Sideways Science: The Illegal Technique That Created the Drift King

Tsuchiya built the ladder, and these are the men who climbed it. Three add-on segments for the Advance Spins Drift King video, covering the champions who carried drifting from mountain-road obsession to professional sport. Nobuteru Taniguchi came out of high school with a souped-up AE86, climbed through Ikaten, and won the very first D1 Grand Prix championship in 2001 in the legendary HKS S15 Silvia. Youichi Imamura, a working florist from Yamanashi, won the opening D1 round at Ebisu in 2000, became the series' youngest champion at 27 in his A'PEXi RX-7 in 2003, overtook Taniguchi's win record in 2005, and finished with four titles before becoming a Formula Drift Japan judge. Yasuyuki Kazama, Tsuchiya's own Kei Office protégé in jade green, took the 2005 crown by a single point, the narrowest margin in series history, blending teachable technique with the untouchable instincts that made the Drift King great. #drifting #JDM #D1GP #Advancespins