The 2007 Autobacs D1 Grand Prix series was the seventh season for the D1 Grand Prix series and was the second season for its spinoff D1 Street Legal.
It was the first time since 2003 that the entire series took place entirely in Japan.
It began on 4 February 2007, as a D1SL exclusive event at Sekia Hills, the mainstay D1GP event opened on 25 March at Ebisu Circuit. In the same year, due to its popularity of its US point scoring round that was held over three seasons, it saw the introduction of its own domestic series. The series would suffer two setbacks as it suffered from two cancellations. The first was at Irwindale Speedway on 11 March, due to its Japanese competitors who had been building cars specially to compete in the series but could not get the cars ready in time for the event.
The D1 US organisation suffered a further blow when, due to unresolved issues, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors refused license to the D1 event to take place at Altamont Motorsports Park on 24 June, forcing it to be cancelled.
It was to be the second season for the Malaysian franchise, D1MY; but due to unforeseen circumstances, round 1, which was to take place on March, was cancelled. Nothing has been heard about the organisation since.Official D1 Grand Prix Malaysia Website
The season will be best remembered for the two-car accident between Masato Kawabata and Daigo Saito in Fuji Speedway, when during the sudden death second round, Saito dipped into the inner apex of the 300R corner, causing his car to understeer and collecting Kawabata's Silvia onto the tyre barrier in the process, severely destroyed both cars. Kawabata had a second luck escape as when he collided with the barrier, a nitrous tank housed on the passenger side of his vehicle exploded from the impact, but played no part in Kawabata's injury. Among those narrowly escaping death was Video Option cameraman, Zaku, had to duck to avoid debris from the crash. Both drivers survived without serious injuries, but however Kawabata had to be taken to hospital for treatment for whiplash injuries.[ D1GP/D1SL NEWS REPORT ] J.D.M. OPTION INTERNATIONAL (2007)YouTube – Broadcast Yourself
The season will end on 25 November with an end of season All-Star event. The last D1GP event held will be on 21 October at Fuji Speedway and 11 November for D1SL at Sekia Hills.
Changes for the 2007 Season The D1 Gals pairing of Kazumi Kondo and Jyuri Tamashiro have now been replaced by a quadruple called the "D1 Sisters" from D-Sign, consisting of Hiromi Goto, Yuria Tachiki, Asami Kikuchi and Ayaka Tashiro.JDM OPTION / Vol.38 - Driftworks Drifting Shop Unlike earlier girls who had an extensive background as race queens, the group was recruited via auditions.Video Option Vol. 156 The final year with Japanese car accessory retailer Autobacs as a title sponsor which was replaced by Sony's Gran Turismo videogame franchise for the All-Star event.
2007 Schedules
2007 D1 Grand Prix Point Series Round 1 - March 24/25 - Ebisu South Course, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan - Nobushige Kumakubo (GDB) Round 2 - April 28/29 - Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan - Atsushi Kuroi (PS13) Round 3 - May 26/27- Suzuka Circuit, Mie Prefecture, Japan - Masao Suenaga (FD3S) Round 4 - June 9/10 - Sports Land SUGO, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan - Masato Kawabata (S15) Round 5 - August 25/26 - Ebisu South Course, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan - Ken Nomura (ER34) Round 6 - September 22/23- Autopolis, Ōita Prefecture, Japan - Masato Kawabata (S15) Round 7 - October 20/21 - Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan - Masao Suenaga (FD3S)
