DIVISIONAL UNITED: MSF Shootout at Fuji

Last weekend was kind of busy, with a trackay on Sunday and the D1 Street Legal Regional MSF Shootout at Fuji Speedway on Saturday.

The MSF Shootout (sponsored by mobile content creators Mobile Software Foundation) brings together the best drivers from each of the D1SL Regional divisions, North, East, Central, South and West. All of these guys have already scored a D1SL licence for next year, but this was a one-off comp to see which ones were the most sidewaysiest of the lot. The winner also received ¥300,000 and a free trip to America to watch the next D1 USA event.

The Fuji Drift Course (or doripa as most people here call it) caught out a few drivers who were unfamiliar with the layout used on the day, like early victim Masamune Ochiai.

If you did spin and were heading backwards towards the wall, it was a case of jam it in first, floor it and pray.

Last year’s D1SL champion Naoto Suenaga was there to provide a bit of a look at what they’d be up against in next year’s competition.

Manki Itou’s JZX100 is one of the few that doesn’t seem to wallow around the track when drifting, but he is known for being a bit of a suspension expert.

The D1SL video of this event will have some nice up-close shots.

The guys from the West division were looking good.

The little upside-down McDonald’s logo is a new sticker for team Wish. Below, it says “I’m drivin’ it”.

If you’re wondering why I’m not really doing proper coverage of this event, it’s because I was really there to support my buddy Yoshio Takahashi, who had been invited from the Central Series.

Also, because there weren’t really meant to be any press there, and I don’t want to piss off Option.

Unfortunately, Yoshio had an arse of a day, crashing into the barrier early on, which threw off his game for the rest of the day. That puncture photo from the Weekend Edition was his tyre. Here, he and Shino tell us what they think.

The bodywork was nice and straight before this event too. “It’s not going to turn into a missile.” said Yoshio.

The other side of the car still looks clean.

For a non sequitur final picture, here’s a man in an eggplant suit.

Categorised in: D1 Street Legal　ストリートリーガル

This post was written by Alexi