Drift Meeting Round-92 Event Report

September 11, 2017

We held the Yokomo Drift Meeting in Miyagi at the TamTam Sendai store in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture. Although the total number of participants was slightly low at 24, partly due to the Obon holiday, the enthusiastic cheering from the competing drivers kept the venue lively from start to finish.

The course layout proved to be highly thrilling, requiring drivers to build up speed from a long straight before pressing toward the wall. Since there were many cases of drivers colliding with the wall during practice after diving in too aggressively, many competitors were cautious during the qualifiers, resulting in a series of drivers failing to get close enough to the outer line.

For this Yokomo Drift Meeting, unlike the usual event program, we held free practice and a Yokomo setting lecture in the morning, with the standard event program following in the afternoon.

The Yokomo Drift Meeting in Miyagi was held at the TamTam Sendai store in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture. Although the total number of participants was slightly low at 24, partly due to the Obon holiday, the enthusiastic cheering from the competing drivers kept the venue lively from start to finish.

This event was contested across four classes: Sports, Expert, RWD, and D1. The standout star of this event was female driver Hiromi, who competed in the D1 class. She qualified in 4th place in the solo runs, earning her spot in the tandem tournament with a commanding performance. Even during the tandem runs, she displayed incredible, bumper-to-bumper following skills that rivaled any male driver, successfully advancing to the finals. Her opponent was the world-class driver Itsuki, making for a matchup where the outcome was completely unpredictable. Ultimately, it was world-class driver Itsuki who secured the victory by scoring crucial points during his follow run, taking home the D1 class title.

Although Hiromi narrowly missed the top spot, there was an unexpected surprise at the awards ceremony. Typically, the winner of the D1 class is promoted to the World Class; however, there was no designated World Class for this round, meaning World Class drivers were participating in the D1 class as well. According to the Yokomo Drift Meeting rules, "if a World Class driver participates in the D1 class and wins, the highest-ranking D1 driver is promoted to the World Class instead." Consequently, runner-up Hiromi was promoted to the World Class, becoming the first-ever female World Class driver.

The Concours d'Elegance award went to LTO, who perfectly replicated the livery of Shoki Tanaka, a driver currently active in the real-life D1 Grand Prix. In his actual driving as well, LTO showcased an aggressive solo run style similar to Tanaka's, characterized by quick, sharp angles.

Sports Class