2007 D1 Street Legal Series Round 1 - February 3/4 - Sekia Hills, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan - Kazuya Matsukawa (RPS13) Round 2 - May 26/27 - Suzuka Circuit, Mie Prefecture, Japan (D1GP Week) - Yukiharu Komagata (GDB) Round 3 - June 9/10- Sports Land SUGO, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan (D1GP Week) - Jin Horino (S14) Round 4 - August 25/26 - Ebisu South Course, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan (D1GP Week) - Yukio Matsui (RPS13) Round 5 - November 10/11- Sekia Hills, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan - Takashi Hagisako (RPS13)
Exhibition Rounds
D1GP Exhibition Exhibition 1 - May 4/5 - Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, Englishtown, New Jersey - Nobushige Kumakubo (GDB) Exhibition 2 - July 13/14 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada - Youichi Imamura (Z33) Exhibition 3 - November 24 - Irwindale Speedway, Irwindale, California - Nobushige Kumakubo (CT9A) All Star Duel - November 25 - Irwindale Speedway, Irwindale, California - Vaughn Gittin Jr. (S197)
Championship Results
Round 1 Position Driver Car Points 1st Nobushige Kumakubo Subaru Impreza GDB 20 2nd Masato Kawabata Nissan Silvia S15 18 3rd Masao Suenaga Mazda RX-7 FD3S 16 4th Tsuyoshi Tezuka Nissan Skyline BNR32 14 5th Tetsuya Hibino Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 13 6th Ken Nomura Nissan Skyline ER34 11 7th Katsuhiro Ueo Nissan Silvia S15 8 8th Takashi Haruyama Nissan Laurel C35 6 9th Tatsuya Sakuma Nissan Silvia S15 5 10th Takahiro Ueno Toyota Soarer JZZ30 3 11th Toshiki Yoshioka Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 1 12th Kazuhiro Tanaka Subaru Impreza GDB 1 13th Toru Inose Nissan Silvia S15 1 14th Yukio Matsui BMW M3 E36 1 15th Daigo Saito Toyota Mark II JZX90 1 16th Naoto Suenaga Subaru Impreza GC8 1
Round 2 Position Driver Car Points 1st Atsushi Kuroi Nissan Silvia PS13 21 2nd Masao Suenaga Mazda RX-7 FD3S 19 3rd Nobushige Kumakubo Subaru Impreza GDB 17 4th Masato Kawabata Nissan Silvia S15 15 5th Yoshinori Koguchi Nissan 180SX RPS13 12 6th Michihiro Takatori Nissan Skyline ER34 10 7th Daigo Saito Toyota Mark II JZX90 9 8th Tetsuya Hibino Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 6 9th Tsuyoshi Tezuka Nissan Skyline BNR32 5 10th Hideo Hiraoka Nissan Silvia S15 2 11th Naoto Suenaga Subaru Impreza GC8 2 12th Youichi Imamura Nissan Fairlady Z Z33 2 13th Ryoji Jinushi Toyota Soarer JZZ30 1 14th Toshiki Yoshioka Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 1 15th Takahiro Ueno Toyota Soarer JZZ30 1 16th Ken Nomura Nissan Skyline ER34 2
Round 3 Position Driver Car Points 1st Masao Suenaga Mazda RX-7 FD3S 21 2ndsee note - 3rd Youichi Imamura Nissan Fairlady Z Z33 16 4th Nobushige Kumakubo Subaru Impreza GDB 14 5th Kazuyoshi Okamura Nissan Silvia S15 12 6th Masato Kawabata Nissan Silvia S15 11 7th Ken Nomura Nissan Skyline ER34 8 8th Tsuyoshi Tezuka Nissan Skyline BNR32 7 9th Tsutomu Fujio Mazda RX-7 FD3S 4 10th Kazuhiro Tanaka Subaru Impreza GDB 2 11th Tomokazu Hirota Toyota Verossa JZX110 1 12th Toshiki Yoshioka Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 2 13th Kensaku Komoro Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 1 14th Atsushi Kuroi Nissan Silvia PS13 1 15th Toyohisa Matsuda Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 1 16th Tatsuya Sakuma Nissan Silvia S15 1 note. Tetsuya Hibino was originally awarded second place but was later disqualified after it was revealed that he had deliberately swerved into the path of Suenaga's car before the first corner during a Sudden Death match, causing a collision. Therefore, Hibino was stripped of his position and no second place was awarded.[ D1GP/D1SL NEWS REPORT ] J.D.M. OPTION INTERNATIONALVideo Option Vol. 160
