VIDEO> Violent Drifting At Ebisu w/ Naoto Suenaga
AMAZING!!! Check out violent high speed drifting at its best, from this helmet-cam video of D1 Grand Prix driver Naoto Suenaga from Team Orange in his missile – an RPS13 Nissan 180SX “battle car.” Most people know Ebisu for its legendary Minami Course (the famous South Course used in D1GP competition), but check out Naoto as he drifts the high-speed Higashi Course (East Course) at Ebisu Circuit in Fukushima Japan. (more…)
OH SNAP> The First Toyota GT86 Crash in D1GP
Could this be the very first Toyota GT86 that has crashed at a racing event? Everyone has been talking about the debut of the Toyota GT86 (Scion FR-S/Subaru BR-Z) in Japan’s D1 Grand Prix Series. Also newsworthy is the fact that Falken Tire was making its return to D1 with this attention grabbing car, which was built by Up Garage, a chain of Japanese used parts stores. (more…)
NEWSWORTHY> D1GP Champ Daigo Saito Joins FD!
Oh whaaaaat!!! The rumors are true! Just released today – it seems that D1 Grand Prix Champion driver Daigo Saito will be joining good friend Robbie Nishida at Bridges Racing to campaign a two-car team in the Formula Drift Championship. I suppose the question everyone has on their minds NOW is which car will Daigo be driving? (more…)
VIDEO> Formula Drift Palm Beach Brings Challenge
MotorMavens | TANDEM OF DIE | Formula Drift Palm Beach from MotorMavens Dotcom on Vimeo.
During Formula Drift‘s first Florida event last weekend, there were many bobbles, a few spins, and even a couple of wrecks. The new layout on Palm Beach International Raceway proved to be a challenge for drivers, event organizers, and media personnel alike. The slippery track was slightly technical, with a high speed and high angle entry, and rounded off with a smoky finish. (more…)
COVERAGE> Falken Tires Sweep Formula D Florida!
NEWSWORTHY> Apex’i SC430 Debuts at FD NJ
Oh snap! Now this is newsworthy! I’ve been hearing about this car for quite some time now, and I’ve been waiting for its debut with eager anticipation! It seems that our favorite Koala-faced ex-D1 Grand Prix series champion Ryuji Miki will be at Wall Speedway in New Jersey, debuting the Lexus SC430 Formula Drift competition car that was recently built for him, thanks to the good folks at Apex’i in Orange County CA!
The masterminds behind this project, Masaki Nakayama and Chuck Griffice from the United States arm of Apex Integration have been gracious enough to keep me updated with the build, but we’ve been keeping all the information under wraps until now! (more…)
CARSPOTTING> Purple People Eater RPS13
Don't be confused, this just isn't a "welcome back to the site" for me. Oh no, this is a huge welcome back to fresh cars built by cool people on real world budgets. Welcome back to grassroots drifting and sick street cars, which is what this site was built upon and the whole reason why we keep pushing forward. Like a skilled surgeon, Mike Burns and company have suited up in their drifting scrubs to save the all important life of grassroots drifting; but instead a sharpened scalpel, his finely tuned instrument is this super rad RPS13 Nissan 240SX. Read more...
NEWSWORTHY> Hubinette Driving D1GP Japan
I’ve been holding this info back for a couple days, and trust me – it’s pretty hard not to say anything when you have news like this! This is a pretty interesting piece of news here – Samuel Hubinette is currently in Japan, and plans to drive at the D1 Grand Prix event at Odaiba this coming weekend!
I received an email from Samuel, asking my opinion on which car I thought he should borrow for this weekend’s D1GP event – Daigo Saito‘s D1 Championship car, the FNATZ JZX100 Chaser, Takahiro Ueno‘s widebody JZZ30 Vertex Soarer, or Takahiro Ueno’s normal fendered JZZZ30 Vertex Soarer.
My vote was for Daigo’s super sick Chaser – first of all, it’s a D1GP Championship winning car for crying out loud; second of all, I thought the long wheel base and the big pendulum swinging characteristics of such a long drift car would be perfect for Samuel’s driving style. However, since I heard reports that Samuel was currently in Yokohama at Ueno-san’s car shop, Sui Vax, I’m guessing he opted for one of the Soarers. Either way, S.Hubinette is one hell of a driver, and I’m confident that he can drive anything with four wheels – probably even an Ikea Expedit bookcase or a Malm dresser. LOL
Speaking of Ikea, I can’t believe that Samuel has been drifting professionally this long, and Ikea still hasn’t sponsored him. They’re both Swedish after all; now that Mopar is no longer his title sponsor, I think Ikea needs to step up and sponsor the crazy Swede. Samuel has told me before that he loves going to Ikea in Irvine, because it reminds him of Sweden. He can chill out there and drink all the lingonberry juice he wants!
Could you just imagine Samuel’s pit area if Ikea were to sponsor him? Instead of an EZ-up with folding chairs, he’ll be rocking a bright red Ikea couch that folds into a bed; a furry white carpet on the ground; a difficult to assemble cabinet, and a million cheap tealight candles scattered all over the place.
Oh, umm… but back to the topic at hand, I’m sure Samuel will be putting on quite a show for the Japanese D1 audience. I just hope we don’t see Option Videos of Keiichi Tsuchiya and Manabu Suzuki saying “DRIFT YA RATER!!!”
:: Antonio Alvendia
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...
CENTER STAGE> AE86 Inspiration: Running Free
Since all these AE86 friends have been coming by to hang out and look through my photo albums, filled with old school AE86 photos from over 10 years ago, I felt that it would only be fitting to dig up some old school AE86 photos for our website too. You see, I have to exercise extreme control in order to avoid posting up AE86 photos and stories every day on the MotorMavens site. Hell, if it were solely up to me, I could make it a site that only had AE86 and old school Toyota content... but we wouldn't want to alienate all our readers who own other car marques.
Today though, I'm going to indulge and share images of one of my favorite AE86s from a stash of photos I took FIVE YEARS AGO. Yes, I took these photos way back in 2005. The red Sprinter Trueno in the photos is the famous "Yama red" AE86, owned by hachiroku driver Yamashita Koichi from the legendary Kanagawa-based drift team, Running Free. Running Free has a small handful of original members, but Yamashita is definitely the most famous in the group. 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 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
