NEWSWORTHY> Farewell, Atsushi Kuroi
Last night, D1GP driver Atsushi Kuroi from legendary Osaka drift team Tinker had a deadly accident while he was riding his motorcycle. Although there aren't too many details known about the accident, Kuroi san's kohai (apprentice) Kazuya Bai says that Kuroi's thigh was apparently injured from the accident, and even though the hospital staff worked diligently to stabilize him, Kuroi san's wounds were too severe, and he passed away within four hours of arriving at the hospital. Read more...
CARSPOTTING> Walker, Texas Drifter
In high school, where most young men start to entertain their desires, he started to cultivate an interest in the automotive world. He grew up in Texas, so of course he had a truck at first... but that didn't stop him from causing mayhem. Running over curbs, signs and getting sideways in the rain was a common occurrence for Russell and his truck. However, as far away as Japan is from Texas, the drifting bug still bit him. He picked up this Nissan S13 240sx for $500 at the age of 17 and never looked back. It's his first actual car, and I'd say it's come quite a way from being the white hatch with black Silvia front end that it was a few years ago. Read more...
WEBMINING> Ueo vs Nomuken – 3 Wheel Drift
I was on one of those endless YouTube “nature hikes” when I stumbled upon this D1 gem. The action is awesome but it’s really the characters and the commentary that make D1 so cool and fun. Check out the 3 wheel action as Ueo goes against Nomuken! Enjoy!
:: Avon Bellamy
WEBMINING> Kawabata’s Unbelievable Entry!
I’ve had to watch this video of Kawabata drifting his Toyo Tires S13 in Japan over and over and OVER again at least 10 times just to see if it was somehow a fluke or even possibly faked! When you watch this video, you’ve GOT to agree that he nailed down an absolutely unbelievable entry!
I’m utterly speechless, just shaking my head in bewilderment… so please help me out here and comment below! Wasn’t his entry into that corner just NUTS?! Also, does anyone know which circuit that was? At first I thought it might be Sugo Sportsland, but after watching it again, I don’t think so…
:: Jover Papag
NEWSWORTHY> IDRC and D1GP Today!
So what are YOU doing today? We’re up super early, because we’re heading out to the IDRC Finals at California Speedway in Fontana. If you’re in Southern California, and your home isn’t burning down from one of the summer fires, then come out and hang out with us in Fontucky for some explosive drag racing action.
If you’re in the New Jersey area, you could always go to the D1 Grand Prix event at E-town. I hear Team Orange won’t be in attendance because their cars were shipped to Europe for a drifting event they’re doing next week, but many of D1’s top Japanese star drivers will still be there! Make sure to harrass our friends at the EatSleepRace booth!
:: Motor Mavens
WEBMINING> Katsuhiro Ueo Hachiroku battles!
While searching for great footage of AE86s in honor of Hachiroku day, our goal was to find something a little different, maybe some racing footage. We came across this Katshuhiro Ueo video that 86 John did an awesome remix of. Ueo always provided sick AE86 action and we couldn’t resist this video – there is some epic driving going on! Ueo’s dope skills and the nimble handling the AE86 are something to behold. Don’t forget to Check out Steven Starr’s video posts for more Hachiroku action. Enjoy!
:: MotorMavens
ARCHAEOLOGY> Ueo vs Taniguchi Video
For those who weren’t there, in celebration of August 6th “Hachiroku Day” that was made into a worldwide holiday by our friend HerbrockOne on Club4AG several years ago… we just thought we’d dig into the vaults for this one.
Were YOU there? We were. It was August 31, 2003. The legendary Battle for Irwindale… and the first inaugural D1 Grand Prix event on US soil. AE86 vs S15. Katsuhiro Ueo from Kyushu Japan vs Nobuteru Taniguchi from Hiroshima Japan.
The video footage may be old, but the memories from this night are vivid as ever, in our minds. What an epic event. Listen to the crowd in the video. I still get goosebumps on my neck. Being on top of the grand stands watching the cars run so close to each other. The videos we had all seen at our friends house were now real in front of us. This event was the first time the chant “One more time!” was screamed from the fans mouths cause we all were in such disbelief at how awesome each run was we just had to say wait a minute wait a minute “One more time” cause that was just too unbelievable.
Long live the AE86!
:: Steve Starr
COVERAGE> AZ Drift “Drag&Drift” at Firebird Raceway
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WEBMINING> D1GP Miami, shot by Floridaracing.org
Thankfully, with the help of our friend Google, we were able to find images posted on a forum by one of the guys from Floridaracing.org. (We've seen some of these guys at the track before - whenever we see them at the track, we see them with multiple Canon DSLR bodies and some huge Canon lenses.) We were searching the internet for photos for a few days, and the ones found on Floridaracing.org's album seem to be the best photos we've found from D1 Miami thus far. Props, guys! Read more...
COVERAGE> D1 Grand Prix USA, Anaheim
