D1 Grand Prix - D1 Street Legal

D1 Street Legal

As the D1GP category was moving away from its grassroots during the earlier days, and budgets and development costs were getting higher, the organisers introduced the D1 Street Legal (D1ストリートリーガル (D1 sutoriito riigaru in katakana), as D1SL) category at the Odaiba round in 2005 for road driven cars which were different from the main category as they are trailer driven between races.

Being a budget series, this meant that there is tighter restrictions on how a car can be modified. For example, the car must have a working car stereo system and must have the original engine to whom it was originally supplied with. Also there is no wide body extension and wings must be within the width of the car. The car must also retain many of its original features, especially dashboard, doors, and etc. which sometimes can be replaced/removed/modified in the D1GP category. In all the car has to prove its road-worthiness by its entrant providing a shaken (Japanese motor-vehicle inspection) certificate.

Initially, the new series was treated to two exhibition rounds in 2005, and was given a full seven round the following year. Although the series is geared towards novice drifters, it also attracts D1GP star drivers including the Suenaga brothers, Masao and Naoto, many of its former D1GP regulars, and fan-favourites like Ken Nomura.

In 2006, the organisers started a divisional series called D1SL Divisional Series which does not require a D1 License and is broken up in four regions: north, south, east, and west, with rounds that consist of 3 to 4 events in each region and a point scoring system that is the same as the other series'. The winner of the series at the end is awarded a D1 License.