Youichi Imamura (今村陽一, Imamura Yôichi, 11 May 1976, Yamanashi) is a Japanese professional drifting driver, currently serving as a judge in Formula Drift Japan after he stopped competing in 2019.
Youichi Imamura 今村陽一 | |
---|---|
Nationality | ![]() |
Born | Kai, Yamanashi Prefecture | May 11, 1976
D1 Grand Prix career | |
Debut season | 2001 |
Years active | 2001 - 2019 |
Former teams | MMM Racing, OTG Motorsport, Nichiei Racing, Auto Produce BOSS, Top Secret with ORC, A'PEXi, I.C.B.M. |
Wins | 16 |
Championship titles | |
2003 2009 2010 2011 | 4 |
He has always enjoyed driving, so drifting was a natural thing for him. His other passion is flowers as his parents ran a florist business and he has always helped them out. So he has always known that he would be a florist, when he is not drifting he is working in a florists in Yamanashi called Silky House. His favourite time of the week is when he and his wife drive out to collect stock, Sometimes he cannot make it as he is at a photo shoot or a D1 event, so he uses the internet to check up.
He has been competing in the D1 Grand Prix series since it began in October 2000. His first successful year was the 2003 season where he won the series title in his A'PEXi Mazda RX-7 (FD3S). After A'PEXi left the series he switched to ORC and has been working with the team to improve the performance of the Nissan Fairlady Z coming in sixth in the 2007 series. In 2008, he switched to the newly formed team Auto Produce Boss with Potenza D-1 Project, driving their Nissan Silvia S15 which was actually Yasuyuki Kazama's 2005 Championship car. He went on to win the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Series Championship in this car, making him the only driver with the most championship titles at four, the first driver to win titles in consecutive years, the second driver with the most wins at 16 after Daigo Saito. He remained compete in D1 driving for Nichiei Racing, OTG Motorsports and MMM Racing, he stopped competing after 2019 season and now became one of the judge for Formula Drift Japan
Like rival drifter who he was team mate to, Ryuji Miki, he also competed in the Net'z Cup, a one make series for the Toyota Altezza between 2005 and its final season in 2006,[1] his racing antics were documented twice on Video Option.
Complete drifting results
editColour | Result |
---|---|
Gold | Winner |
Silver | 2nd place |
Bronze | 3rd place |
Green | Last 4 [Semi-final] |
Blue | Last 8 [Quarter-final] |
Purple | Last 16 (16) [1st Tsuiou Round OR Tandem Battle] (Numbers are given to indicate Top 10 finish) |
Black | Disqualified (DSQ) (Given to indicate that the driver has been stripped of their position through disqualification) |
White | First Round (TAN) [Tansou OR Qualifying Single Runs] |
Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
- When driver's position are highlighted in blue, this indicates either the driver earned 100pt or 100pt tansou (solo run) bonus has been awarded, with the latter being in use for Pre-2005.
D1 Grand Prix
editYear | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Position | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | I.C.B.M. | Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 | EBS 1 |
NIK 6 |
BHH 8 |
EBS 5 |
NIK 2 |
2nd | 66 | |||
2002 | A'PEXi | Toyota Altezza SXE10 | BHH TAN |
EBS TAN |
SGO TAN |
5th | 54 | |||||
Mazda RX-7 FD3S | TKB 1 |
EBS 7 |
SEK 8 |
NIK 1 |
||||||||
2003 | A'PEXi | Mazda RX-7 FD3S | TKB 4 |
BHH 3 |
SGO 2 |
FUJ 1 |
EBS 1 |
SEK 16 |
TKB 2 |
1st | 106 | |
2004 | A'PEXi | Mazda RX-7 FD3S | IRW 16 |
SGO 6 |
EBS 6 |
APS |
ODB 2 |
EBS 1 |
TKB 1 |
3rd | 78 | |
2005 | A'PEXi | Mazda RX-7 FD3S | IRW 2 |
ODB 9 |
SGO 5 |
APS 16 |
EBS 5 |
FUJ 16 |
TKB 1 |
3rd | 68 | |
2006 | ORC with Top Secret | Nissan Fairlady Z Z33 | IRW 16 |
SGO 9 |
FUJ 8 |
APS TAN |
EBS |
SUZ |
FUJ 16 |
IRW 8 |
15th | 19 |
2007 | ORC with Top Secret | Nissan Fairlady Z Z33 | EBS DNQ |
FUJ 12 |
SUZ 3 |
SGO 10 |
EBS TAN |
APS 3 |
FUJ 4 |
6th | 51 | |
2008 | Auto Produce Boss with Potenza D-1 Project | Nissan Silvia S15 | EBS 7 |
FUJ 14 |
SUZ 5 |
OKY 1 |
APS 4 |
EBS |
FUJ |
3rd | 70 | |
2009 | Auto Produce Boss with Potenza D-1 Project | Nissan Silvia S15 | EBS 2 |
APS 1 |
OKY 6 |
OKY 8 |
EBS 4 |
EBS 6 |
FUJ 3 |
FUJ 4 |
1st | 130 |
2010 | M7 Boss SGC with Dunlop | Nissan Silvia S15 | ODB 1 |
APS 5 |
FUJ 1 |
OKY 3 |
EBS 6 |
EBS 1 |
FUJ 13 |
1st | 122 |
Sources
editReferences
edit- ^ (in Japanese) BATTLEGEAR.NET レース&イベントレポート