Background Biography:>

Keiichi Tsuchiya was born on January 30th 1956. He began racing at a young age as most great drivers do.  As he was learning to drive he began experimenting with the E-brake and slowly developed controlled slides. It taught Tsuchiya basics of car control as well being faster on slippery surfaces.  Unlike many great racecar drivers he did not go to a racing school or have a rich family that was into the racing scene that could nurture his racing talents.  He just had the basic passion to drive.  Driving through local mountain roads he began to build a sense of where a car needs to be at each turn to achieve maximum speed through a corner. He soon developed an uncanny ability to slide the car from corner to corner in style and was soon dubbed the drift king (dorifuto king or dori-kin or dori dori).

His talent was soon discovered and Keiichi started his racing career back in 1978 at the Fuji freshman race series.  From here his career flourished racing in formats such as F3, GT, in many different touring car series and the famed 24 hours of Le Mans race.  Along with pro-racing he also hosted many video series, magazine columns, TV shows, and a popular radio show that many non-racing groups such as women loved because of his wise knowledge of life in general.  His character is witty and always upbeat.  This is a big reason why he is a racing icon, because of his great attitude.  On November 15th and 16th the last round of the Japanese GT championship was held at Suzuka circuit.  This day marked the last professional race for Keiichi Tsuchiya with team ARTA driving the Honda NSX.  Keiichi is a hero among young racing drivers and car enthusiasts across Japan.  Though we may never witness him again in a major racing series he will still continue to host his video series Hot Version,  keep his roll as D1 Grand Prix judge, and do guest appearances at many automotive related events for now.  Many will wish him the best of luck in his retirement.  Keiichi Tsuchiya "Drive by Drift"

Find out more about Tsuchiya at: www.k1planning.com
 

Why is he my idol? :>

It was a 100F day in Taiwan back in 1999 when I stumbled across a Best Motoring VCD at a local mom and pop CD store. I had been curious to see how fast the new s2000's were and the issue I saw was a special issue on the s2k. I bought the vcd for 5 bucks and popped it into my computer as soon as I got home. What followed could not be described in words as I watch a man repeatedly drift different cars with amazing grace,style and artistry around different courses....this was the day that got me started in performance driving.

And so I started to follow Tsuchiya's every move, buying up every single japanese vcd (hot version, best motoring) I can get my hands onto. I started to pickup some driving technique as well as Japanese car lingo that would later enable me to talk to Japanese people about car setup and car tuning. My love for drifting and Japanese racing has not died til this day. Tsuchiya Keiichi finally brought the professional D1 drift series to the USA where a close family friend arranged for me to meet and talk to Keiichi. It was truly a dream come true and I can't wait to get a ride in a d1 machine next year. Long Live the Drift King!!

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