Event>> G1-gp Round3 – The Action

Time now to jump right into the action from the third round of the G1 Grand Prix. Even though Daigo Saito didn't participate in the competition, as the name suggests you need to be a foreigner or gaijin to qualify (plus having a D1 champion in the line up would have been a little unfair), he did join in the practice session for a few laps to put his new LS1-powered RPS13 through its paces. This sound coming from the straight and unsilenced exhaust was incredible.

Watching all the drivers out there practicing and getting used to their cars, it quickly became obvious that the skill level was pretty high. A lot of the guys that had participated in the WDSC Nations Cup the previous day also joined in the G1, a perfect opportunity to not only do some more drifting but win some pretty cool prizes. This S13 was driven by Lithuanian driver Tadas Luckaitis, an ex Garage Ash demo car.

The starts & stripes treatment to Mike Pollard's car probably made it the most easily-recognizable car on track! Here he is nailing the apex at the bottom of the Nishi hill.

Kevin from France felt right at home in his D1 Street Legal S15, one of the most powerful cars on the day.

Wade Zummeren was killing it with his Bee-R R32, nailing most corners and transitions. Too bad the car wasn't fitted with the famous Bee-R limiter for some additional aural entertainment.

Representing France was also first-time G1-entrant Julien Maynard, who was driving this white Skyline…

…along with the famous JC Pepino of AutoWorks magazine in his black S14. 

The two Frenchmen proved that drifters don't need to wear scruffy oily overalls. They turned on the French charm with these outfits. They had stashed garlic, pâté and a few sticks of baguette bread in their pits. I'm sure they had a bottle of red wine in there too, but they weren't sharing!

Leigh Pidwell has the kind of style that keeps the crows following his runs from beginning to end. He combines aggression with plenty of control, topped with a very heavy dose of the throttle.

At one point Christian Pickering's S13 snapped a steering knuckle and had to be rescued from the track by a forklift. Chris was obviously concerned about his very special car…

…but in the end no damage was done during the transportation back to the pits and the knuckle was welded up and fixed in no time.

Andy Gray wasn't feeling comfortable behind the wheel of his new RPS13…

…so swapped into his battle-scarred JXZ90, a car we will be taking a closer look at very soon.

Russian driver Evgeny Ruzheinikov seemed to be having a blast behind the wheel of his C34 Laurel, shooting down the hill at impressive speeds. 

Pro Aussie driver Chris DeJager in action. Chris spends most days practicing and honing his skills at Ebisu; living the life as they say!

The practice eventually gave way to the qualifying runs were drivers were asked to drive a continuous set of laps while they were being assessed.

Here is Round 2 G1 winner Leighton Fine behind the wheel of his trusty JZX90.

Brodie Moore showing off his Blitz front mount intercooler.

Swedes Mikael Svensson and Tony Pattersson were sharing this S13 we saw in the pits in the Paddock post.

Kevin was trying to carry as much speed as possible down the hill and into the right to left transition that follows…and in the process almost took me out. It probably looked closer than it really was but I swiftly made a change of location after his spin.

Pollard hard on the power.

Once the judges had a chance to see everyone in action it was back to the meeting room where the top 16 drivers of the pro class…

…picked numbers out of a ballot box to see who they would end up going against.

Next up are the battles, so don't forget to check back to see who took the win for Round 3 and the 2010 G1 Championship title!

G1-GP Round 3 – The Paddock 

Ebisu 2010 posts

-Dino Dalle Carbonare

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1

Nothing about the dutchies? :(

2

LS1+S13=perfect!!

3

LS1 power in Japan? That's awesome

4

Rad. Looks like a fun day!

5

yeah frenchmen!! on compte sur vous pour laisser les autres sur place

6

well done leighton fine!! still remember when he used to drive that weapon of a hachi here in aus.....i wonder what happened to that thing, does he still have it?? lol.

7

Awesome stuff G1GP has stepped up fast in no time!!!

8

anyone notice that Saitos s13 is a 240sx. LHD. RHD drive LS swaps are such a task due to starter and steering rack clearance issues.





I remember when Saito drove Gary Langs s13.4 coupe at Englishtown D1 back in 09. We were all on grid and something was taking forever w the event and Saito walked up to Gary and said "V8....ohhhh, i drive?" Gary was shocked and was like "yes yes, go." and after the backhand sweeper and like 3 doughnuts he came back and got out of the car did typical jap bow and was like "i like power, it easy, yes yes, thanks" And here we are today Saito with an s13.5 LS powered. Sweet!

9

"At one point Christian Pickering's S13 snapped a steering knuckle and had to be rescued from the track by a forklift" not surprising the drift predator always breaks shit arf arf arf

10

Great coverage Dino! I can't wait to see more on Andy's JXZ90!

11

nice one - some great coverage photo's here - this is one of the many things i like about Speedhunters! love pic no. 1 - can i say... Super!!?!!

12

No Dutch drivers competed this time.

13

Daigo's USDM s13 is the old JIC Magic car.

14

great too see lesser known drifters from unusual scenes

Allez les Bleus et vive le Beaujolais nouveau

15

"he did join in the practice session for a few laps to put his new LS1-powered RPS13 through its paces. This sound coming from the straight and unsilenced exhaust was incredible"



So, anyone in FD using a LS1 in a Japanese car is an abomination, but now it's genius for someone in Japan to have one? PLEASE. Y'all people that been hating on LS1's gonna slobber all over Saito now. What hypocrites.



I sure wish they would take G1 a little more seriously, instead of treating it as the lowest skilled drifting competition in Japan. I want to like it but damn can we get some better names up in the joint? Maybe 3 of the drifters in this can even be considered professional.

16

i think the last guy should calm down, i think i remember people saying that the d1gp is a FUN comp, and the drivers are only there cause there for matsui first n for most this is just a by product.

also people in aus have been doing these conversions for years, i really don't know what the problem is ??

17

@ Garlo



The issue is all the haters on this site that cry NASCAR during every FD event, but now that a Japanese drifter has an LS1, it's awesome and great. The other problem is the way D1 structures it's events and how they look at and treat foreigners, like they are neat kids but have to play in the Junior area, and never allowed near the "real" series. Last time D1 had a real event in USA, Gitten won, and they have never returned. I just want a "true" all-world event and finally see who really are the best drifters.



Was that so hard to understand?

18

The final of the first full year of G1 Grand Prix came to a great end with an afternoon full of well

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