Leading Japanese D1 team, Team Orange, have confirmed entry into the Tectaloy International Drift Challenge with 2006 D1GP champion Nobushige Kumakubo and his offsider and 2008 D1SL champion Naoto Suenaga both making the trip down under to compete under lights. Team Orange are very well known for converting conventional all wheel drive vehicles to rear wheel drive for drift duties and the cars they will be bringing to Australia include a Subaru WRX Imprezza that claims over 650PS and a Mitsubishi Evo 9 that claims over 600PS. Both of these cars have competed in recent years in Japanese D1GP and will be supported by Yokohama tyre Japan and run on Advan ADO8 tyres as they do in D1GP.
Although a few Japanese D1 drivers have competed in Australia before in locally built cars, including Ueno and Yoshioka at the first Tectaloy Drift Challenge in 2010, this will be the first time a Japanese D1 team will compete in their own vehicles on Australian soil and this is something Australian fans have long waited to see.
Kumakubo-san is the team principle and brings a wealth of experience to the team competing in Japanese D1 since 2002 with one championship and one runner up position to his name and is well renowned for his “extreme attack” style of driving. Suenaga-san has been competing in D1GP since 2004 and has a history with his boss dating back many years previous when they raced motorcycles together. In 2008 he switched back to the “street legal” D1 series and won a record 5 out of the 6 national rounds a feat that has never been repeated.
The engineering on the Team Orange vehicles is also something that must be admired with both cars featuring a complete build with much of the tuning and engineering performed by the ex “racing brain” of Jun Auto Mechanic, a man that is known as “GOD HAND” Koyama. This includes turning the Mitsubishi Evo engine 90 degrees to North South configuration and fitting both cars with Holinger sequential six speed gearboxes. Kumakubo-san has also informed us he is “aware of the big power the Australian and more particularly the New Zealand cars are making” and as such will be working with Mr Koyama to ensure both cars are packing a bit bigger punch when they head down under.
“To have Team Orange coming to Sydney to compete against the best talent Australia and New Zealand has to offer is something fans have long waited to see” said TIDC manager Amy Boatwright “without a doubt, the dream of many a drift fan would be to see their favourite local star take on a Japanese superstar and now they will finally have the chance”
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