Round 4 Position Driver Car Points 1st Masato Kawabata Nissan Silvia S15 20 2nd Nobushige Kumakubo Subaru Impreza GDB 18 3rd Hideo Hiraoka Nissan Silvia S15 16 4th Masao Suenaga Mazda RX-7 FD3S 14 5th Toru Inose Nissan Silvia S15 13 6th Ken Nomura Nissan Skyline ER34 11 7th Akinori Utsumi Nissan Silvia PS13 8 8th Toshiki Yoshioka Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 6 9th Kuniaki Takahashi Toyota Chaser JZX100 5 10th Youichi Imamura Nissan Fairlady Z Z33 3 11th Takahiro Ueno Toyota Soarer JZZ30 1 12th Tsuyoshi Tezuka Nissan Skyline BNR32 1 13th Masayoshi Tokita Toyota Soarer MZ12 1 14th Kazuhiro Tanaka Subaru Impreza GDB 2 15th Tomokazu Hirota Toyota Verossa JZX110 2 16th Michihiro Takatori Nissan Skyline ER34 2
Round 5 Position Driver Car Points 1st Ken Nomura Nissan Skyline ER34 20 2nd Akinori Utsumi Nissan Silvia PS13 18 3rd Tsuyoshi Tezuka Nissan Skyline BNR32 16 4th Kensaku Komoro Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 14 5th Masato Kawabata Nissan Silvia S15 13 6th Daigo Saito Toyota Mark II JZX100 10 7th Tetsuya Hibino Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 8 8th Nobushige Kumakubo Mitsubishi Evolution IX CT9A 6 9th Toshiki Yoshioka Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 4 10th Toru Inose Nissan Silvia S15 2 11th Masao Suenaga Mazda RX-7 FD3S 1 12th Atsushi Kuroi Nissan Silvia PS13 1 13th Tomokazu Hirota Toyota Verossa JZX110 1 14th Hiroshi Fukuda Nissan 180SX RPS13 1 15th Ken Maeda Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 1 16th Hideo Hiraoka Nissan Silvia S15 2
Round 6 Position Driver Car Points 1st Masato Kawabata Nissan Silvia S15 21 2nd Takahiro Ueno Toyota Soarer JZZ30 19 3rd Youichi Imamura Nissan Fairlady Z Z33 16 4th Tatsuya Sakuma Nissan Silvia S15 15 5th Toshiki Yoshioka Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 13 6th Daigo Saito Toyota Mark II JZX100 10 7th Tsuyoshi Tezuka Nissan Skyline BNR32 9 8th Nobushige Kumakubo Mitsubishi Evolution IX CT9A 7 9th Masayoshi Tokita Toyota Soarer MZ12 4 10th Ken Nomura Nissan Skyline ER34 3 11th Hisashi Oginome Nissan Silvia S15 1 12th Atsushi Kuroi Nissan Silvia PS13 1 13th Masao Suenaga Mazda RX-7 FD3S 1 14th Toru Inose Nissan Silvia S14 1 15th Michihiro Takatori Nissan Skyline ER34 1 16th Kazuyoshi Okamura Nissan Silvia S15 1
Round 7 Position Driver Car Points 1st Masao Suenaga Mazda RX-7 FD3S 20 2nd Yoshinori Koguchi Nissan 180SX RPS13 19 3rd Nobushige Kumakubo Mitsubishi Evolution IX CT9A 17 4th Youichi Imamura Nissan Fairlady Z Z33 14 5th Toshiki Yoshioka Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 12 6th Daigo Saito Toyota Mark II JZX100 11 7th Tsuyoshi Tezuka Nissan Skyline BNR32 9 8th Toru Inose Nissan Silvia S15 6 9th Takahiro Ueno Toyota Soarer JZZ30 5 10th Tatsuya Sakuma Nissan Silvia S15 2 11th Ken Nomura Nissan Skyline ER34 2 12th Masato Kawabata Nissan Silvia S15 2 13th Akinori Utsumi Nissan Silvia PS13 1 14th Hisashi Oginome Nissan Silvia S15 1 15th Atsushi Kuroi Nissan Silvia PS13 1 16th Tetsuya Hibino Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 2
Final Championship Results
D1GP