It was overcast that Saturday that wet South Florida summer day, when the professional drifters of the D1 Professional Drifting league finally made their way down to Dade county. Perfect for drifting, the wet asphalt lets the tires break free easier and saves rubber, sure you don’t get the big smoke, but it is still just as fun.
The rain was annoying, but not enough to cry about, besides, it immediately led me into the same tent as the professionals from Japan. I found myself staring at Takahiro Ueno, the guy with the bright red Vertex Toyota Soarer. Watching Nomuken, the “monkey man” puff on a cigarette. This was a different kind of motor sports experience, the drivers were so accessible, its almost like they knew the fans were everything, I wonder if this is what racing used to be like.
Ken Block is back with an all new Subaru and plenty of BFGs in the highly anticipated sequel to the original Gymkhana video starring the DC Shoes owner behind the wheel. This time Ken is sliding around in a rally inspired2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI built by Crawford performance. In order to top the Segway circling antics of the first Gymkhana video, Ken had to call in few friends to help out. Like MTV’s Rob Dyrdek and satelite radio’s Jason Ellis; the crew at Mad Media also brought along a big bag of props to take Gymkhana 2: The infomercial to the next level.
Top Speed recently had the opportunity to attend the second round of the D1GP USA. The experience was unforgettable to say the least. The event gave almost 100 drifting hopefuls the opportunity to compete alongside seasoned veterans and even last year’s champion from the professional drifting series. In the end it came down to a Green S14 from Finland, the four door Skyline of Nomuken and last year’s D1GP champion Daigo Saito standing atop the podium.
This clip comes from the semi final round when Daigo Saito was applying the pressure in his grey Toyota Chaser to Tanaka’s Team Orange Impreza.
D1 is an amazing thing. It can make literally stop the aging process. Now we don’t know if it’s the fan friendly atmosphere or pure senselessness of wasting so much wide rubber, but this professional drift phenomenon has the ability to turn 35 year old men with their children into kids again, getting autographs from the professional men themselves, or just losing your hearing while watching the exotic machines idle in the pit. Seasoned veterans, there since the beginning like Nomuken and Ueno sit proudly next to their Skyline and Soarer.
Laughing with their crew, taking photographs with fans, even taking a smoke break. These are two 40+ year old men who are having the times of their lives. Earning a living traveling the world, doing what most people are arrested for and are adored. They are showmen, but unlike the tired traveling salesmen, these middle aged men look younger than some of those guys with their kids. It’s the fountain youth in a cloud of tire smoke, or is professional drifting possibly the best midlife crisis ever?
Formula 1 hands out over sized gold plated saucers; the Indy 500 winner receives a bottle of cold milk and now the three drifters standing atop the podium after each round of the 2009 Formula D season will walk away with a trophy made from the lightweight, woven black stuff. The American drifting series organizers commissioned APR Performance, a well know fabricator of aerodynamically tuned carbon fiber body panels for high performance applications to create the very unique trophies. However, I’m pretty sure that the Formula D drifters would prefer that the funds invested into producing the high tech prizes would have gone into the winner’s purse instead.
The D1 organizers have finally gotten there act together and after years of anticipation, they have found the good sense to come down to sunny South Florida. Round 2 of the 2009 D1GP USA series is rolling into Gulfstream Park this for one day only. It will be an entire day filled with sideways antics of the Japanese D1 professionals, stunt riding from the Adrenaline Crew, the finest that South Beach has to offer strutting their stuff at the bikini show and the start of the Roadstar car show. The only thing that could spoil the party is the rain, but it will just make the drifting that much better.
So, head on down to 901 S Federal Highway in Hallandale Beach this Saturday for an unforgettable automotive experience, just remember to bring a raincoat.
Don’t forget to enter Top Speed’s ticket giveaway for your chance to take home some tickets to a D1 event near you.
Just a reminder to all of the drifting fans out there in cyberspace. Round 2 of the D1GP USA tour is taking place at Gulfstream Park just north of Miami, here in sunny South Florida on May 30th. Last year’s D1 Champion, Daigo Saito already scored a win in Anaheim, and American hopeful Forrest Wang managed to sneak up onto the podium.
So don’t miss out on your chance to see Nomuken’s new paint job and Kumakubo drifting the classic Team Orange Impreza. If you miss this one, you will only have two more opportunities to see the stars of the Japanese drifting series strut there stuff here in the U.S. Round 3 will take place in Philadelphia on July 18th, and the final round of D1GP USA action will be held at Soldier Field in Chicago on August 1st.
Check out the link above to enter Top Speed’s D1GP USA ticket giveaway, for the chance to win your way in to a D1 event near you.
Falken drifter and Ford factory driver Vaughn Gittin Jr. recently made a trip across the Pacific with a purpose built 2010 Mustang in order to fulfill a longtime dream, drift in Japan. JR is the only American driver to win a D1 event, and because of this he is in league all his own. Follow Vaughn and his new ride as they travel Japan in search of sports roots; watch as he gets a taste for the togue, drifts the docks of Osaka and attends his first real Japanese drift day.
So check out the video after the jump, or follow the link below.
Top Speed recently had the opportunity to test the Hyundai Genesis Coupe V6, the car that World Drift Champion Rhys Millen is currently campaigning in the Formula DRIFT series. Check out the video of the Kiwi dialing in his new ride.
Bad news everybody, this current economic situation has already taken a toll on the American automobile industry, dreams of a comeback for the GTO are gone, now there will never be another Firebird, but now you can chalk up a loss for Mopar fans as well, because the most powerful drift machine that was supposed to compete in Formula DRIFT never will.
We all know that the automobile industry isn’t doing too well due to the current economic climate. In an attempt to save whatever money they can, some manufacturers have shifted production away from sports cars while others have dropped their high performance divisions all together. The latest victim of these cutbacks is the sport of drifting. Due to their current fiscal situation, Mopar, Chrysler’s high performance division, has been forced to terminate their sponsorship and support of the “Crazy Swede” Samuel Hubinette and Shaun Carlson’s NuFormz Racing, the California based tuner responsible for the Mopar Drift Viper that was competing in the Formula D series here in the U.S.
It is a shame that Mopar would decide to cancel their drift program right as the season was getting started; especially because the team was running 4th in the points. Sam finished second at the opener in Long Beach and only made it to the round of 16 at Road Atlanta, but for the two-time Formula D Champion with 16 career wins, bouncing back to the top would not have been difficult.
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