Welcome to DriftInJapan.com

Ebisu South course is notorious as being one of the most challenging drift courses in Japan, or the world for that matter, for its superior technical difficulty. Those who attempt it either have to have big steel balls, a crap car they don't mind getting banged up (that's me) or a gift for drifting, because Ebisu south course can be like walking onto a minefield if you are not prepared.

Here's a little run through of what it's like drift on Ebisu South course...

The high speed first left sweeper that you enter after coming over a launching pad and down a hill next to a bare concrete wall has you do a little piddle in your pants every time you kick the clutch and nail it down and around, usually in third gear.

There is very little room for error....oversteer and your rear end gets greeted by a not-so-soft wall of tires lined up against a totally-not-soft concret wall. Understeer and you've better have a good set of brakes and tires to pull you up before your front end eats it.



Once you've made it through the first corner safely, you have to throw out the anchor and throw even more angle on to get the car around the second corner which seems to creep up on you like a shinkansen. The wall to stop you plumeting down the ravine here is again a tire-less concrete one.

The rest of the main bottom section is pretty smooth sailing (if you don't mind stretching out the revs in second) back up the hill and to a tight hairpin. After you catch your breath, fix your helmet and wind the windows down for more cool air you get to do it all again.

Ebisu South course might be a challenge but getting through it in one piece is a good feeling, even if you don't get the line, speed and angle of Kumakubo and other D1 drivers. You may want to jump straight on to South course but be warned it may eat you up and spit you out! Beginners to drift....stick to Drift land :)

Cheers,
Stu - www.DriftinJapan.com

Labels: d1-japan, ebisu-drifting, ebisu-south-course, japanese-drifting

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

With the help of some insiders, I was able to get my hands on this footage of the last D1 GP round 6 at Ebisu. If you look closely, you might be able to make out the source of this video...



Kumakubo in the Orange Lancer Evo took the win on the day. Unfortunately, his overall series points ranking is still out of the top 10.

Thanks and stay tuned for more drifting action from Japan.

Stu

Labels: d1-gp-2008, d1-japan, drift, drifting, kumakubo