Kazama
The Irwindale Meister who went from filling station worker to D1GP champion.
Yasuyuki Kazama (born 1 February 1975) is a drifting driver from Japan, formerly competing in D1 Grand Prix, well known for using the Nissan Silvia S15. He is also known as Waku Waku and Spin Benz Dokan. Kazama was first introduced to drifting at age 17 when he watched Nobushige Kumakubo, who later became his spotter and mentor, drifting on a touge. As soon as he got his driving licence he began drifting in his Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 with the proceeds of his job in a filling station. He later escaped death when his car slid down underneath a guardrail and fell approximately 20 meters (about 65 feet) down the mountain.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 1 February 1970
- Birthplace
- Shimosuwa, Nagano, Japan
- Last series
- D1 Grand Prix
- Years active
- 2001–2006
- Teams
- Kei Office
- DG-5
- Team M.O.V.E.
- Wins
- 7
- Best finish
- 1
Lore & Background
Kazama was originally a mechanic and sponsor driver for "Kei-Office" until 31 August 2005, when he left the company to start up his own shop called Rodextyle but he continued to support Tsuchiya's company as the sponsor driver for his new company DG-5 until 2007 which he eventually retired from competition drifting to focus on Rodextyle. Kazama was formerly known as Spin Benz Dokan due to an incident that happened after the 2001 D1GP season finals in Nikko, when Sunpros had filmed a 'Team Drift' segment for the Drift Heaven series and involved hitting a then-D1 Driver Toru Maruyama's daily Mercedes Benz. He was later known as Waku Waku Kun or Rodeo Clown due to his reputation as a clown within the series and being well known for his Rodeo Drift, a form of doughnutting by sitting on the driver's door of the car which he first practiced at the Big-X events, then later at D1GP pre-tsuisou rounds warm-ups in 2005 when he changed the side windows of his car to make it possible to perform the trick. Kazama is also known in the United Kingdom for his only mainstream TV appearance outside Japan in the BBC2 show Top Gear, in which he teaches Richard Hammond drifting in a Nissan 350Z.
Reader's Guide
In the D1 Grand Prix, Yasuyuki Kazama is known for his consistent success at Irwindale Speedway, winning the season opener there in 2004, 2005, and 2006, earning him the nickname 'Irwindale Meister'. His career is marked by key vehicle transitions: he ran his personal S15 until Kei-Office debuted a blue S15 at the Final Round in Nikko in 2001, which was used through 2003. In 2003, the team debuted a new track-spec S15 at the fourth round in Fuji Speedway wearing the company's signature jade green, Prodrive GC-06D rims and a new 2003-spec original brand body kit (now under Rodextyle). In 2004, Kei-Office debuted another S15 which was previously the company's 2002 season car, with Driftmaster rims, an HKS 2.2L stroker kit setup by Auto Produce Boss, Speed Glass lightweight windows, and a Holinger sequential transmission. In 2006, Kazama switched teams from Kei-Office to DG-5 with the 2005 championship car having cosmetic changes, specifically with the Kei-Office aero being removed for GP Sports' G-Sonic 'D1' kit. The S15 remained green until it was later repainted to blue after DG-5 collaborated with Avex's M.O.V.E, starting in Round 2 onwards.
Elsewhere in Grand Blue
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