(CANCELLED) 2010 D1 USA GRAND PRIX Event Schedule

[INFO]

CORRECTION
D1GP USA DELAYS EVENTS TO 2011

D1 WORLDWIDE ENTERTAINMENT DELAYS U.S. EVENTS TO 2011 SEASON

D1Burbank, CA – 7/28/2010– D1 Worldwide Entertainment, (www.d1gp.com), the official organizers of automotive entertainment’s premier drifting events in the United States announced today the 2010 USA D1 Grand Prix event line-up will be delayed to the 2011 Season.

D1 Corporation, Japan initiated conversations with American organizers last week to discuss the U.S. events and their late season start. It was determined that potentially the quality of the events would be compromised and therefore the D1 brand would be better served by pushing the organization of these events into the to-be-determined 2011 D1 Grand Prix season.

The 2010 D1 Grand Prix on SPEED™ will run as scheduled for its premiere on September 4, 2010 at 6:00PM Eastern Standard Time. The television series will now focus on the eight D1 2010 Grand Prix events emanating from Japan which include multiple North American drifting drivers competing head to head with the greatest drifters in the world. The premiere episode will include U.S. favorites Samuel Hubinette, Mike Pollard and Forrest Wang. Additionally, viewers will find Fox Sport Net running repeats of the 10 episodes; dates and times to be announced.

About D1 Worldwide Entertainment

Formed in 2009 by veteran 20th Century Fox Television executive and entrepreneur Bob Cook and entertainment marketing entrepreneur Sam Johnson along with D1 Corporation Co., Ltd. (Japan) and its president Osami Suzuki, D1 Worldwide Entertainment’s objective is to bring true Japanese-style drift-car motorcar events, via D1 Grand Prix branded events to audiences around the world, The company holds all rights to D1 Grand Prix, outside of Japan, including licensing, merchandising, promotions, marketing, mobile, DD, events, music, digital, gaming and retail. The company has licensed North American broadcast rights to the 2010 D1 Grand Prix season to the SPEED™ and FOX Sports Net.

###

D1 WORLDWIDE ENTERTAINMENT

info@d1we.com




D1 USA GRAND PRIX 2010 Event Schedule


SPEED™ and D1 WORLDWIDE ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE
THE 2010 D1 USA GRAND PRIX EVENT DATES

SPEED™ to Carry a Series of One-Hour Broadcasts Covering all U.S. and Japanese D1 Grand Prix Events starting Saturday, September 4, Los Angeles, CA – June 9, 2010 – SPEED™ and D1 Worldwide Entertainment (www.d1gp.com, www.d1we.com), the official organizers of automotive entertainment’s premier drifting events in the United States announced today the 2010 USA D1 Grand Prix event line-up and that each event, plus the D1 Grand Prix Japan events will be covered by one-hour television broadcasts to be carried on SPEED™ throughout the entire drifting season.

The first SPEED broadcast is scheduled for September 4 at 6:30 p.m. ET from Tokyo, with the second event premiering September 12th at 6 p.m. ET from Oita, Japan. “Bringing USA D1 Grand Prix drifting events to SPEED is a cool new addition to the network,” said SPEED President Hunter Nickell. “Combining the young, cutting-edge atmosphere of drifting with the history and familiarity of host venues like Atlanta, Texas, Homestead-Miami, and Irwindale will be a unique experience for our viewers.”

D1 Grand Prix events are held as adrenaline packed, tire smoked filled weekends with wheel to wheel, head-to-head matches between drivers drifting inches apart at speeds in excess of 120mph. Successive single elimination heats leading up to a final competition are used to determine an event winner. All drivers that endure the crashes, mechanical failures, and stiff competition receive points based on their final event standing and accumulate points throughout the season to determine the overall season champion, similar to other automotive entertainment.

