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May 4th & 5th 2007

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What..   

D1 Grand Prix USA/D1 Drivers Search inaugural East Coast Competition


Where & When:

Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, New Jersey. May 4th-5th.


What Happened:


James headed to New Jersey, not quite knowing what to expect at his first D1 Grand Prix event. 27 Drivers showed up to see if they had what it takes to be a D1 driver and go up against some of the best Japanese and American D1 Drifters the next day. It was the classic David vs Goliath scene with many of the top Japanese drivers showing everyone how it's done. James gave it his all during the judged rounds and had some of the best runs of the day. Some of his runs had the highest entry speeds of the day, averaging over 75 mph, only a couple mph off the D1 Drivers speeds. In the end the judges only thought 6 drivers where worthy of the honor to have a D1 License. James was ranked third out of the six drivers awarded licenses and would move on to the next day's event which pitted the newly licensed drivers against the seasoned D1 veterans.
After the excitement wore off the team focused on getting the car ready to do battle the next day. While inspecting the suspension components they discovered some wobbly upper control arms. It was determined that the heim joints where pulling out of the Tanabe arms because of the extremely bumpy course. After finding a welder in the paddock the team welded the bars back together and did a quick alignment adjustment to try to get it close to the way it was.
During qualifying the next day James could feel the affects of the hurried alignment. The car was not handling the same but would have to do. After posting his best scored run of the day at 96.17 it was determined that James missed getting into the top 16 by only .43 of a point. Although James would have wanted his shot at some of Drifting's greats he was very happy with receiving his D1 license. Only two drivers from the drivers search advanced to the top 16 and did not make it past the first round against the seasoned vets.






To see some clips of this event, go to our video section. Also, to follow the Nopi drift events and where JE will be, go to our events page.

 

 

 

 
 
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