usual suspects lined up beside some faces I didn’t recognise to battle it out for a place in the last 16 Tsuiso battles.  The Top 5 seeded drivers automatically qualified leaving the rest of the field, including myself, to try and claim one of the remaining spots.

Read the rest of this entry »

D1 driver Kinya-san or “Kin-chan” as he’s known showed us his all new D1 Spec JZX110 at the last round of the D1 Championship here at Ebisu.  We knew Kin chan and his then red JZX110 back from our days learning to drift at circuits near Tokyo like Nikko and Mobara.  The car was then slightly lesser spec back then, but its been fully reworked to take it up to the D1 Spec “Monsta” machine pictured here.. and we love it!

Read the rest of this entry »

The long awaited round 4 of D1 Divisional East Series at Minami Circuit finally arrived.   We have been waiting in anticipation for this round as Minami is now our home circuit and Andy was looking forward to gaining some more points to contribute towards a D1 Street Legal licence.  51 cars entered the event with very capable drivers, so the competition was to be fierce. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Masao Suenaga pulls of an amazing double win here at Ebisu over the weekend.  Did anyone see that coming?!!?  We never….   He must be the happiest drifter on the planet just now and he’s put himself in high contention for this years title with all the points he’s grabbed over the last 2 days.  Congrats to him and big thanks to our guest photographer – JC from French Magazine Autoworks, who done a sterling job covering the event for us and snapping this title shot of a very happy Suenaga!

Read the rest of this entry »

Crunch time, the best battle it out to see who would be the D1 GP  2009 Round 5 Champion.  Smart money would be on Hibino.  Prior to the finals as he was attacking the hump in a style all of his own as usual and was driving flawlessly but with a field including Daigo Saito, Kumakuba,  Tezuka, and Noumuken amongst others, anything is possible.

Read the rest of this entry »

D1 GP Round 5 in Ebisu started with qualifying to get into the last 16 Tsuiso battles.  Competition for the spaces was tight and some notable big names such as Koguchi, Kunny’z, Orido (Pictured above) and Nakamura never made the cut.  Apart from one short spell, the weather stayed dry so everyone was going at full tilt to try and impress the judges.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the Friday practice session before rounds 5 and 6 of the D1 Championship here in Japan so we thought we would take the chance to check out some of the cars that regularly compete but don’t necessarily make it though to the finals each time, as well as get a closer look at some of our favourite driver’s cars.  As ever, the places remaining for the dual finals on Saturday and Sunday were closely fought for. 55 cars entered, all trying to grab one of the few remaining finals places, along with the big-name seeded drivers.  Bad luck to those who never made it, they will get another bite of the apple at “last chance qualifying” tomorrow evening after the Saturday’s finals.  Unusually there were very few crashes at the famous Minami circuit here in Ebisu, but there was a few mechanical casualties.  Lets hope they make the necessary repairs in time for tomorrow!

Read the rest of this entry »