The 2016 D1 Grand Prix series is the sixteenth season for the D1 Grand Prix series and the eleventh for the D1 Street Legal spinoff series. The season began on March 26 at Odaiba Tokyo Street Course for the D1GP [1] and ended on October 23 at the same course with Daigo Saito winning his second Championship and began on April 16 for D1SL at Bihoku Highland Circuit. [2] and ended on November 20 at Nikko Circuit with Katsuhiro Ueo winning his first D1SL Championship by cancellation, due to a fatal incident that happened during morning practice. [3]
| Round | Venue | Location | Date | Winner | Car | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1GP | D1SL | |||||
| 1 | Odaiba | Tokyo Prefecture | March 26–27 | Daigo Saito [4] | Toyota JZX100 | |
| 1 | Bihoku Highland Circuit | Hiroshima Prefecture | April 16–17 | Katsuhiro Ueo | Nissan Silvia S15 | |
| 2 | Fuji Speedway | Shizuoka Prefecture | April 23–24 | Daigo Saito [5] | Toyota JZX100 | |
| 2 | Ebisu Circuit | Fukushima Prefecture | May 28–29 | Katsuhiro Ueo | Nissan Silvia S15 | |
| 3 | Tsukuba Circuit | Ibaraki Prefecture | June 25 | Daigo Saito [6] | Toyota JZX100 | |
| 4 | June 26 | Tomohiro Murayama [7] | Nissan S14 | |||
| 3 | Meihan Sportsland | Nara Prefecture | July 9–10 | Junya Ishikawa | Nissan S14 | |
| 5 | Ebisu Circuit | Fukushima Prefecture | August 6 | Daigo Saito [8] | Toyota JZX100 | |
| 6 | August 7 | Tomohiro Murayama [9] | Nissan S14 | |||
| 4 | Maze Sea Circuit | Niigata Prefecture | August 20–21 | Katsuhiro Ueo | Nissan Silvia S15 | |
| 5 | Seto Inland Sea Circuit | Ehime Prefecture | October 15–16 | Takatoshi Imamaeda | Nissan Silvia S14 | |
| 7 | Odaiba | Tokyo Prefecture | October 22–23 | Daigo Saito | Toyota JZX100 | |
| 6 | Nikko Circuit | Tochigi Prefecture | November 19–20 | Event Cancelled | Event Cancelled | |
The D1 Grand Prix, abbreviated as D1GP and subtitled Professional Drift, is a production car drifting series from Japan. After several years of hosting amateur drifting contests, Daijiro Inada, founder of Option magazine and Tokyo Auto Salon, and drifting legend, Keiichi Tsuchiya hosted a professional level drifting contest in 1999 and 2000 to feed on the ever increasing skills of drifting drivers who were dominating drifting contests in various parts of Japan. In October 2000, they reformed the contest as a five-round series. In the following year for the following round, the introduction of the two car tsuiou battle, run in a single-elimination tournament format, a common tradition for tōge races which became popular with car enthusiasts.
In 2006 the D1 Grand Prix championship, a drifting motor racing competition, comprised eight rounds held in Japan and the United States. The overall winner was Nobushige Kumakubo. There was also a D1 Street Legal competition run over seven rounds in Japan, and national competitions in Malaysia and the United Kingdom.
Yasuyuki Kazama is a drifting driver from Japan, formerly competing in D1 Grand Prix, well known for using the Nissan Silvia S15. He is also known as Waku Waku and Spin Benz Dokan.
The 2007 Autobacs D1 Grand Prix series was the seventh season for the D1 Grand Prix series and was the second season for its spinoff D1 Street Legal.
Manabu "MAX" Orido is a Japanese professional racing driver.
The 2008 Gran Turismo D1 Grand Prix series was the eighth season for the D1 Grand Prix series and the third for the D1 Street Legal spinoff series. The US series was proposed for a second season in November 2007, but in February 2008, due to commitments, the series was cancelled, leaving the 2007 as the only year the US series ever took place, despite being exhibition rounds. The series began March 29, 2008 for the D1SL and March 30 for D1GP at Ebisu Circuit. The series ended with a non-point scoring World All-Star event held at Irwindale Speedway on November 30, 2008 and concluded altogether on December 14 as a D1SL point scoring round.