The 2010 USA D1 Grand Prix events are:
August 13-14
Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, TX (Round 1 & 2)
September 24 - 25
Atlanta Motor Speedway, Atlanta, GA (Round 3)
October 29-30
Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, FL (Round 4)
November 27-28
Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, Irwindale, CA (Round 5/Finale)

D1 Corporation Co., Ltd. (Japan) president Osami Suzuki proudly announced, “We are extremely proud and honored that D1 has found the proper home on SPEED to make our sport “We are bringing true Japanese-style drift-car competition to raceways, including several NASCAR tracks, in the United States,” said Bob Cook and Sam Johnson, partner-owners in D1 Worldwide Entertainment, along with D1 Corp Japan. “The excitement and adrenaline rush of D1 Grand Prix is like watching the last four laps of a NASCAR race in every head-to-head match!”

The series of fifteen one-hour television broadcasts will cover all the action, drama and insane driving as drifters clash like modern day gladiators on the asphalt battlefield at five USA D1 Grand Prix events and nine D1 Grand Prix events in Japan plus a season-ending wrap-up special. The events will be a true international competition, including drivers from both the United States and Japan. Each television broadcast will cover the Top 3 American drivers
including Samuel Hubinette, dubbed the “Crazy Swede” a 2-time American drifting champion who also happens to be a Hollywood stunt driver; Hawaii-native Forrest Wang, who is one of the elite drivers in the D1 Grand Prix drifting series; and Mike Pollard, the 24-year-old sensation from Minnesota as they challenge the top D1 Grand Prix Championship drivers from Japan in their quest to be crowned the best drifter in the world.

The 2010 D1 Grand Prix events in Japan are:
March 27-28
Tokyo Drift in Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan (Round 1 and All Stars)
April 24-25
Autopolis International Racing Course, Kamit-sue-mura, Hita-gun, Oita,
Japan (Round 2)
Fuji Int’l Speedway, Nakahinata Oyama-Cho Sunto-Gun, Shizuoka-Ken,
Japan (Rounds 3)
June 26-27
Okayama, Aida-cho, Aida-gun, Japan (Round 4)
July 17-18
Tokachi, Japan (Round 5)
August 7-8
EBISU, Nihonmatsu-shi, Japan (Rounds 6 and 7)
October 9-10
Fuji Int’l Speedway, Shizuoka-Ken, Japan (Exhibition and Round 8
Japan Finale)

SPEED broadcast schedule (all time ET; subject to change):
Sat, Sep 4
Sun, Sep 12
Sat, Sep 18
Sun, Sep 26
Sun, Oct 3
Sat, Oct 9
Sun, Oct 17
Sat, Oct 23
Sun, Oct 31
Sat, Nov 7
Fuji Exhibition Sat, Nov 13
Sat, Nov 20
Sun, Dec 5
Sun, Dec 5
Sun, Dec 12

D1 Corp (Japan), the founding organization which developed professional drifting competitions and has been organizing them all over the world for over a decade, will be responsible in the United States for event set-up, track configurations, scheduling, judging and all things related to driver competition. Sponsorship and Branded Entertainment veteran Brett Lyons of Match Entertainment will lead all sponsor outreach and partnerships across the multiple D1 platforms including TV, Online, Mobile, and out of home promotional platforms.

Sporting events veteran Ed Arguelles of Imagine Media Group, LLC will handle all event marketing, promotion, vendor relationships and limited sponsorships. Rainer Siek, past president of CBS Broadcast International, will be handling all international television sales and D1 Worldwide Entertainment will handle all licensing and merchandising and worldwide sponsorships, except Japan.

About SPEED™
SPEED™, anchored by its popular and wide-ranging coverage of NASCAR, is the nation’s first and only cable television network dedicated to automotive and motorcycle racing, performance and lifestyle. Now available in more than 80 million homes in North America, SPEED™ is among the industry leaders in interactive TV, video on demand, mobile initiatives and broadband services. For more information, please visit SPEEDtv.com, the online motor sports authority.

