D1 Grand Prix

What is the D1GP?

The D1 Grand Prix, (D1 guranpuri in katakana, abbreviated as D1GP and subtitled: Professional Drift) is a professional car drifting series, using production cars, which originated in Japan. Option Magazine & Tokyo Auto Salon founder Daijiro Inada and Keiichi Tsuchiya, the "Drift King", hosted a professional level drifting contest in 1999 and 2000 to feed on the ever increasing skills of drifting drivers who were dominating amateur drifting contests throughout Japan. In October 2000, Inada and Tsuchiya reformed the contest as a five round series. At the following year for the following round, it was the introduction of the two car tsuiou battle, or tandem race, a common tradition for touge races.

From the beginning, the series has spread from Japan to the United States to the United Kingdom and Malaysia to New Zealand, with an ever increasing fanbase throughout the world. The D1GP has since become the benchmark for all drifting series and is the most highly regarded. The series also helped to turn not just its personnel, it also helped to turn many of its drivers into celebrities with appearances in TV shows and car magazines all over the world. They've also been featured in video games with appearances of their cars, along with the production of scale model's of their cars . The tuning world has also seen a boom in business, as many companies are specializing in drift set-ups.

Best Motoring - Drift Bible (2003)

Keiichi "the Drift King" Tsuchiya explains and demonstrates in detail how to utilize 6 techniques -- side (e-brake), shift lock (brute change to a lower gear), power over (wheel-spin of the rear), braking (weight transition), feint (turn back and forth) and lift off (release of throttle at high revs) -- to master DRIFT!

A MUST have for any serious drifter!!

Best Motoring - Drift Bible

Amazon Price: $9.99 (as of 12/02/2008)

Judging - What Are The Judges Looking For?

There are minimum requirements to a good drift that everyone must understand such as:

Entry speed - This is part of the criteria that will be met very easily with the use of a radar gun with speed display. Entry speed is one of the most visible aspects that judges will look for because it will determine the other parts of a driver?s drift.

Line clipping - This is another part of drift that the judges will be looking into. The "Clipping" line is often judged by how well the driver take a drive line. The line itself should always involve the vehicle hitting the right apex of a corner. Judges prefer to see a driver take a tight line around a corner, putting the nose of the car as close as possible to the apex of the turn. Getting the back end of the car close to the outside of a turn also demonstrates car control and can score the driver additional points.

Angle and counter steer - Driving angle of the vehicle is the angle of rotation of the vehicle relative to the direction of its travel. Basically this means that the farther the back end of the car comes around (without losing control), the more points a driver would score in this category. Angle also refers to the length of time a drift is maintained as well as the average angle of the vehicle during the turn. This means that getting the back end to come around for a short period of time won?t score the driver many points, even if the angle of rotation was significant. A vehicle that exhibits extreme angles without spinning out will be awarded high points.

Presentation - How a driver puts speed, line and angle the best will score very well with the judges. There is also another factor and that is how the driver presents his or her drift technique. Just like any other form of competition, there will be an individual with a certain spark or energy that makes them stand out during competition. When a competitor puts that extra flare or energy into their run, the judges may pay more attention to the individual. The most universal component of this category is smoke. The more tire smoke generated by a vehicle while drifting the more points a driver will score. This category previously included the driver sticking hands/legs out the window or opening the door in a turn, but D1 now requires windows to be rolled up and prohibits door opening, demonstrating a shift in emphasis to more technical aspects of driving.

*Info taken from drifting.com

How is a "Tsuiso" or Tandem Battle Judged?

"Tsuiso" is the Japanese term for "Twin Battle Drift"

Offensive: Generally the chasing driver has the offensive when in the Twin Battle. An easy analogy is Cowboys at a rodeo competing in the round up or two jet pilots engaged in a dog fight. They chase their prey and do what ever they can to get their target into a dead zone where the prey cannot maneuver from. This same principle is used in the Tsuiso style. Driver use their vehicle and its drift to position into a space that minimizes the running drivers ability to keep a good line while staying in a high speed drift. The chasing driver MUST at all times demonstrate a superior drift in order to A) Keep the pressure on the lead driver B) Steal and block a line that may allow the lead driver a good opportunity for a drift. C) Be awarded a superior number of points If a chasing driver is unable to keep up and maintain pressure on the lead driver this will not be good when the time comes for points to be awarded.

Defensive: When a drive takes the lead in the Tsuiso battle the ideal strategy is to perform a drift a a much higher speed, good line, and a greater angle than the chasing driver. If a lead driver can shake off or intimidate a chasing driver many times the chasing driver will make a mistake when trying to compensate for what seems like erratic actions of the lead car. When a lead driver can pull away with a good angle, following the ideal line while maintaining a controlled drift, the chasing driver has all the pressure to increase performance. The lead driver at this point is winning. Lead drivers many times demonstrate superior skill by suddenly entering a drift at a great angle and going directly to the inside of the corner. TO the following driver it appears as though they will T-bone the lead car so they back down and take measures to avoid the lead car. Many times that will cause the chasing car to loose a great amount of speed and not be able to properly execute the corner in a full drift%u2026 or even worst they may spin out or hit the barriers. This is a ideal outcome for the lead driver in Tsuiso battles.

*Info taken from drifting.com

What Mods Are Allowed?

Authorized Modifications:
- Each car must maintain the OEM unibody.
- Must maintain tempered front windshield.
- Every car must maintain a complete exhaust system with a factory or aftermarket catalytic converter. High flow catalytic converters are acceptable.
- ALL Tires must be DOT approved with a minimum tread wear rating of 160. No DOT-R Allowed
- Aftermarket body panels, bumper covers and wings are permitted
- Seam welding the unibody is permitted.
- Suspension upgrades are open.
- Factory wheels may be replaced with aftermarket wheels.
- Any grade of automotive gasoline may be used for fuel.
- Engines are open for modification.
- Other than what is listed above cars are open for modification.

*Info taken from drifting.com

2007 East Coast D1GP

Want to see some shots I took of the '07 East Coast D1GP on May 5th at the Old Bridge Raceway, in Englishtown, NJ? Visit my John FN Myspace page for a bunch of sweet photos. This was the first time the D1 has been on the east coast.