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Team Orange team mates Kumakubo (Lancer Evo 10) and Suenaga (Evo 9) show us their twin drift skills at Ebisu D1 Round 1 2009 during the lunch break.



Then in the Best 16 elimination round later that afternoon, Kumakubo in his lancer Evo 10 leads the drift against an S15 Silvia...Kumakubo went through this run but lost the next run against Tezuka in the yellow R32 skyline.

Stu - www.DriftinJapan.com

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Labels: D1, d1-2009, drift, evo-10, evo-9, kumakubo, lancer-evo-10-drift-car, lancer-evo-drift, team-orange

A big shout out to Pete from www.peteleong.com for letting me use his pro shots of the 2009 D1 round 1 practice day last.

Pete is a fellow gaijin who lives in Fukushima and used to drift a purple FC RX-7 but could never quite match the awesomeness of the black Ceffy.

While it was a good match on the track, you can tell just by looking that I am no match for his photography skills.
The winner of the 2009 D1 Gp round 1 was Nomuken in his R34 Skyline sporting newly designed bodykit, graphics and sponsor.

D1 drifting in the snow...this Lexus didn't make the it through qualifying....it's got a supercharged motor of some sorts..sounds nice :)

Kumakubo (owner and 2006 D1 Champ) was debuting the brand new EVO 10 Lancer drift car built by team orange and JUN autos. He seemed to be struggling with oversteer on practice day but finished in 7th place in the first round.

Imamura Yoichi in the PRODRIVE S15 silvia...a good solid driver but the car suffered engine trouble in the final run in Round 1. He finished 2nd behind Nomuken.

Drift Samurai in his newly resprayed FC RX-7 (was yellow last season). Great sounding and performing car but didn't manage to make the Best 16 in round 1 this time.



This JZX100 Chaser from WELD is equally as much a showcar as it is a drift car. The engine bay is spotless and the polished alloy and chrome shines so much that you need sunglasses when looking at the detail.

Thanks again Pete for the awesome shots. See more of Pete's of professional drifting showcase photography on Flickr.

Enjoy!
Stu - www.DriftinJapan.com

Labels: d1-2009, d1-japan-2009, d1-photography, evo-10, evo-X, lancer-evo-10-driftcar, pete-leong, weld-jzx100

The 2009 D1 GP Japan drift series kicked off with the first round in Ebisu over the March 28th 29th weekend.

A sell out crowd filled the Ebisu south course stands and braved the ZERO degree chills and snow to see the best drifters Japan has to offer!

To cut to the chase, here are the Top 8 results from Round 1 of D1 GP Japan 2009:

1. Nomura Ken (white R34 skyline)
2. Imamura Yoichi (red S15 slivia)
3. Saito Daigo (red JZX100 chaser)
4. Tezuka Tsuyoshi (yellow R32 skyline)
5. Suenaga Masao (white FD RX-7)
6. Kuroi (blue Toyo S13 one-via)
7. Kumakubo Nobushige (Evo 10 Lancer)
8. Koguchi (dark red 180sx)

All eyes were on Kumakubo in his new Evo 10 Lancer drift machine (7th place) so it was a shame to see him get knocked out against Tezuka in the R32. Tezuka was in fact drifting like a champ all day, so it was good to see him advance.

Another upset was Saito Daigo (last years overall champ - JZX100) getting knocked out in the semi-finals vs. Imamura (red S15)....Saito's car is an abolute monster and he was driving it aggressively all day.


The final round brought Nomuken and Imamura head to head.

Imamura lead the first run but his engine broke, stopped and he couldn't start it for the second run so Nomuken won by default.


It started snowing just before the final round so everyone was in a hurry to get home anyway...so thanks Yoichi, you saved us a few extra minutes of pain!

A great day of drifting even though it was freezing cold!

The next rounds in Ebisu will be round 5 and 6 in August (summer) so it will be nice and hot and I can watch it without shivering and catching a cold.

Ueno's Series 3 BMW drift car was in the pits but never made it out to the track. The car is beautifully made and will be great to see it out drifting amongst the Japanese cars.

Also, Saito Daigo's Mustang was on display but not driven...that car is supposed to be prepped and ready for the track during this season some time. Keep your eyes peeled for that!

Round 2 of the 2009 D1 GP Drift season will be held in Autopolis on April 26th.

Unfortunately, it's at the other end of Japan and as much as I'd like to go, I'll have to skip it. But I'll keep you updated on the results from that and the rest of the 2009 D1 drift season!

Live hard - Drift safe!

Stu
Owner of www.DriftinJapan.com

Labels: 2009, BMW-drift-car, D1, d1-2009, d1-japan, d1-japan-2009, D1GP, D1GP-japan, ebisu, evo-10, evo-X, kumakubo, kumakubo-evo-X-10, lancer drift car, lancer-evo-10-driftcar, mustang-drift-car, nomuken