Daigo Saito
| Daigo Saito 斎藤太吾 | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |
 Japan |
| Born |
March 7, 1980 Saitama |
| 2014 D1 Grand Prix | |
| Debut season | 2004 |
| Current team | ダイゴ |
| Wins | 6 |
| Best finish | 1st in 2008 |
| Previous series | |
| 2006 | D1 Street Legal |
Daigo Saito (斎藤 太吾 Saitō Daigo, 7 March 1980, Saitama) is a Japanese professional drifting driver, currently competing in the D1 Grand Prix series for Fnatz Professional Garage and holds the distinction of being the first driver to win the two drifting majors, D1GP in 2008 and Formula D in 2012.
Biography
From an early age he was into motorbikes as his father was, and got his motorcycle license at 16. One night when he was out riding with his friends they stumbled upon a drift meeting in the hills of Karuizawa, there he saw a white Mercedes-Benz saloon drifting. From then on he wanted to drift himself and he wanted to drift a saloon. As soon as he was 18 he got his drivers license, his father did not want him to drift so bought him a Mini Cooper as his first car. At this time he did not know that it would not be a good car to drift so he tried, and ended up writing it off. He then bought a Nissan Silvia S13 without asking his parents and set about practicing, his first practice session lasted 36 hours only stopping for food and fuel. He learned a lot from this first practice session though he totalled the Nissan Silvia S13 a couple of weeks later.
In 2005, Saito won the title for privateers.
Unlike most D1 drivers his work is not connected to his drifting, as he lives and works at a nursery school, though he is mainly in charge of the animals he is also in charge of driving the bus when the children go on outings.
He started competing in the D1 Grand Prix in the third round of the 2004 season in his red Toyota Mark II JZX90 since then he has improved steadily, winning the championship in 2008.
Formula Drift (America)
For 2012, Saito joined the Formula Drift series in the Achilles Radial Lexus SC430 powered by a 2JZ. Saito also competes in the sister series, Formula Drift Asia. He got his first podium finish in his first event of the series at the Streets of Long Beach. He followed that up with another 3rd place finish in Round 2: Atlanta and then a 1st place finish at Round 3: Palm Beach and a 4th place finish at Round 4: Wall Speedway. He won the championship and was rookie of the year after winning 1st place at Irwindale, Round 7.[1]
As part of the Achilles Radial Drift Team, his car is maintained and transported by Bridges Racing. After the event in New Jersey, his car along with the other Achilles Radial cars were transported to Portland Speed Industries (PSI), where they were prepared for Round 5.[2]
Saito finished in third place during his second season in Formula DRIFT USA. He won three rounds (Atlanta, New Jersey & Irwindale) and second place at West Palm Beach. A crash during practice at Seattle and vehicle issues in Texas effectively removed him from the chance of winning back-to-back championships.
Complete Drifting Results
(key)
D1 Grand Prix
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Toyota Mark II JZX90 | IRW |
SGO |
EBS TAN |
APS TAN |
ODB DNQ |
EBS DNQ |
TKB 16 |
- | 0 | ||
| 2005 | Toyota Mark II JZX90 | IRW |
ODB DNQ |
SGO TAN |
APS DNQ |
EBS DNQ |
FUJ DNQ |
TKB 16 |
32 | 1 | ||
| 2006 | Toyota Mark II JZX90 | IRW |
SGO 5 |
FUJ 16 |
APS 16 |
EBS 16 |
SUZ 16 |
FUJ TAN |
14 | 24 | ||
| Toyota Chaser JZX100 | IRW 9 | |||||||||||
| 2007 | Toyota Mark II JZX90 | EBS 15 |
FUJ 7 |
SUZ TAN |
7 | 41 | ||||||
| Toyota Mark II JZX100 | SGO TAN |
EBS 6 |
APS 6 |
FUJ 6 |
||||||||
| 2008 | Team 22 | Toyota Mark II JZX100 | EBS 14 |
FUJ 2 |
SUZ 4 |
OKY 4 |
APS 1 |
EBS 7 |
FUJ 4 |
1 | 114 | |
| 2009 | 週刊コミックバンチ DRIFTプロジェクト | Toyota Mark II JZX100 | EBS 3 |
APS 7 |
OKY 1 |
OKY 12 |
EBS 10 |
EBS 11 |
FUJ 15 |
FUJ 9 |
8 | 82 |
| 2010 | フナッツ | Toyota Mark II JZX100 | ODB TAN |
APS 2 |
FUJ 7 |
OKY TAN |
EBS 4 |
EBS 7 |
FUJ 3 |
6 | 79 | |
| 2011 | プレミアムジャパン with ダイゴ | Toyota Mark II JZX100 | ODB 3 |
ODB 9 |
APS 2 |
SUZ 1 |
OKY 2 |
EBS 4 |
EBS 1 |
FUJ 6 |
2 | 207 |
| 2012 | ダイゴ | Toyota Mark II JZX100 | ODB 1 |
SUZ 2 |
CEN 1 |
|||||||
D1 Street Legal
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Toyota Chaser JZX100 | SEK |
EBS TSU |
SGO 8 |
FUJ 5 |
APS 6 |
EBS TSU |
SEK |
10 | 31 |
Formula Drift
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Bridges Racing/Achilles Radial | Lexus SC430 UCF30 | FDLB 3 |
FDATL 3 |
FDPB 1 |
FDNJ 4 |
FDNW Top 8 |
FDLV Top 8 |
FDIRW 1 |
1 | 548.50 |
| 2013 | Bridges Racing/Achilles Radial | Lexus SC430 UCF30 | FDLB Top 16 |
FDATL 1 |
FDPB 2 |
FDNJ 1 |
FDNW Top 32 |
FDTX Top 32 |
FDIRW 1 |
3 | 510.50 |
References
- ↑ "Formula D Series 2012 Standings". Formulad.com. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
- ↑ "Late Nights Before Formula D Seattle". Tunedbypsi.com. 2012-07-18. Retrieved 2012-07-25.