is a
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese racing driver and former
driftingDrifting refers to a driving technique and to a motor sport where the driver intentionally oversteers, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels through turns, while preserving vehicle control and a high exit speed...
driver who currently competes in
Super GTThe Super GT series, formerly known as the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship or JGTC , is a grand touring car race series promoted by the GT-Association...
. Taniguchi is commonly nicknamed "NOB" (abbr. No One Better) or "The Pimp" as a reference to his S15 Silvia which he is best known for.
Taniguchi began his motorsport career when he was racing
minibikeA minibike, also recently known as a mini moto or pocketbike, is a miniature motorcycle. Most traditional minibikes use a four stroke engine to turn the rear wheel via a chain. Small cheap gasoline engines like ones produced for yard equipment are most often used, though most designs require a...
s and won a
Hondais a Japanese multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. Honda is the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume. Honda surpassed Nissan in 2001 to become...
sponsored All Japan Mini Bike race, which took place at its
Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka Circuit for short, is a motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Mobilityland Corporation, the subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd..- Introduction :...
. Taniguchi would progress into four wheels and became interested in drifting when he acquired a
Toyota AE86The AE86 generation of the Toyota Corolla Levin and Toyota Sprinter Trueno is a small, lightweight coupe introduced by Toyota in 1983 as part of the fifth generation Toyota Corolla line-up. For the purpose of brevity, the insider-chassis code of "AE86" is used to describe the whole range...
.
is a
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese racing driver and former
driftingDrifting refers to a driving technique and to a motor sport where the driver intentionally oversteers, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels through turns, while preserving vehicle control and a high exit speed...
driver who currently competes in
Super GTThe Super GT series, formerly known as the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship or JGTC , is a grand touring car race series promoted by the GT-Association...
. Taniguchi is commonly nicknamed "NOB" (abbr. No One Better) or "The Pimp" as a reference to his S15 Silvia which he is best known for.
Career
Taniguchi began his motorsport career when he was racing
minibikeA minibike, also recently known as a mini moto or pocketbike, is a miniature motorcycle. Most traditional minibikes use a four stroke engine to turn the rear wheel via a chain. Small cheap gasoline engines like ones produced for yard equipment are most often used, though most designs require a...
s and won a
Hondais a Japanese multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. Honda is the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume. Honda surpassed Nissan in 2001 to become...
sponsored All Japan Mini Bike race, which took place at its
Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka Circuit for short, is a motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Mobilityland Corporation, the subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd..- Introduction :...
. Taniguchi would progress into four wheels and became interested in drifting when he acquired a
Toyota AE86The AE86 generation of the Toyota Corolla Levin and Toyota Sprinter Trueno is a small, lightweight coupe introduced by Toyota in 1983 as part of the fifth generation Toyota Corolla line-up. For the purpose of brevity, the insider-chassis code of "AE86" is used to describe the whole range...
. He also worked at
Takahiro Uenois a Japanese professional drifting driver and businessman, the former, currently competing in the D1 Grand Prix series for .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...
’s car bodykit company, Car Make T&E to supplement his racing career whilst competing in various one make series racing with the
Toyota CelicaThe Toyota Celica name has been applied to a series of popular coupes made by the Japanese company Toyota. The name is ultimately derived from the Latin word coelica meaning "heavenly" or "celestial"....
and
VitzThe Toyota Vitz is a line of subcompact cars first launched by Toyota in 1999, designed by Sotiris Kovos. The Yaris is a 3 and 5-door hatchback automobile....
and participating in
driftDrifting refers to a driving technique and to a motor sport where the driver intentionally oversteers, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels through turns, while preserving vehicle control and a high exit speed...
events. In 1999, he came into the attention of HKS when he won a Suzuka Clubman Race in a Honda Civic sponsored by Bride. HKS signed him up as a test driver and as a sponsor, as well as sponsoring his S15 Silvia for drift events.
Drifting
Taniguchi won the first season of
D1 Grand PrixThe , abbreviated as D1GP and subtitled Professional Drift, is a production car drifting series from Japan. After several years of hosting amateur drifting contests, Option Magazine & Tokyo Auto Salon founder Daijiro Inada, and drifting legend Keiichi Tsuchiya hosted a professional level drifting...
in
20012001 D1 Grand Prix Point Seriesn.b. Winning Driver are mentioned on the right
Round 1 - October 6, 2000 - Ebisu South Course, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan - Youichi Imamura
...
for HKS. Taniguchi and HKS have not limited their racing campaign to Japan. In 2005, Taniguchi drove the HKS USA Mitsubishi Evolution in the Car and Driver Super Tuner Challenge against top US manufacturers and drivers. Taniguchi beat the nearest competitor by three seconds, and set the day’s fastest ¼ mile, 0-60, and road course times. In 2006, Taniguchi drove the HKS Speed Source RX-8 in the Grand Am Cup race at Arizona’s Phoenix International Raceway and set the fasted qualifying time for any Mazda RX-8.
