Japanese professional drifting driver (born 1974)
Hideyuki Fujino 藤野 秀之 |
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Nationality | Japan |
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Born | (1974-06-26) 26 June 1974 (age 50) Saitama, Japan |
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Debut season | 2001 |
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Current team | Team Toyo Tires Drift |
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Car number | 66 |
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Former teams | WISTERIA |
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Wins | 5 |
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Best finish | 1st in 2017, 2023 |
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The Drift Muscle D1 Street Legal |
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2015, 2016 2017, 2023 | The Drift Muscle D1 Grand Prix |
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Hideyuki Fujino (藤野 秀之, Fujino Hideyuki, born 26 June 1974, Saitama Prefecture) is a Japanese professional drifting driver. He currently competes in the D1 Grand Prix series for Team Toyo Tires Drift, and is the 2017 and 2023 series champion.
He is based in Fukaya.[citation needed]
Career
Fujino started to compete in D1GP on its early day of competition but due to his results not being good enough he stopped competing in 2003[1]
After the D1 Street Legal was launched in 2006 he start to compete in it instead, he claim his first D1SL win in opening round of the 2013 season. He's also compete in The Drift Musle and claimed the championship 2 times in 2015 and 2016[2]
2015 mark his return to D1GP driving an SR20 powered 180SX he managed to finishes second on his return to the series after long time.[1] he along with Masato Kawabata later launch their own body kit for 180SX named Kick Blue which is sell by both his shop Wisteria and Kawabata's newly open shop True Man Racing
Starting from 2016 he would get support from Toyo Tires and compete in full-time basis. his best finish was second in round 6 at Ebisu and he end the season third in standings.
2017 was his best season winning his first round at the opening round of the season he claimed his second win at round 4 and heading to the final round of the season he led the championship from Masashi Yokoi, Akira Hirajima, Masato Kawabata and Daigo Saito in a 5-way fight for the championship, he succeeded to keep his championship lead after winning his battle in best 8 and seal his first D1GP title and also the solo run champions.
In 2018 he started the season with a win in the second round but he was unable to defend his title and finish the season sixth in standings. The following year he is promoted to Toyo Tires main team after Trust's withdrawal from the competition and is one of the championship contenders for D1GP but loses out on the final round.
In 2021 he change his car to Toyota 86 previously driven by Thai driver Daychapond Toyingcharoen and got second place on the first round with the car and lead the championship for the first time since 2018, despite strong start to his season he struggled for the rest of the season and ended up in eleventh in the standings.[3]
At 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon he announced that he will debut the newly released Toyota GR86 for that year D1GP he also built the same car for his teammate Kawabata. On the first round he is able to win the solo run and claim third in battle while his teammate wins the round, his best result is second on the penultimate round and he ended the season fifth in standings, an improvement from the previous season.
Fujino start his 2023 season with a win in D1GP Round Zero Exhibition Match at Fuji Speedway. he consistently scoring points in first half of the season before winning round 6 at Ebisu, his first win since 2018 season moving him up to first place in standings. However, after both Autopolis round he dropped to fourth in standings but still within close reach of the title and heading to another 5-way fight against Naoki Nakamura, Koudai Sobagiri, Seimi Tanaka and Koudai Sobagiri. Fujino closes the gap to the championship lead after winning penultimate round after beating title rival and championship leader Naoki Nakamura, he would seal the Solo Run championship after qualified first. Fujino managed to seal his second Overall title after winning the Top 16 battle while Nakamura unable to pass to Top 16. His second title were won with similar results to his first title with 2 wins and Solo Run title and after a 5-way fight to the title.
Complete Drifting Results
Colour |
Result
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Gold |
Winner
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Silver |
2nd place
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Bronze |
3rd place
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Green |
Last 4 [Semi-final]
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Blue |
Last 8 [Quarter-final]
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Purple |
Last 16 (16) [1st Tsuiou Round OR Tandem Battle] (Numbers are given to indicate Top 10 finish)
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Black |
Disqualified (DSQ) (Given to indicate that the driver has been stripped of their position through disqualification)
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White |
First Round (TAN) [Tansou OR Qualifying Single Runs]
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Red |
Did not qualify (DNQ)
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- 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
References
Sources