Masato Kawabata
| Masato Kawabata | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |
 Japan |
| Born |
October 15, 1977 Osaka, Osaka Prefecture |
| D1 Grand Prix career | |
| Debut season | 2002 |
| Current team | GP Sports & Toyo Tires & GReddy |
| Former teams | Silk Road |
| Wins | 4 |
| Championship titles | |
| 2007 2013 | D1GP Series Champion |
Masato Kawabata (川畑真人 Kawabata Masato, 15 October 1977, Osaka) is a Japanese professional drifting driver, currently competing in the D1 Grand Prix series for Team Toyo.
Biography
Kawabata first received his license at 18 and at that point he bought the Nissan 180SX. He practiced alone until he met late D1 driver Atsushi Kuroi who started to teach and advise Kawabata. At age 19, Kawabata entered a drift magazine sponsored contest and took first place. At 21, GP Sports started to sponsor Kawabata with a full line of aero parts. Kawabata and first appeared in the D1 Grand Prix in round 4 of 2002.[1]
Kawabata took his first win at Fuji Speedway in 2006[2] and went on to finish 4th in the overall points. In 2007 he did even better however winning two rounds and the overall title by one point over Nobushige Kumakubo.
2007 Fuji Speedway accident
In 2007, at round 2, held in 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, causing his front wheels to lose traction, which resulted Saito's car to understeer and collecting Kawabata's Silvia onto the tyre barrier in the process, severely destroyed 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 had to be taken to hospital for treatment for whiplash injuries, Saito miraculously evaded any physical damages. Kawabata won the round which he was unable to continue, leaving Atsushi Kuroi without an opponent. For the following round, he returned with a new car and took the win at the next round at Sportsland SUGO.[3][4]
Complete Drifting Results
(key)
D1 Grand Prix
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Nissan 180SX | BHH |
EBS |
EBS |
SGO DNQ |
TKB DNQ |
SEK |
NIK |
0 | |||
| 2003 | Silk Road | Nissan 180SX | TKB DNQ |
BHH DNQ |
SGO DNQ |
FUJ TAN |
EBS TAN |
SEK |
TKB DNQ |
0 | ||
| 2004 | Silk Road | Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 | IRW TAN |
23 | 4 | |||||||
| GReddy/GP Sports/Toyo Tires | Nissan Silvia S15 | SGO TAN |
EBS DNQ |
APS 9 |
ODB DNQ |
EBS 16 |
TKB DNQ |
|||||
| 2005 | GReddy/GP Sports/Toyo Tires | Nissan Silvia S15 | IRW 16 |
ODB 4 |
SGO 9 |
APS 7 |
EBS TAN |
FUJ 3 |
TKB 5 |
4 | 55 | |
| 2006 | GReddy/GP Sports/Toyo Tires | Nissan Silvia S15 | IRW 5 |
SGO 16 |
FUJ 6 |
APS TAN |
EBS 4 |
SUZ 8 |
FUJ 1 |
IRW 16 |
4 | 69 |
| 2007 | GReddy/GP Sports/Toyo Tires | Nissan Silvia S15 | EBS 2 |
FUJ 4 |
SUZ 6 |
SGO 1 |
EBS 5 |
APS 1 |
FUJ 16 |
1 | 100 | |
| 2008 | GP Sports/Toyo Tires | Nissan 180SX RPS13 | EBS 1 |
FUJ TAN |
SUZ 15 |
OKY 11 |
APS 3 |
EBS |
FUJ |
6 | 54 |
References
- ↑ J.D.M. OPTION INTERNATIONAL (2006)
- ↑ [ D1GP/D1SL NEWS REPORT ] J.D.M. OPTION INTERNATIONAL (2006)
- ↑ [ D1GP/D1SL NEWS REPORT ] J.D.M. OPTION INTERNATIONAL (2007)
- ↑ YouTube - Broadcast Yourself
External links
| Preceded by Nobushige Kumakubo |
D1 Grand Prix Champion 2007 |
Succeeded by Daigo Saito |