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Check out this short slideshow with a few shots and clips from D1 Round 6 2009 today at Ebisu circuit Japan.



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Stu - www.DriftinJapan.com

Labels: 2009, D1, drift, ebisu, japan, round-6, video

D1 round 5 and 6 was held over the 2 consecutive days this weekend at Ebisu circuit.

Yesterday (Saturday) was Round 5 which I missed out on, was apparently sunny and fine. Today (Sunday), the day I chose was showering all day but that's not to say it was bad.



Rain + 600hp D1 cars + a tight Ebisu south course = plenty of hair raising slips and bent fenders!

Luckily it wasn't pouring down so I didn't get soaked but the showers got the track wet enough for some interesting drifting.

Some mentionable fender benders were Orido in his red Aristo and "drift samurai" in his blue Fc Rx7. But a slide into the concrete wall from them wasn't a big shock...they are crazy baka drifters..haha!

The Best 16 was filled with the usual crowd....Kumakubo, Nomuken, Daigo Saito, Kawabata, Hibino etc.




But a few rare entries such as Sakuma in the Toyo S15 was good to see too.

I've met Sakuma a couple of times before and been in the car with him while drifting (awesome drifter obviously) ...and now he's matching up against Kumakubo so good for him.

Other favorites like Tanaka & Suenaga from Team Orange didn't pass qaulifying which was a shame. It would be awesome to see Team Orange take out the final three places one day.

The final battle was between yesterday's Rd 5 champ Suenaga Masao in his white and green FD RX7 and Tezuka Tsuyoshi in the yellow R34 faced R32 skyline who barely scraped in the final entry over Kumakubo in a double "sudden death battle against Kumakubo.

It was Suenaga Masao's lucky weekend as he took the win again today!

Tezuka must have been worn out from the three runs before against Kuma...you could tell he was struggling when he went straight into the door of Masao's FD and lost his front bumper and headlight in the first run of the finals.

This weekend goes down to another great weekend of D1 drift in Japan. I had a great time but would have loved to see Kumakubo take the win...especially since Ebisu is his home track.

Stu - www.DriftinJapan.com

Labels: 2009, chaser, D1, d1-gp, daigo saito, drift, evo-10, japan, JZX100, kumakubo, lancer drift car, round-6, suenaga masao

Round 5 of the D1 Grand Prix Professional Drift Series was held last weekend in Ebisu on the 25th - 26th of August 2007. I made the whole 15 minute trip up the mountains of Nihonmatsu to one of the most challenging drift circuits in the world - Ebisu. I arrived just as the lunch break started so I had time to walk around the pits taking pictures of the baddest drift cars and hottest promotion girls in Japan.

The most highly antcipated car was of course Kumakubo's NEW Lancer Evolution drift machine. A little awkward for a lancer but not unsurprisingly, it was decked out in TEAM ORANGE colors jsut like his Impreza WRX. Actually, for someone who doesn't have a keen eye, they would have trouble telling themapart. Same color scheme, both 4 doors, about the same size and even the sound of the exhaust was similar.
(see the post below for pics of Kumakubo's Lancer)

None the less, the JUN built Lancer Evo is built for drift...and performs great. Despite it being the first ever competition run for Kumakubo in his new lancer, he managed to finish in the top 8. In one of his last runs, his clutch didn't return so he missed a gear shift. But there was definitely nothing wrong with Kumakubo's drifting.

The champion of Round 5 was the monkey man himself, Nomuken in his BLITZ Skyline R34 4 door! Nomuken always seems to make it high in the rankings (if he doesn't crash early) but rarely gets to hold the trophy. Last year at D1 Ebisu, he was in the final with Kumakubo and after about 2 "sudden death"s, Kumakubo took the win just marginaly.

It must have been an emotional win for him this time, as he broke down in tears of joy(?) right after his deciding win. Throughout the day he was having "sudden death" runs in just about every round. I think he deserved to win just for that. But, he never made a mistake which proves he was the best drifter of the day.

D1 Drift Grand Prix 2007 Ebisu Round 5 Highlight Video

Labels: 2007, D1, drift, ebisu, gp, grand prix, japan, kumakubo, nomuken, video