Takahiro Ueno (上野高広, Ueno Takahiro, born 5 November 1971, Hokkaido) is a Japanese professional drifting driver and businessman, the former, currently competing in the D1 Grand Prix series for Car Make T&E.

Takahiro Ueno
Nationality Japan
Born (1971-11-05) November 5, 1971 (age 52)
Hokkaido, Japan
D1 Grand Prix career
Debut season2001
Current teamTEAM VERTEX SAILUN TIRE
Wins1
Best finish3rd in 2001
Previous series
(previous series with line breaks)
Championship titles
(championship titles)

He started out with a love for the Toyota Soarer JZZ30 and driving, and has turned it into a huge success. Starting his Tuning shop Car Make T&E in October 1996, it has gone from strength to strength, now being recognised[citation needed] as one of the best in Japan. Founding the aero part branch, Vertex on the philosophy of simplicity and elegance, he personally approves every new design. Most of the company's time when it was starting out was spent on developing the Toyota Soarer JZZ30 and this still continues today, using the D1 Grand Prix as a showcase.

He began competing in the D1 Grand Prix in his Toyota Soarer JZZ30 in the first round in 2001. He instantly made an impression showing great skill in the control of such a heavy car as the Soarer. Going on to win round 4 of the season and finishing in third overall in the championship. He has gone on to score points in every year since, though has never quite matched his original success.

From 2009 to 2015, he had used BMW M3 (E92).

In 2016, celebrated the 20th anniversary of Car Make T&E, he started using Toyota Soarer JZZ30 again.

Currently he has been competing in the D1GP, driving Lexus RC since 2019.

Complete Drifting Results edit

Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Last 4 [Semi-final]
Blue Last 8 [Quarter-final]
Purple Last 16 (16) [1st Tsuiou Round OR Tandem Battle]
(Numbers are given to indicate Top 10 finish)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
(Given to indicate that the driver has been stripped of their position through disqualification)
White First Round (TAN) [Tansou OR Qualifying Single Runs]
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
  • When driver's position are highlighted in blue, this indicates either the driver earned 100pt or 100pt tansou (solo run) bonus has been awarded, with the latter being in use for Pre-2005.


D1 Grand Prix edit

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Position Points
2001 Car Make T&E Toyota Soarer JZZ30 EBS
2
NIK
4
BHH
TAN
EBS
1
NIK
TAN
3 52
2002 Car Make T&E Toyota Soarer JZZ30 BHH
TAN
EBS
5
SGO
TAN
TKB
DNQ
EBS
TAN
SEK
TAN
NIK
16
24 12
2003 Car Make T&E Toyota Soarer JZZ30 TKB
9
BHH
TAN
SGO
TAN
FUJ
TAN
EBS
DNQ
SEK
DNQ
TKB
DNQ
22 4
2004 Car Make T&E Toyota Soarer JZZ30 IRW
DNQ
SGO
7
EBS
16
APS
TAN
ODB
DNQ
EBS
TAN
TKB
5
11 20
2005 Car Make T&E Toyota Soarer JZZ30 IRW
3
ODB
TAN
SGO
TAN
APS
16
EBS
DNQ
FUJ
DNQ
TKB
16
15 18
2006 Car Make T&E Toyota Soarer JZZ30 IRW
8
SGO
10
FUJ
TAN
APS
TAN
EBS
TAN
SUZ
TAN
FUJ
16
IRW
22 10
2007 Car Make T&E Toyota Soarer JZZ30 EBS
10
FUJ
15
SUZ
TAN
SGO
11
EBS
TAN
APS
2
FUJ
9
11 29
2008 Car Make T&E Toyota Soarer JZZ30 EBS
5
FUJ
10
SUZ
7
OKY
10
APS
13
EBS
FUJ
9 43

Sources edit