LOS ANGELES (October, 28, 2008) –
As the founder of Drifting, D1 Grand Prix (www.d1gp.com) is announcing
its official return to the United States in 2009. For the past year,
the D1 Grand Prix management team has been quietly and strategically
working to develop a new drift program that will deliver a high impact
and energized competitive drifting series to the United States, but
with an all-new entertainment component that sets it apart from any
other drifting series in the U.S.
What will truly separate the D1GP (USA) drifting series from any other
drift program are the event locations that will draw larger crowds and
will build a new fan base for the sport of drifting. The D1GP USA
events will take place in downtown city locations that serve as a
central area to the surrounding communities.
The all-new D1GP USA series will be operated by Southern California
based, Driven Events. The company has licensed D1 Grand Prix USA and
share a long term vision with D1GP (Japan) to produce the drift
programs in the United States. The license agreement also includes
rights to Canada. The management team behind Driven Events includes the
original founders of Hot Import Nights responsible for much of the
industries growth before they sold HIN in 2004 and Imagine Media Group,
producers of events such as Extreme Autofest. What this means to the
industry is the events for the D1 Grand Prix USA are being hosted by
industry professionals with the leadership and experience to make D1
bigger and better than it previously was.
For the past year, there have been many questions raised as to whether
D1 Grand Prix would come back to the U.S. The answer has always been
yes; however, the key to bringing the racing series back to U.S. soil
surrounded the establishment of a new management team and the timely
development of a program that would separate it from other drifting
programs already competing here.
As part of D1GP USA’s development and strategic growth, the
organization will be working closely with D1GP Japan’s new President,
Isao Saita. With his successful redevelopment of D1 in Japan, Mr. Saita
will be an asset to ensure the drifting meets the high standards of D1
which is known the world over as the pinnacle of all drift competitions.
D1GP has already been in communication with many of the current D1GP
drivers in Japan and they have been building specific cars that will be
shipped and stored in the U.S. to compete in the new drifting program.
The drivers will simply have to fly in for the events.
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