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 D1 Grand Prix USA, Round 1 |
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May 17, 2009 - 4:11 AM - by CrimsonShadow
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It is rainy, it’s cold, my Pumas are soaked and I couldn’t be happier. The year is 2006 and we are at the most unlikely course for a drift event you could imagine, the Irwindale Speedway oval. Horrible weather has turned this D1 All Star event into a battle against the very elements. Unable to shoot any video or photos in this monsoon, I have moved from the media areas to the grandstands to enjoy this amazing spectacle beside every other fan. Nearly as soon as I get to my seat I see the Team Orange Subarus blasting down the oval in opposite directions. Like kamakazi pilots from hell they start their drifts on opposite banks. As the two vehicles hurl sideways at each other head on wet tarmac the crowd goes silent for a moment. In a split second of surgeon like precision the two cars pass each other only inches apart. Just like everyone else I am on my feet cheering louder than I ever have in my life. To think, this wasn’t even part of the competition, just a show for the fans.
A then unknown upset Irish driver named Darren McNamara was later engaged in a tsuiso battle with Ken Nomura, superstar of Japan. In this downpour the two of them were millimeters away as they slid through corner after corner. In a decision that was too close for the spectators to call Nomura emerged as the victor despite contacting Darren’s AE86. In true samurai fashion Nomuken wore the Irishman’s flag on his Skyline in the following battle as a sign of respect. An eruption of approval came from the sold out crowd and it was at that moment I realized that the D1 Grand Prix was indeed the Godzilla of drifting entertainment.
Fast forward to 2009. Much has happened in the time between the most amazing drift event I have ever witnessed and now. Although much has happened in America for the now legit sport of precision car control the Japanese founding fathers of dorifto have been mysteriously absent from our shores. While the suits at D1 were shuffling leadership and playing politics in the land of the rising sun Formula D came out of the shadows to steal both their crown and their loyal subjects. The marketing scientists at Formula D have their finger firmly on the pulse of the JDM fanboys and drifting fanatics. This attention to what the American fans want out of the sport has rocketed their franchise from the underdog to the gold standard. However when D1 Grand Prix announced this year that they would be returning for a full US series I could not help but tell everyone I knew. I told them about the past D1 events I had seen and how they had been the most exciting motor sports extravaganzas I had ever witnessed. In short I told them all this was the “real” drifting experience.
After three years of anticipation the grand return of Japanese professional drifting had finally arrived but with a few “modifications”. This, the first round of the 2009 D1 Grand Prix USA Championship Points Series was held at a brand new venue, Angel Stadium in Anaheim California. Unlike many thought, it was not held inside the actual stadium but rather in the parking lot.
Woodrow Wilson once said that “if you want to make enemies, try to change something” Perhaps he was on to something. The most controversial of these changes came in the addition of a 4th judge. This new judge was neither man nor woman but a machine entitled “The Drift Box”. It would be this lump of circuits and G-Meters that would make up 75 percent of the scoring. You read right, a sport based on excitement and spectacle would now mainly be judged by a machine. The remaining 25 percent for style point would be judged by head judge Hisashi Kamimoto and brand new associate judges Brian Norris and Adam Andretti. As if to prove how little the judges mattered to the event, they were placed nearly a football field away from the main parts of the course. They were so far away in fact that at one point a piece of large debris was on the track in the main horseshoe. The judges and crew were so far away that they could not see it. The crowd called out in unison to warn of the danger but alas no one could see from such a distance away. In the end a fan ran onto the track and removed the debris. He was promptly ejected to the audible disapproval of the audience.
Speaking of judges, the beloved Drift King Tsuchiya did not even make an appearance. Suzuki was there but only to narrate the video for Option. He is the “voice of D1” but they never even put him on the microphone. Instead they enlisted an announcer that was so seemingly aloof and unexciting that the crowd openly laughed. It was as if they were no longer interested in hosting a live event but just making a movie in which the fans were extras. An interesting story even developed regarding a competitor from Europe. Apparently his engine was damaged in transit and he was forced to rebuild it the day of qualifying. By the time his crew was able to fire the engine, qualifying had already ended. As the true sportsmen of drifting always are, the other drivers agreed to let the newly built car run a qualifying session in the morning practice. The crew was literally tuning the computer running back and forth in the parking lot before their session. This was a great little story that the announcers never even mentioned.
After the first round of elimination wherein many objectionable calls were made by the magic computer, the fans were clearly restless. The promotional information had promised a one thousand foot runway for competitors to reach triple digit 3rd gear corner entries the likes of which we have never seen. Unfortunately few of the entry speeds of the day were above 80 miles per hour.
Some of the drivers who did not make the top 16 cut even came up to the stands to apparently see how they did not make it from a different perspective. Soon after boos could be heard throughout the stands. For reasons unknown to this reporter, Alex Phifier was seen being taken out of the stands by security. It was at this point the crowd turned. At several points in the competition the crowd could clearly be heard chanting “Drift Box Sucks!” and even holding signs saying the same thing. Between the rounds the D1 models would drive by to shoot t-shirts to the spectators. Even they were met with boos and some fans even threw the free shirts back. Anyone seeing at my face could have made out my grimace of dissatisfaction.
Despite the clearly flawed judging methods the drifting was quite good. Chelsea DeNofa driving a BMW M3 blasted into the top 16 running on only 5 cylinders! It must be noted though that none of the top Formula Drift drivers were present at this event. Go ahead, check the roster yourself. This did give a chance for lesser known and newer drivers to spend some time in the spotlight. Exposure of this type is good for sponsors and keeps the sport alive. Do not be mistaken, the winners of this event certainly deserve our praise. They were able to adapt their driving style to this unprecedented judging oddity. Their ability to evolve so quickly is what separates good drivers from outstanding divers. Without the menacing juggernauts like Samuel Hubinette and Tanner Foust to crush the less funded privateers young American Forrest Wang was able to fight his way to third place. Saito and Kumakubo placed first and second respectively. In the press conference following the event the Japanese drivers commented that they wanted to do “more research” on how to adjust their driving to fit this new judging change.
As I took all of this in at the end of the day I could not help but think back to that cold December. How could that which I enjoyed so much be reduced to this? Perhaps they set the bar so high for themselves that the only road is downhill. In either case, D1 is back in the United States. For how long and with what success will remain to be seen.
- CrimsonShadow
Final Results:
1. Daigo Saito, No. 28 FNATS/Artworks Toyota Chaser
2. Nobushige Kumakubo, No. 44 Team Orange Subaru GC8 Impreza
3. Forrest Wang, No. 30 Full Race Nissan S13 240SX
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