Veteran Japanese Drifter Fills In For Daigo Saito
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Daigo Saito absent for Seattle Drift round
The 2025 season of Formula Drift has been nothing less than exciting. New fans of the series were introduced to a veteran and master of his class when the announcement was made that Daigo Saito would be making a trip back to the United States to compete against the best of what was to offer. The last time Daigo competed in Formula Drift he dominated with a top level skill set honed while competing in Japan paired with a dominant chassis that boasted well over 1,000 Horsepower. While those numbers are somewhat common in modern professional drifting in America, it was nearly unheard of at the time. This started a revolution in the American drifting scene that reflects the minimum standard in today's top level competition.
Trouble for the return
Unfortunately, Daigo's return has been less than productive. Piloting a vehicle that doesn't necessarily match his V8 personality or hold up to his level of mechanical empathy (or lack thereof). Not many drivers come back and perform at the highest level but Saito has yet to progress past Top 32 in competition. He has been battling mechanical issues and when the car is operating at peak performance he is matched up with some of the most consistently high performing drivers over the past decade such as Fredric Aasbo and Aurimas Bakchis. Daigo continued to fight through all the obstacles and showed up every round until one U.S. Customs agent was having a bad day prior to the St. Louis round. Daigo was denied entry based on his Visa-waiver because the agent recognized he was a professional driver but did not believe he was entering the United States with no intention to make money. Daigo was sent back to Japan and word on when he will be back to compete has not yet made the rounds. To keep the partners happy Daigo's car was driven for some exhibition laps piloted by Japanese drift legend Shinji Minowa. Yes, Shinji is Hiroya's dad.
A Veteran Returns
The Formula Drift seasons chugs along like a freight train crossing the Great Plains. Jerry Yang has a seat that needs to be filled and partners that need to be happy. Wataru Masuyama makes his return to the United States to compete after a short hiatus as he continued to compete in Formula Drift Japan. Masuyama entered the American drift series back in 2020 and then both the Japanese and American series' for several years before eventually just competing in Formula Drift Japan. He has had a successful professional drifting career collecting a couple wins and several top 8 and top 16 finishes. His return to the United States on the Jerry Yang Racing team looks promising. We hope he doesn't encounter the same issues that Daigo ran into on his way to St. Louis.
What about the points?
As Daigo Saito takes a break and Wataru Masuyama comes in to drive his car, many people are interested in how the points race will work. Formula Drift has stated that Saito's points will be paused until he returns and Masuyama will start from zero points. He will start in the seeding bracket in Seattle and will generate his own points for the season.