HKS and Formula Drift made an exclusive partnership in 2007 that brought NOB to the United States to perform drifting exhibitions at Formula Drift events. Taniguchi made his first appearance at Formula Drift’s second event Road Atlanta, May 11 and 12, 2007.
He was also a test driver for HKS in 2004 and 2007 where he drove the HKS
Time AttackA time attack is another term for time trial. The term is commonly used in Japan for individual time trial events for motor vehicles that involves a vehicle running around the circuit in lieu of a qualifying lap and the term is widely adopted outside the country for tuner event and...
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 and set a 54.37 second lap time at
Tsukuba CircuitThe Tsukuba Circuit is a famous race track located in Shimotsuma, a neighboring city of Tsukuba, Japan. It is long, has 32 pits and the longest straight is long. The track was established in 1966 with the aim of attracting young people to participate in motor sports but wasn't actually built...
(famous for its complexity and focus on cornering skills), and again in 2007, where he drove the all
carbon fiberCarbon fiber is a material consisting of extremely thin fibers about 0.005–0.010 mm in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are bonded together in microscopic crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber...
body HKS CT230R Mitsubishi Evolution and set the current Tsukuba
Time AttackA time attack is another term for time trial. The term is commonly used in Japan for individual time trial events for motor vehicles that involves a vehicle running around the circuit in lieu of a qualifying lap and the term is widely adopted outside the country for tuner event and...
record of 53.589 seconds (
video). Mid way through the 2004 season of D1, NOB switched to an Altezza which had not been properly setup and had shown some technical issues that many believe cost him the championship that year. During the 2005 season, the switch to Altezza was proving to be a mistake for HKS and NOB which lead them to quit the series at the end of the season.
In all, Taniguchi has gone through four cars with HKS for D1, the RS1 Hyper Silvia S15 (Crashed by Keiichi Tsuchiya), and two RS2 Hyper Silvia S15s (One from HKS Power Japan, and the other from HKS Europe), and finally the Genki RP Altezza, which was designed without experimental/prototype HKS parts, for the purpose that a private drifter could copy the car. His recent drift car is a Toyota Aristo (Lexus GS300 in US). Taniguchi had the most wins in D1 Grand Prix until his tally was overtaken by
Youichi Imamurais a Japanese professional drifting driver, currently competing in the D1 Grand Prix series for team with .He has always enjoyed driving, so drifting was a natural thing for him. His other passion is flowers as his parents ran a florist and he has always helped them out...
in 2005.
Racing
Taniguchi won the Super Taikyu series in Japan in 2002 and 2005. In 2002 he began competing in JGTC with
RE Amemiyais an automotive tuning company from Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan founded by Isami Amemiya. Amemiya has made a name for himself tuning rotary engines since 1974 and has become a pioneer in tuning rotary-powered Mazdas...
in a
Mazda RX-7The Mazda RX-7 is a sports car produced by the Japanese automaker Mazda from 1978 to 2002. The original RX-7 featured a 1146 cc twin-rotor Wankel rotary engine and a sporty front-midship, rear-wheel drive layout...
. He has continued to compete in the series as it became
Super GTThe Super GT series, formerly known as the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship or JGTC , is a grand touring car race series promoted by the GT-Association...
in 2005. Having previously raced for Team Taisan in 2007/08 he has returned to Amemiya in 2009.
He will make his
World Touring Car ChampionshipThe World Touring Car Championship is an international Touring Car championship organised by the FIA.The first WTCC, which was open to Group A Touring Cars, was held in 1987 concurrent to the long-running European Touring Car Championship...
debut with
Proteam MotorsportProteam Motorsport is an Italian auto racing team based in Arezzo that was set up by former driver Valmiro Presenzini in 1997. They're best known for their efforts in the FIA World Touring Car Championship. Their time in the WTCC has seen them become the most successful independent team in the...
at the 2009 FIA WTCC Race of Japan, at the Okayama International Circuit.
Other Work
Taniguchi appears in many DVD series, such as
Video Optionwas introduced in March 1988 by Sunpro as a monthly direct-to-video magazine version of the long running Option magazine.The video has always being presented by Daijiro Inada, who do many of the tuner car road tests, either on a test track, on public road with Daijiro's adventures at Bonneville...
