Masato Kawabata

Did You Know?

• Kawabata won the overall D1GP title by one point in 2007 after Nobushige Kumakubo lost his semifinal battle against Yoshinori Koguchi.
• Kawabata's 2007 crash with Daigo Saito at Fuji Speedway happened at over 150 km/h, giving him a concussion, but he still won the battle.
• He won the inaugural FIA Intercontinental Drift Cup at Odaiba in 2017, driving the same Nissan GT-R he used in D1GP.
• Kawabata gave the Toyota GR86 its first ever win in drift competition in 2022.

Biography

Masato Kawabata got his driver’s license at 18 and bought a Nissan 180SX. He practiced by himself until he met the late D1 driver Atsushi Kuroi, who began teaching and advising him. At 19, Kawabata entered a drift magazine contest and came in first. When he was 21, GP Sports began sponsoring him with a full line of aero parts, and he later moved from his hometown to Niigata to work for them.

In 2002, he won the Advan Drift Meeting at Ebisu Circuit, earning his D1GP license. That same year, he made his D1GP debut at round four, also at Ebisu, competing as a privateer with GP Sports’ support. In 2004, Trust hired him to replace Hideo Hiraoka, and he drove an S15 Silvia built by GP Sports. In his third season with the team, he scored his first win at Fuji Speedway and finished fourth in the overall standings.

For 2007, Kawabata drove for Toyo Tires, which entered D1GP as a works team, though he kept the same S15 from the previous year. Toyo initially wanted him to mentor Atsushi Kuroi as lead driver, but Kuroi suggested Kawabata instead. Despite a crash at Fuji with Daigo Saito that gave Kawabata a concussion, he won two rounds and took the overall title by a single point over Nobushige Kumakubo, who lost his semifinal battle to Yoshinori Koguchi. After winning the opening round in 2008, Kawabata switched to a 180SX for the second round at Fuji, but he struggled with the car and finished sixth in the standings.

In the years that followed, he won at least one round each season, including the final round of 2009, which marked his and Kuroi’s last competitive D1GP battle before Kuroi died in 2010. In 2013, Kawabata claimed his second title after winning both Solo and Overall at Ebisu and Odaiba, becoming the first driver to win both championships since the Solo Run title was introduced in 2011. In 2014, Trust returned and teamed up with Toyo Tires, and Kawabata began competing in D1GP with a Nissan GT-R. He also left GP Sports that year, ending a partnership that started in 2003.

2007 Fuji Speedway accident

At round 2, held at Fuji Speedway, during a sudden death round against Daigo Saito, Saito dipped into the inner apex of the 300R corner and jumped the curb of the track. His car's front wheels lost traction, which resulted in the car understeering and collecting Kawabata's Silvia into the tyre barrier, effectively destroying both cars. The impact between the cars and when they were hurled into the track protection barrier happened at speeds of over 150 km/h. Kawabata immediately came out from his car but fell to the ground just as he walked out and had to be taken to hospital for treatment for whiplash injuries; Saito miraculously evaded any physical damages.

Kawabata won the battle, which he was unable to continue, leaving Atsushi Kuroi without an opponent. Kuroi eventually won the round and dedicated it to Kawabata, as Kuroi had mentored Kawabata. For the following round at Suzuka, Kawabata returned with a new car and took the win at the next round at Sportsland SUGO.