D1GP PREDICTIONS? 16th/17th

[akuma S14]

I thought that the saturday rain led to some of the best skilled drifting on a wet bank I had ever seen. Regardless of what it takes to sell videos, I was impressed with the way the drivers put it down in the rain.

does crashing a drift car count?

[Brian]

Hey Terry, send me pictures of your new sedan.
I am jealous.

[bp057]

Good times, except for listening to lugnuts and whoever that other nascar loving douche was.

[foilman]

If Im not mistaken the rules are bumping and rubbing is perfectly ok and to be blunt encouraged, as long as you dont bump them into a spin or off the track."

You are mistaken. Not encouraged or perfectly ok, but sometimes acceptable.

[Bebop]

Good times, except for listening to lugnuts and whoever that other nascar loving douche was.

hahahaha

yea, that dude was a little annoying.

So was that older dude that was asking tanner 10,000 questions, Toshie should just tell the crowd stories during down time, he has stories for days.

[Mr.Two]

Darren was robbed...

does anyone have video of his last run with Nomuken? i'm curious as to how they're gonna play that one off...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNyCxOCvAfI The runs are at the very end of the vid

Far as I see Nomura won, nobody was robbed.

You are mistaken. Not encouraged or perfectly ok, but sometimes acceptable.

Your right, I should have put in certain situations it is ok.

[ohtagerbilhero]

it's hard to see it on the video, but Nomuken had much less angle than Darren as he hit him...he was practically going straight. Nomuken wanted to get his nose in, so he took an incredibly shallow angle just to increase his speed.

the hit itself doesn't matter... Darren was able to continue the run and he stayed on the clipping points.

now, at the beginning of the run, Darren was tracing a much higher line with much more angle across the bank, while Nomuken, driving a higher-powered car, took a lower line and didn't carry as much angle. ADVANTAGE - DARREN

at the first clipping point, Toshi remarked that Darren was taking a shallow angle, while Nomuken carried a normal angle. ADVANTAGE - NOMUKEN

this brings us to the next apex, where Nomuken took a crazy-shallow angle, almost straight, to get his nose in. He exhibited terrible control over his car, having to nearly straighten out just to catch up to Darren, and was unable to keep from colliding with Darren once he caught up. Darren, however, was able to control his car even after being hit by Nomuken, and completed the run perfectly. ADVANTAGE - DARREN

considering these three zones, Darren clearly had the advantage. it was 2-1.

someone mentioned that Keiichi loves corollas and V8s. that's irrelevant.

it wasn't car choice that held Darren back, it was the country he was born in... or rather, the country he WASN'T born in. Keiichi and Dai were furious when Vaughn Gittin Jr. won the USA vs. JPN D1 All Star match earlier this year, and they'll never let that happen again. They've admitted to swinging the judging a certain way, depending on what they want the outcome to be. The rounds aren't fixed, of course, and they can't give a victory to someone who spins out, but when the run is close enough, they'll make some unethical decisions for the good of the corporation.

This following paragraph is speculative, but I've heard from friends of mine (who've been following D1 all season) that the judges have been really pushing for Nomuken to get the championship. I saw a recent round in which Nomuken went against an AE86 in the final round, and the judging was questionable... it definitely seemed like they had a bias toward Nomuken. As a fan of both AE86s and drifting in general, this upsets me, but I understand why they'd want to put Nomuken in the spotlight. The crowd loves his silly monkey antics... hell, he'd do anything for a crowd. Sure, it's all an act, which upsets me, but he could do a lot for D1 if he was on the podium. So, naturally, they'd want Nomuken to advance past Darren and have a shot at the championship. It's a win-win situation for them... send forth the dwarfish hero, eliminate the foreign threat.

[cfrost]

Nomuken can speak perfect english and has a charming british accent, how do you explain that?

[Mr.Two]

it wasn't car choice that held Darren back, it was the country he was born in... or rather, the country he WASN'T born in.

Thats absurd, I hope you realise that lol. Anyways Im far too ill to reply any further at this moment but maybe tomorrow, we'll see but no garantee's.

[ohtagerbilhero]

it IS absurd, but it's true.

After Vaughn won the D1 USA vs. JPN round this year, Keiichi Tsuchiya didn't present him with the prize or shake his hand... instead, Keiichi was having a heated meeting with the japanese drivers, informing them that, if they ever lost to a foreigner again, they were all fired. He'd shut D1 down.

(I've also heard that Dai Inada, the owner of Option, is the one pulling the strings, but that may have just been Keiichi trying to keep the blame off himself. ...so, if you still want to idolize Keiichi, and imagine that he's still a brilliant glowing orb of honor, just blame Dai. He's like the Emperor to Keiichi's Darth Vader.)

Nationalism to the point of racism isn't uncommon in japan, and i'm not surprised it's showed up in drifting... but i think the point here is that D1 owns the japanese drivers, but they have no control over the American drivers. Vaughn Gittin's victory at D1 didn't draw attention to D1, but rather drew it toward Vaughn's efforts in Formula D and in demos across the globe.

Nomuken's victories bring attention to D1... it's good business.

Even though Darren McNamara drives in D1GP UK, D1 doesn't control him like they do their own drivers, and he'd pose a similar threat... but i think their desire to put Nomuken on the podium weighed in heavily.

[D1 DRIFTER]

talk to the boys from Ireland.. they will tell u how D1 F*cked them over

[my 1 88 u]

I was done with D1 when Taniguchi and Orido left.

Darren vs Hubinette show's why Formula D's no pass rule sucks

[ohtagerbilhero]

do you have a video of this battle? i'm a big fan of Formula D's no passing rule... it makes things a lot more fair for cars under 300hp.

[EverythingDrift]

do you have a video of this battle? i'm a big fan of Formula D's no passing rule... it makes things a lot more fair for cars under 300hp.

There's video on youtube.

[Bebop]

do you have a video of this battle? i'm a big fan of Formula D's no passing rule... it makes things a lot more fair for cars under 300hp.

huh... why and how?

Most of the cars who make passes in D1 are the sub 300HP vehicles. The ae86s that are nimble and can get under a big bulkier less balanced car with ease. JR and Sam will tell you first hand lol.

I'm a little undecided about the no passing rule, like with Djan vs JR. If it was FD rules JR would have won. I didnt think Djan was running very aggressively, just using his lack of HP to grip up under vaughn's bumper.

But Sam VS Darren, I don't think Darren could 100% match the line of Sam who left his inside line wide open. I like the idea of mimicking the other drivers line, but when he doesnt defend it you should have the right to take it.