, Drift Tengoku, Best Motoring, Rev Speed Video and Hot Version. He now lives in an apartment in
Yokohamais the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshū. It is a major commercial hub of the Greater Tokyo Area....
opposite his friend and former employer Ueno.
D1 Grand Prix
| Year |
Entrant |
Car |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
Position |
Points |
|
| HKS |
Nissan Silvia S15The Nissan Silvia is the name given to the company's long-running line of sport coupes based on the Nissan S platform. Although recent models have shared this chassis with other vehicles produced by Nissan , the name Silvia is not interchangeable with the...
|
EBS Ebisu, also transliterated Yebisu, may refer to:* Ebisu , a god of Japanese mythology* Ebisu, Tokyo, a district of Tokyo, Japan* Ebisu Station , a train station located in Tokyo's Shibuya ward...
4 |
NIK
1 |
BHH
TAN |
EBS Ebisu, also transliterated Yebisu, may refer to:* Ebisu , a god of Japanese mythology* Ebisu, Tokyo, a district of Tokyo, Japan* Ebisu Station , a train station located in Tokyo's Shibuya ward...
4 |
NIK
1 |
|
|
1 |
68 |
|
| HKS |
Nissan Silvia S15The Nissan Silvia is the name given to the company's long-running line of sport coupes based on the Nissan S platform. Although recent models have shared this chassis with other vehicles produced by Nissan , the name Silvia is not interchangeable with the...
|
BHH
TAN |
EBS Ebisu, also transliterated Yebisu, may refer to:* Ebisu , a god of Japanese mythology* Ebisu, Tokyo, a district of Tokyo, Japan* Ebisu Station , a train station located in Tokyo's Shibuya ward...
1 |
EBS Ebisu, also transliterated Yebisu, may refer to:* Ebisu , a god of Japanese mythology* Ebisu, Tokyo, a district of Tokyo, Japan* Ebisu Station , a train station located in Tokyo's Shibuya ward...
10 |
SGO
16 |
TKB The Tsukuba Circuit is a famous race track located in Shimotsuma, a neighboring city of Tsukuba, Japan. It is long, has 32 pits and the longest straight is long. The track was established in 1966 with the aim of attracting young people to participate in motor sports but wasn't actually built...
3 |
SEK
3 |
NIK
6 |
2 |
64 |
|
| HKS |
Nissan Silvia S15The Nissan Silvia is the name given to the company's long-running line of sport coupes based on the Nissan S platform. Although recent models have shared this chassis with other vehicles produced by Nissan , the name Silvia is not interchangeable with the...
|
TKB The Tsukuba Circuit is a famous race track located in Shimotsuma, a neighboring city of Tsukuba, Japan. It is long, has 32 pits and the longest straight is long. The track was established in 1966 with the aim of attracting young people to participate in motor sports but wasn't actually built...
TAN |
BHH
16 |
SGO
DNQ |
FUJis a race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s and hosted the first Formula One race in Japan in 1976. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing...
2 |
EBS Ebisu, also transliterated Yebisu, may refer to:* Ebisu , a god of Japanese mythology* Ebisu, Tokyo, a district of Tokyo, Japan* Ebisu Station , a train station located in Tokyo's Shibuya ward...
6 |
SEK
3 |
TKB The Tsukuba Circuit is a famous race track located in Shimotsuma, a neighboring city of Tsukuba, Japan. It is long, has 32 pits and the longest straight is long. The track was established in 1966 with the aim of attracting young people to participate in motor sports but wasn't actually built...
1 |
4 |
64 |
| |
HKS |
Nissan Silvia S15The Nissan Silvia is the name given to the company's long-running line of sport coupes based on the Nissan S platform. Although recent models have shared this chassis with other vehicles produced by Nissan , the name Silvia is not interchangeable with the...
|
IRWToyota Speedway at Irwindale is a motorsports facility located in Irwindale, California. It features banked, paved 1/2 and 1/3 mile oval tracks. It opened on March 27, 1999, as Irwindale Speedway and held that name until Toyota purchased the naming rights to the facility in 2008....
2 |
SGO
2 |
EBS Ebisu, also transliterated Yebisu, may refer to:* Ebisu , a god of Japanese mythology* Ebisu, Tokyo, a district of Tokyo, Japan* Ebisu Station , a train station located in Tokyo's Shibuya ward...
