One of Okinawa’s local Drift series has began on 2012, it was the Okinawa Motor Festival Round 1!There are 5 rounds total for 2012, and points are crucial for each round. Top 10 drivers at the end of the season gets invited to the D1 MSF shootout that would be held at Fuji Speedway Gymkhana course towards the end of the year.
The event took center stage at the local drift scene and it attracted thousands of spectators during the two day round, which was designed and formatted after the D1 GP rounds, the event was held January 28, 29 2012 at the Yukari “Bull Ring” Special Course!
The judges for the series were Goodyear Racing D1 driver Masayoshi Tokita, Kazama Auto’s Toshiharu Kazama and MC Bomber Yamamoto! With the presence of Drift Tengoku Magazines staff, drivers were hyped to showcase their skills! There were 60 entrants for the expert class which was cut down to 16 after the qualifying round, talk about competitiveness! Unfortunately, luck was not with me this time around since I failed to advance, but I was glad to have more seat time with the new turbine set up which am still trying to get used to. 2010 Okinawa Motor Festival champion Tsuguya Takayasu, took the day by winning the round.
Beginner class had 12 entries, and one of them was a fellow pinoy by the name Rainero Macapinlac who piloted an AE86.
Mac aboard his AE86.
Photo by Chris LaFauvre
Photo by Chris LaFauvre
Craft Factory Craft Factory S13
BM Kids Drift Team, note the drivers are only 17&18yrs old
Kazama Auto D1 S15!! Driven by Kazuhiro Tanaka during the 2011 Season.
2JZ-GTE TD07-25G turbine
Repping ROTA Wheels at Drift Tengoku Magazine, and guess who is taking the picture!!
Drift Tengoku’s very own Kawasaki san and I, the kid on the photo was a friends child!
Pinoy Pride!!!! Next stop will be at the Drift Muscle Series Round 1 at Meihan Circuit!!
Sorry for the shortage of the article but been really busy with all the settings and preparation for the upcoming round at Meihan!
For more live action photos check out Chris LaFauvre link below: