Daigo Saito

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 ATR Radial / Monster Energy / Sunoco and Formula DRIFT USA and World Championship series for Achilles Radial. Saito 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.

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. 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.

As part of the Achilles Radial Drift Team, his car is maintained and transported by Bridges Racing.

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.

Saito debuted a 1,200 hp Nissan GTR in April 2015 at the Formula DRIFT Streets of Long Beach event, and will campaign the car for the 2015 Formula DRIFT USA season.

Complete drifting results

(key)

D1 Grand Prix

D1 Street Legal

Formula Drift