For whatever reason D1’s lower-tier league does not seem to have as high microphone quality as the main D1GP Japanese drifting series. As such, D1 Light’s three announcers basically blew out their levels all through the most recent round at Ebisu. It was glorious.
I have been on a major kick of watching old D1 Street Legal rounds, and was in the midst of going through the 2008 round at Ebisu when YouTube alerted me to a new video just getting uploaded. It’s the most recent round of that same series! (The name change from Street Legal to Lights happened this year, with a few rules changes seeking to prevent a wheel flying off and killing anybody, as sadly happened back in 2016.)
Not only that, the runner-up of the 2008 round at Ebisu, Naoki Nakamura, came back to competition for this 2018 Ebisu comp, having been banned from D1 for a time, then becoming the favorite drifter of every drift nerd on the internet in the interim. And he won this event! And one of the announcers at this year’s Ebisu round? That’s Naoto Suenaga, who beat Nakamura in the finals at the 2008 event to take the win.
Anyway, please enjoy this highlight reel, just turn down your headphones. Manabu Suzuki (the legendary voice of D1) is not quiet.