About D1 Worldwide Entertainment
Formed in 2009 by veteran 20th Century Fox Television executive and entrepreneur Bob Cook and entertainment marketing entrepreneur Sam Johnson along with D1 Corporation Co., Ltd. (Japan) and its president Osami Suzuki, D1 Worldwide Entertainment’s objective is to bring true Japanese-style drift-car motorcar events, via D1 Grand Prix branded events to audiences around the world, The company holds all rights to D1 Grand Prix, outside of Japan, including licensing, merchandising, promotions, marketing, mobile, DD, events, music, digital, gaming and retail. The company is currently gearing up for the 2010 United States D1 Grand Prix season and has scheduled five events running May through October 2010. The company has licensed North American broadcast rights to the 2010 D1 Grand Prix season to the SPEED™ and FOX Sports Net. International broadcast rights are still available to the 2010 D1 Grand

[NNog]

HA! im still waiting for the "GAME OVER" TV schedule on FOX.

[Shadowhuntr]

Awesome, it's about time D1 made a comeback, hopefully no drama like last time.

[2JZdude]

Originally Posted by Shadowhuntr

Awesome, it's about time D1 made a comeback, hopefully no drama like last time.

What would D1 USA be without drama?? lol

[Slapshotnerd]

if I had a dollar for each event D1GP USA announced on a schedule, I'd have.... a lot of $1 bills.

If I had a dollar for each event D1GP USA successfully held... I'd have a lot fewer $1 bills.

These guys are a joke.

[AE86_Fan]

i wonder if the Drift Avengers will be involved this year... LOL

Dr. Z made last year interesting !

[Lord_EJR]

Wish them the best of luck. Videos look really high quality. Hope the events go well.

[Justin Banner]

Originally Posted by AE86_Fan

i wonder if the Drift Avengers will be involved this year... LOL

Dr. Z made last year interesting !

No comment :P

[Piner]

they announcing this this far into 2010? Half the year is already over

[mannynj]

No New Jersey event???!!! boooooo

[SSmith]

Wow... the D1 haters already expressed their opinions before it even started. Let the competition between D1, FD, and XDC begin... remember folks, competition brings the best out of everyone. Btw, where is FD TV schedule for this season...is it still on that VS. channel?

[courantcom]

I wanna be D1's hooker...(again). =)

[Ryan FD]

Btw, where is FD TV schedule for this season...is it still on that VS. channel?

Yes on VERSUS. Schedule has been listed on the home page of our site since January.

[INFO]

Originally Posted by Ryan FD

Yes on VERSUS. Schedule has been listed on the home page of our site since January.

this gets asked a lot so we added the 2010 Formula Drift TV schedule to the new site this week.

http://drifting.com/drifting-event-coverage/

[AE86_Fan]

is this going to be held in parking lots or actually on tracks ?

[INFO]

Originally Posted by AE86_Fan

is this going to be held in parking lots or actually on tracks ?

we might have a confirmation on this by today

[INFO]

Originally Posted by AE86_Fan

is this going to be held in parking lots or actually on tracks ?

they are all track events

[Bebop]

Dear D1GP and Affiliates

First and foremost thank you D1GP, you introduced me and a huge percent of the world to the sport of drifting. I watched my first option VHS tape when I was 12 years old, a grainy bootleg of cars sliding around on some kart track that my father brought home from work. It wasn’t till a couple years later I finally was able to a name to the act. An old buddy said to me “hey check out this new sport in Japan” drifting was what they were calling it. Soon after that, I found my self downloading videos off Kazaa and bear share, finding my self in Japanese book stores. Doing anything to get my hands on D1gp…. Needless to say when you guys threw the first event at Irwindale 2003 iirc I was there! And I’m 90% proud to say I haven’t missed an event in southern California since.

But that was then, we are now in 2010. And for the last 3 years we have been given empty promise after empty promise. 2009 was the last straw for some folks. We were given a “pro series” with pro am drivers, and grassroot quality venues(for the most part).Yes you guys did send us several top rank D1 pros, but they ended up raping their US counterparts or threw tissy fits when they were beat by them. And that was a planned schedule. Summer is almost here, the race season is half over and now we are barely getting a 5 round schedule? To be honest, if I was not a die hard/loyal D1 fan I would totally write you guys off. But rather then hating or showing blind support disregarding your late track record I rather give you some points from an outsider looking in on things that need to be addressed before moving further.