Daigo Saito is a Japanese professional drifting driver, currently competing in the D1 Grand Prix series and Formula Drift Japan. He formerly competed in Formula DRIFT USA and World Championship series for Achilles Radial. He was the first driver to win the two drifting majors, D1GP in 2008 and Formula D in 2012.
The 2009 Gran Turismo D1 Grand Prix series was the ninth season for the D1 Grand Prix series and the fourth for the D1 Street Legal spinoff series. This year saw the return of the US series after its cancellation last year, its second season. The series began on March 29, 2009 at Ebisu Circuit for the D1GP and April 11 for D1SL at Bihoku Highland Circuit. The USA series consisted of four rounds and the first round was on May 2, 2009. The series concluded on December 5 as a D1SL point scoring round. Youichi Imamura took advantage of a non-score by Tsuyoshi Tezuka at the final round to claim the D1GP title in his Nissan Silvia. Meanwhile, in D1SL, Naoki Nakamura claimed that championship, also in a Silvia.
The 2010 Gran Turismo D1 Grand Prix series will be the tenth anniversary season for the D1 Grand Prix series and the fifth for the D1 Street Legal spinoff series. The series begins March 27, 2010 at Odaiba Parking in Tokyo for the D1GP and April 17 for D1SL at Bihoku Highland Circuit. The series will conclude altogether on October 17 as a D1GP Exhibition match at Fuji Speedway.
The 2014 D1 Grand Prix series is the fourteenth season for the D1 Grand Prix series and the ninth for the D1 Street Legal spinoff series. The season began on March 29 at Fuji Speedway for the D1GP and April 12 for D1SL at Bihoku Highland Circuit. The series will conclude on October 19 with the D1 Champions' event at Odaiba Tokyo Street Course.
The 2017 D1 Grand Prix series was the seventeenth season for the D1 Grand Prix series. The season began on April 1 at Odaiba Tokyo Street Course and ended on October 8 at the same course, with Hideyuki Fujino winning the D1GP Championship. The D1 Street Legal series did not run this year, and was replaced by the 2018 season with the D1 Lights series.
The 2018 D1 Grand Prix series is the eighteenth season for the D1 Grand Prix series. The season began on March 31 at Maishima Sports Island in Osaka, and ended on November 3 at the Odaiba Tokyo Street Course. This season also marked the commencement of the new D1 Lights series, with the preseason match on January 20, at Nikko Circuit, with the season ending on December 1 at the same venue.
Hideyuki Fujino is a Japanese professional drifting driver. He currently competes in the D1 Grand Prix series for Team Toyo Tires Drift, and is the 2017 and 2023 series champion.
The 2019 D1 Grand Prix series is the nineteenth season for the D1 Grand Prix series. The season began on June 29 at Tsukuba Circuit, and ended on November 3 at Autopolis.
2022Gran Turismo D1 Grand Prix series is the 22nd season of D1 Grand Prix started from April 24 on Fuji Speedway and ended on November 6 on Ebisu Circuit.
The 2020-21 Gran Turismo D1 Grand Prix series is the twentieth season of D1 Grand Prix series which started at Okuibuki Motorpark on 24 July 2020 and ended at Tsukuba Circuit on 31 January 2021. The season was supposed to start on 16 May, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 Gran Turismo D1 Grand Prix series is the twenty-first season of D1 Grand Prix started on April 24 at Okuibuki Motopark and ended on November 21 at Ebisu Circuit.
Masashi Yokoi is a Japanese professional drifter, he currently competing in D1 Grand Prix and win the championship in 2018, 2019 and 2022 making him the second driver to win back-to-back championship. he is nicknamed as Zombie Yokoi or Galaxy Yokoi
Naoki Nakamura is a professional Japanese drifter. He competes in the D1GP and won the series in 2021. He won its feeder series, D1 Street Legal, 3 times. He is known for his close tandem drifting.
