What will it mean if Daigo wins the Championship?

[Lifer]

Just a thought, but would it be considered Daigo is making a mockery of American Drifting if he was to win the championship as a “rookie”?

I mean with everything the TOP American teams have developed to be competitive in FD, I have faith that they will secure the championship before a rookie could in his first year, but WHAT IF is all I’m saying.

What will that mean to American Drifting if Daigo gets the championship his “rookie” year?

[Cavi Mike]

Not much more than we already know, really. The Japanese are better drifters than we are. They know how to put on a proper show, and that's what drifting is all about. Hell, it's what RACING is all about in Japan. Here, it's just about power, speed and a #1 podium finish. But, that's what Americans want to see anyways - #1 finishes - the whole "2nd place is the 1st loser" thing.

Actually, now that I think about it, maybe him winning will say a lot more than I realized. Maybe it will say that American drifting fans actually DO care about a nice show. Maybe we're finally coming around and seeing that drifting is about finesse and style, not 100mph entries.

Who knows? It's really hard to believe FD has been around 8 years already but maybe by the time year 10 hits, we'll actually be back to door-to-door drifting and this drag-race to turn one will be gone. One can dream, right?

[Bebop]

I think we should not put so much emphasis on the whole "Rookie" argument and put more on the Japanese/D1 argument. FD uses the whole baseball analogy for the reasoning of rookies. They don't care what we think, that's their stance and they are sticking to it.

For the pass few years a many people have made the claim of FD being the pinnacle of the drift world and that the American talent has surpassed the Japanese. But Saito's performance over the passed few events has challenged that claim and I think if he somehow won the championship it will totally destroy it.

To some it up if Daigo wins the championship it will mean Japanese>American drifting wise

[Lifer]

@ Cavi Mike
Very good points. I think if what you say is true, then that could even create a divide between fans of drifting before FD and fans of drifting who only learned about it from FD. The shock of it would cause a reality check to everyone involved with FD and re-evaluate where drifting is going in the USofA.....or they will come back with bigger V8's so your right who knows.

@ Bebop
You have been saying that Japan is ahead of the USofA on drifting for years and most would agree with you, but it IS the point to say out loud that Daigo is officially a "rookie" in FD who could take the championship. Even you have to admit that of all the previous foreign country drifting champions, Daigo is the most controversial because of his history. If Daigo was not classified as a rookie then most would think the same as you for the right reasons. Japan is still leading America in Drifting. BUT for whatever reason Ryan and Jim decided to let him register as a rookie. Now that classification makes him at the same level as George M. and Chelsea D. If the American rookie drivers took the championship in their current rides that would be the most epic year in FD history, but for someone from another pro championship series with an amazing monster of a drift car, come in claiming to be a rookie and win the championship? Maybe I'm over analyzing it, and like I said, if he wasn't classified as a rookie then all would be happy for Daigo's success, but he is not and it is hurting something in American competition drifting affecting the Pros, Proam, and fans alike. I'm not clear yet what it is, but something big will change if Daigo goes back to Japan with the ROTY trophy in one hand, and the FD championship trophy in the other.

Enough theories tossed around by me.

My personal opinion.

Just to be clear. I am not in any way saying I feel he should not be a rookie. Looking at it non objectively, I think Ryan and Jim knew what they were doing. The same they have done for every new driver no matter what their history is. Your new with us? Your a rookie period. We all should accept it from day one. Then the reality of what Daigo brings to the table hits hard, and now here we are. This is what I think will happen. Daigo is amazing and we should be honored he is as good as he is while competing in FD to put on a very exciting show, AND excellent sportsmanship to boot. We will learn a great deal from him, and his style of drifting. What I also feel strongly about is that Americans are fast learners. They will figure it out sooner than most think. The next two rounds I predict will be a stronger attack in tandem battles.

Those who are looking through the smoke, will find the way to the podium right in front of them.

We have seen a hint of that in Atlanta.

[Bebop]

The last D1 tv episode on Speed Channel was the worst I have seen. I have always thought they had the most drivers with more skill then us. But on this episode, every run someone was off course or spinning out and that was there top 16. Now I think Formula D has the most consistent driving.

I agree Jeff, especially the last round I was like WTF amatuer *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored* am I watching? Compared to the driving this year with a few exceptions I think that FD has surpassed D1 in driver level.

That's a quote from a FD pro and grassroots driver with a FD licence made less then 2 years ago.

Here are some examples...

Sam Hornish Jr. was a rookie in 2008 in NASCAR eventhough he came from IndyCar with an Indy 500 win under this belt and 3 IndyCar championships.

Juan Pablo Montoya was a rookie in 2007 in NASCAR eventhough he came from Champ Car/IRL with an Indy 500 win, CART championship and years in F1.

