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?
Can you just imagine the ridiculous impact Daigo would have on the Formula D field if team owner Bryan Bridges was able to bring out Daigo’s tested and true D1-Championship-winning FNATZ/BN Sports JZX100 Toyota Chaser out to the USA for a year of Formula Drift competion?! I’m pretty damn sure it would give all the V8 guys a run for their money and show the Formula Drift audience how the OG Japanese D1 drivers get down!
(I think the KEY here is bringing over the cars that these legendary Japanese drivers are accustomed to – just remember how Toshiki Yoshioka made waves in Formula D when he first came out with his “underpowered” nitrous-assisted 4AGE 20v powered AE86? He ended up winning First Place at Formula D Las Vegas, and even made a professional, consistent driver like Rhys Millen hit the wall during their tandem battle!)
It all makes sense now… Daigo and Robbie are close friends, and live in the same general area of Tokyo. They hang out together all the time in Japan, and when Daigo’s visiting the United States, he’s always hanging out with Robbie and Ken Gushi.
Man oh man… I’d be so excited if Bridges Racing could actually bring the JZX100 out – in my opinion, that’s the way Daigo could REALLY make his presence felt. The key here isn’t just signing the best drivers, but it’s also all about providing those top level drivers with competition-worthy vehicles.
Everyone saw Bridges Racing driver Robbie Nishida kicking ass when he was driving the Dynamic Autosports Z33 350Z, but unfortunately he’s been plagued with technical difficulties in his competition cars ever since then (Dynamic R35 GTR and Bridges S13). Best of luck to Daigo, Robbie, and everyone at Bridges Racing. I can’t wait to see these guys attack Long Beach in April!
:: Antonio Alvendia
Won’t be driving his d1gp jzx100, new car is being built for him.
I really hope they bring his JZX100 here! A car he’s used to and all they would need to do to it is bring it up to date according to the FD rulebook. That would be so awesome!
@Richard: TOTALLY AGREE man. He would naturally do SO well with that JZX100!
@Jason: Sounds like you have some more details! Share the knowledge, man!
cant fucking wait till Daigo shits on everyone.
as what jason said, it wont be the jzx. de to cost of shipping + parts availability. however, Daigo will be in a car he has driven before
Dude that is crazy!! I can’t wait to see him drive
Nothing yet on a chassis, but he will be in a new car specifically built for formula d. He’s my favorite driver ever, I’d love to see the jzx100 here for competition, but they aren’t bringing them over. What ever chassis that is built will be ridiculous and will smash on the US drivers for sure. I font think fd knows what’s in store for next season.
Show us that red beast JZX Saito!!
Airborne FD!!!!
I have a bad feeling that he’ll be driving a 240 with a V8. He brought one to Japan before…
I can say this much. Both cars will be right hand drive and neither will have V8’s
Thank you for shedding a little light on this, you’re one of the last hopes in fd to keep it worth watching. Thank you again!!!
Gonna make everyone step their game up!
@Bridges Racing: Sounds EXCITING!!!
@Edo: You’re damn RIGHT!
Has everyone forgotten that Daigo owns an LS1 S13.5 in Japan? LHD, no less?
I hope it’s not a repeat of previous D1 drivers results:( Shitty car Shittier outcome:( Yoshioka in low budget S13…Miki in an under powered FD. Let’s pray they give these guys worthy rides. Please Bridges don’t make it hard on Daigo by putting him in some underpowered crappy car that would only be competitive back in 08′.
Can’t wait to see this! Oh…wait…I’m blind.
So excited to see him compete next year. Really really hope they can bring over the JZX100. I remember the good old days of FD when there was the JZX and the R34s…I miss em. All the V8 cars make FD kind of boring to watch.
Hopefully this is it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL83k0xWsz0
Everyone has a different opinion on US and Japanese drifting and i respect everyone’s opinion as well. But through my observations of these two different type of drifting, the ones that came from the roots of Formula D will have much more talent then what the Japanese drifters possess. Not saying that Daigo will not be able to adjust, but for next season, he will realize that US drifting is a whole new world and I see him getting push around. knowing what kind of support Daigo has coming in to this 2012 season, and its unfortunate but he simply doesn’t have the engineers to make him a championship contender (or in my opinion a consistent top 16 competitor). I wish the best for Daigo but for now he’s just in FD to extend fan base. Thank You guys for reading I would love other people’s response to this.
^^ your wrong, yes US and JPN drifting are different but skills are JPN department. Your opinion is wack man. Daigo has a whole lot of experience and has been driving high hp cars before V8 took over. So who says he cant make good use of some extra grip?? the only disadvantage i see is that everyone has data from previous years on the same tracks. FD should change layouts a little like last year’s final. Still, Daigo is gonna kill it.