D1 GRAND PRIX ROUND 1 2006 Article: Alexander Kamm Photography: Alex K. Location: Irwindale Speedway, CA Gallery Page Home Page Article: D1 Grand Prix opened up its 2006 series with Round 1 at Irwindale Speedway in California on March 4th 2006. Hawaii drifters trying to make qualifying included Ross Petty in the Rotary Power RX7, Barry Wong in the Hankook S13. With the first ever U.S. win in the D1GP series by Falken Tire's Vaughn Gittin in 2005, the 2006 season opener seemed optimistic as to who could claim title of round 1 in the United States. The top 16 included only two U.S. drivers who where immediately paired against one another. Announcer Toshi Hayama explained to the audience that competitors whesre paired against one another based upon their scores. Vaughn Gittin in the Falken Tire Ford Mustang, and Samuel Hubinette in the Mopar Dodge Viper, fought hard against each other. Both drivers displayed excellent skill, but you begin to question whether horsepower plays a definite factor in competition. Vaughn’s Mustang pumps out over 700hp and Samuels Viper boasts over 800hp. With speeds of up to 100mph Samuel came out on top of Vaughn to advance to the top 8 and to the semi finals where Samuel would be disqualified for spinning out. Yasuyuki Kazama in his Green S15 took three first place finishes in 2005 and started off 2006 with a first place win over Nobushige Kumakubo in the Team Orange Subaru Impreza. Kumakubo who had spun out in one of the runs gave Kazama the win on a silver platter. Until next time I’ll be reporting from Shanghai China