Ichiro Suzuki was a rookie in Major League Baseball in 2001 with 9 seasons of experience coming from Japan's Nippon Baseball League and already being named to Japanese Baseball Hall of Fall while still being an active player in MLB.

This is Jim Liaw defending their rookie classifications in 2009. This isnt the first time this issue came up even with a potential championship contender. Takatori was looking like a strong choice to win the championship after round 2 in 2008 iirc then the whole suspension pickup point scandal broke out where they docked him a bunch of points and made him change his setup. Further more, Takatori wasn't even a high rank D1 driver... no wins, no podiums only a few top 16s.

[my 1 88 u]

I just think some of these top teams and Formula D need to man up and complete/host an event in Japan. Why does it always have to be Japanese drivers coming over this way?

[MonkeySlide]

I just think some of these top teams and Formula D need to man up and complete/host an event in Japan. Why does it always have to be Japanese drivers coming over this way?

Because we tried to play nice with them in the past and they burned us (Remember the Red Bull World Drifting Championship?). Ever since that day professional Japanese drifting has been in disarray and throwing an event over there would mean having to get tangled up in their BS all over again which just isn't worth it, especially if they are already willing to come to us. Maybe someday Formula D will hold an event in Japan if D1 completely dies or if Keiichi and Daijiro's series becomes dominant but for now I just dont think it is worth the headache for them to do it.

As far as Daigo being a "rookie"; Maybe there should be a different term for pro drivers that come from other series.

When Indy Car ate Champ Car AKA "The Re-unification" happend none of those drivers were classified as "rookies" they called them "transition drivers"

While that term itself is kind of boring but you get the idea.

Although I do realize that Rubens Barrichello just came to Indy Car from F1 and they call him a "rookie". Its all sort of a weird inconsistant backwards subjective tomato-tomato type thing.

Personally I think if you have a championship title to your name from another series you should not be classified as a "rookie"

[boxmod]

Rookies should come from ProAm series, not from seasoned teams from other series.

Daigo's driving is not as smooth as I've seen. I watched him spin/correct way more times than I thought possible in Atlanta. He is not an unbeatable driver, but I'm sure sitting next to him on the line is not confidence inspiring. Its also hard to see behind him hahahah. I think JR had him (Saito off line, JR expected the correct line) and when Saito saw him nosing in, knowing he can't pass, he knew he had him. I hate the whole "follow their bad line" idea because drivers who are a few meters from the other car or less, cant anticipate a bad/sloppy/weak transition that throws the lead car off. JR would have had to nearly stop to wait for Daigo to recover.

[Victor Moore]

Daigo coming to compete in FD reminds me of when Ichiro came from Japan to play for the Seattle Mariners. Ichiro was/is a superstar in Japan and proved his skill by winning both the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards his first year. The pitchers he faced did not know how to pitch to him and it wasn't till a few years later where they figured him out. Ichiro didn't get worse, but the pitchers he faced got better.

That's what I feel the affect Daigo is going to have on FD. HE WILL MAKE EVERYONE BETTER. The drivers in FD are amazing, but as stated above they're just not used to his driving style. US drivers are used to driving against the best in the US and the best in US drive totally different than the best in the Japan. Their car setups are also different; precise gearing vs ungodly amounts of wheel speed, etc. But seeing how Walker (who is not seen as a top US driver.... yet) was able put up an amazing and controversial fight against Daigo in the ATL, the US drivers are on par or at least very close.

The first couple of FD courses have also been bank-free as well. Wait till Wall, Evergreen and Irwindale and we'll really get to see what Daigo's made of. I wish him and the rest of the drivers best of luck this season!

*just my 2 cents

[Bebop]

Because we tried to play nice with them in the past and they burned us (Remember the Red Bull World Drifting Championship?). Ever since that day professional Japanese drifting has been in disarray and throwing an event over there would mean having to get tangled up in their BS all over again which just isn't worth it, especially if they are already willing to come to us. Maybe someday Formula D will hold an event in Japan if D1 completely dies or if Keiichi and Daijiro's series becomes dominant but for now I just dont think it is worth the headache for them to do it.

Thats a real funny thing to say because WDC (chinese series) has screwed lots of people over as well and you still see drivers from the states running back to drive over there. Vaughn Gittin who has won 2 D1 events here sent one of his cars to China to compete in that series, so we all know he has the recources to get it to japan as well.

All the problems D1GP had dating back to 2009 from there involvment with XDC, kicking out NOB and Orido, Breaking promisses to British drivers, and being angry about Vaughn winning in 05 have all been issues with KT and Dai. And people are still willing to make comments like yours thinking as if KT and Dai were good for the sport even though after they left D1 has been back to running smoothly.

