March 01, 2005 - February is primarily known for being the month that hosts Valentine's Day. A few people, especially those that know how to count, also know February as the month that has only 28 days. Well, not if it's a leap year -- then February has a robust 29 days filling it out. Automotive fans, on the other hand, will know February for one reason and one reason only: Round 1 of the D1 Grand Prix.

That's right, the 2005 D1 Grand Prix season kicked off on February 27th, and this event was arguably one of the most important events in the series' history. A few notable things occurred on the last weekend of February. Let's take a moment and try to recap:

JGTC driver, Manabu Orido, decided to quit his gig as a D1 judge. Don't worry, he's not leaving the organization -- he's hopping back into his Supra's driver's seat. We're not talking about his seat in the JGTC #25 Advan Supra, we're talking about the drift-spec RS-R Supra.

Yep, Orido will now be fighting it out with Kazama, Nomuken and the rest in D1 competition. Just because he was a judge doesn't mean he will get special treatment. He'll now have to try out and qualify -- just like the rest of the drivers. We wish Orido luck in his new campaign.

A military-grade GPS system will now be installed on every car that makes it into competition. Of course, this GPS system will not be used to track down stolen D1 cars (though it isn't a bad idea when they are here in SoCal). These GPS units will be used to measure things like the drift angle and speed of all competing cars.

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As judging for D1 is largely subjective right now, the implementation of the GPS may allow for a more "standardized" form of judging. Round 1 in Irwindale was the first real-world test of this new system. Look for this new GPS system to be utilized more in future events.

Now that we got that out of the way, let's get down to business. With this being an official points round, all the major Japanese and American teams came to Irwindale with the hopes of qualifying for competition.

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The battle for a spot in D1 was very fierce -- and these guys were just trying to qualify for Round 1 of the series. There was only a four point spread between the #1 and #20 qualifiers, so needless to say, it was really tough to make it in.

Only three American drivers were deemed worthy of actual D1 competition: Rhys Millen, Alex Pfeiffer and Vaughn Gittin Jr. These three were given the weighty responsibility of representing all Americans at this event. It was these three that would have to show the world that the U.S. can compete with the likes of Nomuken, Kumakubo and Imamura.

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Getting back to the event... All of the major drama seemed to happen during Round 1 of the competition. First, Vaughn Gittin Jr. (driving a Falken-sponsored 240SX) had to retire due to mechanical problems. It seems that he was only given a minute to fix his busted intercooler hose instead of the usual 5. Hopefully he won't have these kinds of troubles once he starts competing in his new Mustang. We want to see that 'Stang in action!

The only major crash of the day also occurred during round 1 of competition. In the last run of qualifying, former D1 Judge Manabu Orido crashed his Supra just past the judges' booth. As he hasn't competed in so long, Orido probably still has a few "cobwebs" in him. We're sure he'll get things sorted out by the next competition.

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