FOR
IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
DI
GRAND
PRIX’S
RETURN
TO
THE
U.S.
A
HUGE
SUCCESS
AS
DAIGO
SAITO
WINS
IN
ANAHEIM!!!
-
PACKED
CROWDS,
COMPETITIVE
RACING,
AND
WORLD-CLASS
ENTERTAINMENT
MAKES
D1GP
THE
BEST
TICKET
IN
TOWN
-
LOS
ANGELES
(May
6,
2009)
–
After
a
three-year
absence
in
the
United
States,
the
D1GP
made
its
comeback
on
Saturday
May
2,
at
Angel
Stadium
of
Anaheim.
With
the
grandstands
packed,
competitors
from
around
the
world
gathered
in
Anaheim
to
compete
in
the
first
of
four
scheduled
rounds
in
the
2009
D1GP
USA
Championship
Points
Series.
Daigo
Saito
in
his
Toyota
Chaser
managed
to
stave
off
Nobushige
Kumakubo
in
the
Team
Orange
Subaru
Impreza
in a
hard-fought
battle
for
first
place.
Perhaps
the
biggest
surprise,
however,
was
rookie
American
driver
Forrest
Wang
eliminating
several
experienced
drifters
on
his
way
to
an
impressive
third
place
finish.
“This
was
such
a
dream
come
true
for
me.
I
have
looked
up
to
both
Saito
and
Kumakubo
and
was
honored
to
drive
with
them
today,”
Wang
said
at
the
post-event
press
conference.
The
opening
round
of
the
2009
series
also
marked
the
first-ever
use
of
Racelogic’s
DriftBox
in
drifting
competition
history.
Many
of
the
questions
at
the
press
conference
were
centered
on
this
new
technology,
which
is
designed
to
reduce
subjectivity
in
the
scoring
process.
“The
Telemetry-based
GPS
scoring
system
in
each
car
performed
just
as
we
expected,”
said
Terence
Jenkins,
SVP
of
Operations
and
D1GP
USA
Competition
Director.
“The
audience
saw
in
real-time,
on
the
JumboTron,
data
such
as
vehicle
speed
and
drift
angle
that
was
transmitted
from
each
competition
car.”
“I
was
surprised
with
how
accurate
the
number
readings
were
on
the
new
DriftBox
scoring
system,”
said
Round
1
winner
Daigo
Saito.
He
also
added,
“It
was
great
to
drive
alongside
Mr.
Kumakubo
in
the
finals.”
Second
place
finisher
Nobushige
Kumakubo
also
praised
the
new
scoring
system
saying,
“This
was
the
first
time
I
competed
with
the
DriftBox.
I
look
forward
to
using
it
again
in
the
future.
I
was
satisfied
with
the
results.”
Overall,
the
D1GP’s
return
to
the
United
States
was
a
resounding
success
with
the
high
level
of
competition
and
the
non-stop
action
from
the
start
of
practice
on
Friday
morning
to
the
final
tandem
run
on
Saturday
evening.
"The
crowd
attendance
was
outstanding.
The
competition
was
closer
than
I
have
ever
seen
before,”
Jenkins
said.
“We
want
to
thank
all
our
sponsors
for
their
support
and
we
are
thrilled
to
have
them
supporting
D1GP
USA.
With
the
first
event
so
successful
we
are
even
more
excited
for
Round
2.”
News
of
the
upcoming
events
will
be
coming
out
shortly.
For
more
information
about
D1GP
USA
and
the
Anaheim
event,
please
visit
www.d1gp.com.
For
media
inquiries
please
contact
Matt
Danenhauer,
DRIVEN
Media
Communications
matt@drivenmc.com
|
(951)
461-2429
|
www.drivenontheweb.com