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Drifting has grown as an international motorsport in the past few years. Drift series abound in countries such as Japan, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and even Malaysia. Over this past weekend, drifters from these series all over the world descended upon Irwindale Speedway in California for the D1 Grand Prix All-Star World Championship. The represented countries encompassed the United States, Canada, France, Ireland, Sweden, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Many of the overseas competitors had never experienced a high-speed banked course such as Irwindale, and they had a big learning curve to overcome. Some flourished while others walked away with a few dents. The night was riddled with unfortunate wall collisions and mechanical failures. After many exciting rounds of tandem drift action, Vaughn Gitten Jr. (JR) of the United States secured the World Championship with his Ford Mustang. JR defeated Nobushige Kumakubo and his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution in the final round. It was payback for Kumakubo's win againt JR in the USA versus Japan battle earlier in the day.
We made sure to give every qualified competitor some love in the gallery, which you can check out below.
Drifting has grown as an international motorsport in the past few years. Drift series abound in countries such as Japan, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and even Malaysia. Over this past weekend, drifters from these series all over the world descended upon Irwindale Speedway in California for the D1 Grand Prix All-Star World Championship. The represented countries encompassed the United States, Canada, France, Ireland, Sweden, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Many of the overseas competitors had never experienced a high-speed banked course such as Irwindale, and they had a big learning curve to overcome. Some flourished while others walked away with a few dents. The night was riddled with unfortunate wall collisions and mechanical failures. After many exciting rounds of tandem drift action, Vaughn Gitten Jr. (JR) of the United States secured the World Championship with his Ford Mustang. JR defeated Nobushige Kumakubo and his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution in the final round. It was payback for Kumakubo's win againt JR in the USA versus Japan battle earlier in the day.
We made sure to give every qualified competitor some love in the gallery, which you can check out below.
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