Formula D has lost way more judges, and sponsors then D1. They also owe money to companies too but no one ever talks about FD "dieing" like they do with D1GP. I think the reasons why American Drivers dont go to Japan is because there was no sponsorship money to get over there. But I also think there is some cowardice and reputation conservation involved as well. Falken tire is now the tire to beat in FD and D1, Falken USA has all the resources to send down drivers to compete.... lets see if they make their way over there this year.

Big ups to Sam Hubinette, Pat Mordaunt, Mike Pollard, and Forrest Wang. Those are all drivers who actually went to Japan to compete in 2010 with the Help of Ueno-san/Vertex.

[boxmod]

<< I'll go lose... errr compete in Japan any time. Where can I pickup my ticket?

[my 1 88 u]

I think some of the top FD drivers are on par with D1 skill wise, the judging criteria is what is keeping FD sub par. Get rid of stupid out side clips, allow passing, give advantages for throttle control and early angle, judge the action on the track instead of preconceived notion of a magical perfect drive line. I missed the days when a driver could choose an early apex or a late one, protect the line or attack it. I bet if all of the drivers where asked to hold full throttle the majority of the track instead of blip blip v8s we'd see more high rev smaller displacement motors back on the field.

[Slapshotnerd]

It means Daigo is the 2012 FD Championship.

In 2009, Ryan Tuerck was 1 tandem round away from beating Chris Forsberg. In NJ, he lost a contraversial call to Joon Maeng. Had he won that battle. Tuerck would have been the 2009 champion.

In 2011, 4 drivers were within 1 or 2 tandem rounds of winning the championship. Congrats to Dai for his win, but I think it's safe to say that the 3 other drivers lost the championship rather than Dai winning it (he's the first driver to clinch the championship by another driver losing a tandem, not by his own control).

Look at Daigo's top 32 and top 16 tandem battles compared to JTP or Freddy Aasbo (currently 1/3)

JTP -
Long Beach - Ross Petty / Kyle Mohan
Atlanta - Ken Gushi / Ryan Tuerck

Aasbo -
Long Beach - Denofa / Yoshihara (lost)
Atlanta - Nishida / Mohan

Daigo -
Long Beach - Marstonovic / Millen (Millen beat himself)
Atlanta - Denofa / JR (JR admittedly beat himself)

Half of doing well in FD these days is who you draw. I'd say that Aasbo and JTP have had a HARDER run, especially considering that both of Daigo's top 16 battles were won by the other driver spinning (He may have beat Millen without the spin but it made the decision easier for the judges). Props to JTP, I think he had the toughest bracket in Atlanta, facing Gushi then the winner of Tuerck vs Yoshihara in the top 16. I feel that it's JTP's to lose this year (Just like it was Dai's to lose last year). If Daigo gets eliminated in a top 32 battle because he faces tougher competition earlier in the bracket, he may not be in the chase for the championship.

[Slapshotnerd]

. If Daigo was not classified as a rookie then most would think the same as you for the right reasons. Japan is still leading America in Drifting. BUT for whatever reason Ryan and Jim decided to let him register as a rookie. Now that classification makes him at the same level as George M. and Chelsea D. If the American rookie drivers took the championship in their current rides that would be the most epic year in FD history, but for someone from another pro championship series with an amazing monster of a drift car, come in claiming to be a rookie and win the championship? Maybe I'm over analyzing it, and like I said, if he wasn't classified as a rookie then all would be happy for Daigo's success, but he is not and it is hurting something in American competition drifting affecting the Pros, Proam, and fans alike. I'm not clear yet what it is, but something big will change if Daigo goes back to Japan with the ROTY trophy in one hand, and the FD championship trophy in the other.

Actually, I don't see that to be the case. Look at who's on the Achilles Tire team - 3 drivers who competed at FD Asia (where Achilles is the title sponsor) and 1 from Ireland who was brought in last minute and is only doing a partial season. I don't feel that Achilles Tire wanted to work with any American drivers from the get go, therefore, they are not taking anything away from other FD drivers. In fact, without Achilles, we likely wouldn't have Robbie back in the drivers seat, which would have taken a top caliber driver off the grid. Even if Daigo wins the championship, I don't see any American companies wanting to shift all their money from their American drivers over to Daigo.

Look at all the J drivers who have driven here in the US previously then left. Most companies stopped working with those drivers because they didn't feel that they got return on their investment (oftentimes due to the language barrier). If anything, Daigo's entry into the US series has brought MORE money to the series via Achilles and sponsors who otherwise wouldn't have been involved.

[Mike Peters]

Plus that car just sounds amazing.

I'm all about America.
I'm all about the V8's
I'm all about ruining drifting
BUT
Daigo's car is just plain rad.