Drivers

Where are you guys going to be getting talent to drive in your series? There are 2 sanctioning bodies in the states, one with best pros and the other with the pro am privateers that ran in your series last year. Budgets have already been laid out, competitor series have been scheduled. You must export your own at this point. Who do you guys have ready; of course you got to bring out the usual suspects. Team Orange, Nomuken, and maybe Saito. But please don’t get caught up with the notion you must bring the best of the best to make fans happy. Thanks to the internet we all know they’re a lot of hungry talented drivers in Japan. Guys like Nakamura, Fukuda, and other good D1 drivers that don’t totally dominate the series would be really nice. D1 is about intensity and driving your heart out and those guys bring it. Big respect for the Americans who have gone to Japan to compete this year. Pollard Wang, Hubbinette, and Mordaunt will be good additions to this series. Any love for Europe? American fans have been demanding a return of Fredric Aasbo and James Dean. Either way we need solid competitors that drive their heart out to make this entertaining, we can’t do this with a couple D1 pros and a bunch of local rejects.

Judges and Announcers

For goodness sake bring back Toshi Hayama; he is the first and best english announcer this sport has had. He knows the most about the driver, cars, and the terminology. Pay the guy what ever he wants, he Is worth it IMO. Especially if you bring in KT as a main judge, you need someone who can properly translate. Judges… non Japanese the pickings are kind of slim. Only person who pops in my head who can really judge, currently not doing anything, and is non bias is Calvin Wan. Has ton of experience in general motorsports, and has been in it since the beginning. Please no washed up road racers or nascar guys, they might do a good job but they don’t have enough credibility for the drivers and the fans to respect. And please no drift box, unless it’s only used for reference purposes and not as an actually judging criteria.

Image

In the beginning D1gp was the benchmark for the rules and regulation and overall concept of drifting. While much of the basics are still the same your competitors have tweaked it a little. I’m not going to say one is better then the other but a line definitely needs to be drawn between the two. I hope now going further instead of bragging about being the worlds best, or the original you guys market the “D1 style of drifting”. The formula (no pun intended) still works; if not you guys would be out of business in Japan. Another thing as well, keep in mind USA does not have a MSC like series. People like fun drama free drifting as well. Teams and classes could work with the right marketing and logistics, if you build it…someone is going to come…right?

Television

I’m going to be blunt, if your main goal is to put it on TV and make some money… Just quit right now, unless its prime-time on fox with big names no one is going to watch. I already just flat out avoid Speed Network due to the huge amounts of nascar coverage. Even if there is a good road race on or open wheel(not indy) it’s not on when I’m at home and they never repeat it. This would be good for the Speed 2 channel which a lot of sanctioning bodies are switching over to next year. But again, this isn’t going to make you guys rich. Straight up drifting does not have that cross over star to move in wide units yet. There are no Jordans, Woods, Pastranas, or Liddells yet in USA drifting. And if there Is one on the rise he is not competing in D1 as of right now (Vaughn Gittin JR). Unless you can teach Nomuken so good English and get him hooked up with a celebrity and have TMZ discover a sex tape, you guys don’t have much to work with crossover wise.

Overall I want to see the old fun competitive D1 back in the states. I won’t go as far as saying we need a full championship series from you guys but having one or two events a year is more then enough to make a bit of money and keep the name in our mouths in a positive manner. Things that happen last year, FIX. Understand the American audience is not that stupid, we know when we are getting something watered down and slapped together. Names are just odd sounding words and don’t mean quality anymore. Thank you for what you have given to us over the years, but come correct or please don’t come at all.

