Daigo Saito Joins Bridges Racing

[INFO]

Daigo Saito Joins Bridges Racing


The rumor mill has been churning ever since Daigo Saito was seen strolling through the pits at the Formula D Las Vegas event during the 2011 season.

Drift fans across the country immediately began speculating that a new driver was possibly going to be joining the Formula D competition.
Bridges Racing is excited to announce that Daigo Saito will be bringing his aggressive driving style stateside to, in his words, “test his skills against some of the finest drivers in the world.” Daigo will be joining Robbie Nishida and the Bridges Racing team for the 2012 Formula Drift season.
After winning the 2008 D1 Championship and narrowly missing a 2nd D1 championship by a mere couple points in 2011, Daigo has taken the 2011 Formula Drift Asia Series by storm by winning 3 consecutive events. He is excited to compete in the United States Formula Drift series and hopes to make a lasting impression on fans stateside. Daigo is renowned for his accomplishments with the JZX100 in the D1, but we have yet to announce what he will be driving during the 2012 Formula Drift season.
“We are elated that Daigo and Robbie are part of the Bridges Racing team for the 2012 season. We are excited to see what 2012 has to offer. After having the pleasure of working with Robbie during 2011Formula Drift season, the addition of Daigo to our team is another invaluable asset. Our goals are set pretty high this year, “ said team owner, Bryan Bridges.
We will be announcing more information regarding car builds and new sponsors in the coming weeks.

[my 1 88 u]

Very good news.

[Bebop]

interesting

[stedriftward]

I just hope he gets the right set up and support he needs to be a contender. It's embarrassing when a top J driver comes over to compete and has all the skills but just not the right car or support...Robbie has shown that he can take a mediocre car and have good results but I think to be in the top 5 overall they need a top of the line build and setup support...Hopefully they get that. I hate to say it but the proof is in the pudding...If you're not running a high HP V8 in FD nowadays you'll play hell trying to keep up...No matter the skill.

Just my .02

I wish Daigo and Robbie well...They are both some of my favorite drivers.

[Bebop]

Originally Posted by stedriftward

It's embarrassing when a top J driver comes over to compete and has all the skills but just not the right car or support...

My exact fear...

[YOitzJDM]

Last year, Robbie showed that the car had improved overall from when Takatori drove it. He earned a 3rd place qualifier overall in Vegas and a top 8 at Irwindale, showing that perhaps the car is finally improved. He only made 4 rounds overall, but did well in those 4 rounds.

i'm pretty sure Bridges doesn't have a second car already, so they will need to build a second car and fly 2 drivers over from Japan (which can easily cost $10k per driver for 7 events). I don't understand how they are going to go from 1 car at 4 events last year to 2 cars (1 of which is a brand new build) and a full season this year.

Chances are, both drivers will only be at the West Coast events.

Also, I don't think Daigo has any LHD driving experience outside of a test run he took in an S14 at the Red Bull championships (which he stuffed into the tires because he was unfamiliar with the controls). because of the cost of building a new car, he'll probably get stuffed into a pretty simple S13, which means he won't have much room for mistakes.

I applaud Bridges for making an effort, but can't see how this will turn out well unless they won the lottery in the offseason.

[my 1 88 u]

what happened to the good ol' days when they would ship over their machines

[Bebop]

Originally Posted by my 1 88 u

what happened to the good ol' days when they would ship over their machines

Formula D's rule book happened.

Doubt anything Daigo owns with 4 doors is FD legal.

Also, I don't think Daigo has any LHD driving experience

Actually Daigo owns a LHD LS1 240sx and practices with it on a regular basis.

[my 1 88 u]

what do they violate?

[Bebop]

Probably modded pickup points.

[boxmod]

his car violates the 9a.8 rule in appendix K:
Awesome unique cars that are driven by madmen are not allowed; this is especially true if said car has been 4 wheels mid-air at Ebisu on initiation.


just one of those odd rules i guess

[ztkrevolution]

Hhahahahhaha

[Shadowhuntr]

Originally Posted by boxmod

his car violates the 9a.8 rule in appendix K:
Awesome unique cars that are driven by madmen are not allowed; this is especially true if said car has been 4 wheels mid-air at Ebisu on initiation.


just one of those odd rules i guess

Hilarity Ensues.

[BigGameHit]

nice cool dude