3 |
APSAutopolis is an international racing circuit located near Kamitsue village in Ōita Prefecture, Japan. Opened in 1990, it hosts a range of domestic and international motorsport events throughout the year. Although the track meets a high standard in terms of its facilities, it has never hosted a...
1 |
ODBis a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. It was initially built for defensive purposes in the 1850s, dramatically expanded during the late 20th century as a seaport district, and has developed since the 1990s as a major commercial, residential...
6 |
|
|
2 |
82 |
Toyota Altezza SXE-10The Lexus IS is a series of entry-level luxury cars / compact executive cars sold by Lexus since 1999. The IS was introduced as an entry-level sport model slotted below the ES in the Lexus lineup...
|
|
|
|
|
|
EBS Ebisu, also transliterated Yebisu, may refer to:* Ebisu , a god of Japanese mythology* Ebisu, Tokyo, a district of Tokyo, Japan* Ebisu Station , a train station located in Tokyo's Shibuya ward...
TAN |
TKB The Tsukuba Circuit is a famous race track located in Shimotsuma, a neighboring city of Tsukuba, Japan. It is long, has 32 pits and the longest straight is long. The track was established in 1966 with the aim of attracting young people to participate in motor sports but wasn't actually built...
TAN |
| |
HKS |
Nissan Silvia S15The Nissan Silvia is the name given to the company's long-running line of sport coupes based on the Nissan S platform. Although recent models have shared this chassis with other vehicles produced by Nissan , the name Silvia is not interchangeable with the...
|
IRWToyota Speedway at Irwindale is a motorsports facility located in Irwindale, California. It features banked, paved 1/2 and 1/3 mile oval tracks. It opened on March 27, 1999, as Irwindale Speedway and held that name until Toyota purchased the naming rights to the facility in 2008....
10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 |
36 |
Toyota Altezza SXE-10The Lexus IS is a series of entry-level luxury cars / compact executive cars sold by Lexus since 1999. The IS was introduced as an entry-level sport model slotted below the ES in the Lexus lineup...
|
|
ODBis a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. It was initially built for defensive purposes in the 1850s, dramatically expanded during the late 20th century as a seaport district, and has developed since the 1990s as a major commercial, residential...
2 |
SGO
TAN |
APSAutopolis is an international racing circuit located near Kamitsue village in Ōita Prefecture, Japan. Opened in 1990, it hosts a range of domestic and international motorsport events throughout the year. Although the track meets a high standard in terms of its facilities, it has never hosted a...
|
EBS Ebisu, also transliterated Yebisu, may refer to:* Ebisu , a god of Japanese mythology* Ebisu, Tokyo, a district of Tokyo, Japan* Ebisu Station , a train station located in Tokyo's Shibuya ward...
8 |
FUJis a race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s and hosted the first Formula One race in Japan in 1976. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing...
6 |
TKB The Tsukuba Circuit is a famous race track located in Shimotsuma, a neighboring city of Tsukuba, Japan. It is long, has 32 pits and the longest straight is long. The track was established in 1966 with the aim of attracting young people to participate in motor sports but wasn't actually built...
|
|
| HKS |
Toyota Altezza SXE-10The Lexus IS is a series of entry-level luxury cars / compact executive cars sold by Lexus since 1999. The IS was introduced as an entry-level sport model slotted below the ES in the Lexus lineup...
|
EBS is an established race complex at 1 Sawamatsukura, Nihonmatsu-shi, Fukushima Prefecture, 964-0088, Japan. The complex features 7 individual tracks plus 2 skid pan type circuits. The circuits are, Nishi , Kita , Higashi , Minami as well as Drift Land, the School Course, The Touge and 'KuruKuru...
|
FUJis a race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s and hosted the first Formula One race in Japan in 1976. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing...
9 |
SUZ , Suzuka Circuit for short, is a motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Mobilityland Corporation, the subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd..- Introduction :...
|
OKY
|
APSAutopolis is an international racing circuit located near Kamitsue village in Ōita Prefecture, Japan. Opened in 1990, it hosts a range of domestic and international motorsport events throughout the year. Although the track meets a high standard in terms of its facilities, it has never hosted a...
|
EBS is an established race complex at 1 Sawamatsukura, Nihonmatsu-shi, Fukushima Prefecture, 964-0088, Japan. The complex features 7 individual tracks plus 2 skid pan type circuits. The circuits are, Nishi , Kita , Higashi , Minami as well as Drift Land, the School Course, The Touge and 'KuruKuru...
|
FUJis a race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s and hosted the first Formula One race in Japan in 1976. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing...
|
- |
8 |
External links