Sincerely, Blaze1

[D1 DRIFTER]

they just need to reconnect the dots, bring 04 D1 back into it. you gotta pay to play when your neighbor is FD. dont bring 5 or 10 drivers bring a full line up and then let the pro am dudes and pro FD guys play to.

everyone can swim in the same pool and not piss in it..

[Shadowhuntr]

I'm down for D1 again, but.... I don't want to have to wait 1.5hrs to get some crappy tacos, to get up to the table and find out they are out of tacos.
Work with your vendors, anticipate having more people than actually show up to expedite people getting food.
Make sure there enough bathrooms, water and hand soap. I guess Irwindale is the venue I would attend this time so this shouldn't be an issue, but last D1 I went to was a nightmare services and facilities wise. New announcers for sure, and I'd def like to see some more Japanese drivers other than team orange.
With the TV deal you guys just signed you should have enough money to upgrade from previous mistakes and make it a fun venue for everyone. Just my .02

[vvtisupra]

D1 vs FD !!!!!

[Slapshotnerd]

Slapshotnerd's Open letter to D1GP:

Get out. Stay out. Don't come back now, ya heard?!?!

You're tried and you failed. Then you tried and failed again. and again. and again. Then you had a "marginal" season last year, but it still felt like a pro-am competition. And now you're trying again?!?!??

Stick to what you know - Japan. FD isn't trying to throw events in Japan (to my knowledge), because they don't know the market as well as a local company.

Sponsorship in the US is spread thin as it is. The only thing you will do by coming to the game this late with, what is presumed to be little to no existing sponsorship, is steal away the little extraneous sponsorship money that is around for your greedy hands.

Oh, and stop bullying your drivers. Daigo Saito wanted to drive at Red Bull in 2008 and in Formula D in 2009, and he had a sponsor ready to go, but you said no. You scolded him and made threats against him and his name, and he came back to Japan disappointed that he couldn't live his life-long dream of driving competitively in the US. SHAME ON YOU!!! No other sanctioning body in motorsports tries to protect their drivers like that. NASCAR doesn't tell Joey Logano not to drive in another series. INDY doesn't tell Juan Pablo Montoya to stay put. Rally America doesn't tell Ken Block not to compete in WRC. Let the drivers do as they please. If they want to drive in your series, good for you. If they want to drive in another series, good for the fans of that series. Your bullying tactics are no secret.

Go away. Nobody likes you. Get off your high horse. You may have started the game 10 years ago, but the Americans have perfected your game. Live with it.

[OldSkool510]

Organization wise, FD owns D1 in the states. Driver wise, it would be a dumb move for FD to pit its drivers against D1's. D1's lineup is much too strong for FD.

I'm all for D1 returning to the STATES. Instead of a series,
D1 should just return as an exhibition, a la Cirque de Soleil. Calling it a series with only 6 J drivers is not a series at all.

Welcome back...again. This time do it on a much quieter note. Don't come back with all the hype that you cannot live up to. Good luck.

[Slapshotnerd]

From the press release:

D1 Grand Prix events are held as adrenaline packed, tire smoked filled weekends with wheel to wheel, head-to-head matches between drivers drifting inches apart at speeds in excess of 120mph.

Can anyone tell me which tracks on the D1GP schedule have 120mph+ entry speeds? that's 190 km/h.... In order to substantiate this claim, both cars must hit 120mph entry speeds in tandem battles, not just during qualifying. I find that very very hard to believe, especially on any event held on US soil. There's no point in putting a lofty speed number like that in your first press release of the year unless you can make it happen.

This sounds like more smoke and mirrors. Prove me wrong.

[SSmith]

All the D1 haters just chill a bit.. let it all play out. After all it's a free market, let D1 do what they want. If they deliver, that's good, fans have another option to entertain themselves. If they don't, fans still have another option to watch drifting.
FD fan boys are like Apple telling Android what they can or can't do with their phones. Just look how scared Apple is toward the competition when HTC release the Android phones. Let the market decide which series is better and let each series strive to be better than the other so it'll be good for the fans who pay to go see these events.