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Nobushige Kumakubo

{{Short description|Japanese racing driver}}

{{Infobox racing driver

| name = Nobushige Kumakubo

| image =

| imagesize = 180px

| caption =

| nationality = {{JPN}}

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|2|10}}

| birth_place = Fukushima Prefecture

| related to =

| current series = D1 Grand Prix

| first year = {{d1|2001}}

| current team = Team Orange

| former teams =

| starts =

| wins = 4

| best finish =

| year =

| prev series =

| prev series years =

| titles = 2

| title years = {{d1|2006}} 2012

| awards =

| award years =

}}

Image:Kumascooby.jpg]]

{{nihongo|Nobushige Kumakubo|熊久保信重|Kumakubo Nobushige|extra=born February 10, 1970, Fukushima Prefecture}} is a drifting driver from Japan who competes in the D1 Grand Prix series and racetrack and land owner. Nicknamed Kuma, he is commonly referred to as one of the pioneers of drifting.

Biography

Born to a wealthy family who owned a large portion of land in the Fukushima countryside, with the easy accessibility of the family plot, Kumakubo was able to use some of it to build and develop the Ebisu Circuit.[http://driftjapan.com/blog/drivers/nobushige-kumakubo/ Nobushige Kumakubo » Driver Profile » Drift Japan]

Kumakubo also used the circuit to host numerous drifting events as well as various motorsport events. As the lead driver of Team Orange, as his car has always been orange, he started at the D1GP series in a Nissan Silvia, in {{D1|2005}},

whilst stumbling through the numerous rallying magazines in his office and considering that the Subaru Impreza was the car to have as many rear wheel drive cars were considered not suitable for drifting or in need of development to be considered suitable, also in a way to bring Impreza owners to his track, Kumakubo commissioned tuning company JUN Auto to build an Impreza WRX STI Impreza, significantly with a radiator on the rear passenger side.

The car debuted at the Odaiba round, unlike others who switched to newer models, his performance would pay off when he was runner up at the Silverstone exhibition round and for the {{D1|2006}} season, he had beaten Ken Nomura by just 1 point. Midway through the {{D1|2007}} D1 series Kumakubo switched from the Impreza to an Evo 9 (built also by JUN Auto) during round 5 at Ebisu.

He has also built a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X in the Team Orange livery which was shown at the Tokyo Auto Salon.

He also runs the Big X the invitation only outdoor show that combines drifting, FMX, supermoto, car stunts and other extreme sports featuring the experts from each field.

Big X's drifting squad is called DriftXtreme, which the well known drivers of the D1GP are invited to join including team mate Kazuhiro Tanaka and Naoto Suenaga.

Kumakubo competed in the European Drift Championship during the 2008 season alongside his Team Orange teammate Kazuhiro Tanaka in his Subaru Impreza WRX STI.[http://www.europeandriftchampionship.eu/Japanese%20Drifter%20Kumakubo%20to%20enter%20EDC%202008.html Japanese Drifter Kumakubo to enter EDC2008!] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014123713/http://www.europeandriftchampionship.eu/Japanese%20Drifter%20Kumakubo%20to%20enter%20EDC%202008.html |date=2009-10-14 }}

Complete Drifting Results

{{Drifting driver results legend}}

=D1 Grand Prix=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%"

! Year

! Entrant

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! Position

! Points

rowspan="2" | {{D1|2001}}

!

! Nissan Skyline HCR32

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| EBS
DNQ

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| NIK
DNQ

BHH

|

|

|

|

|

! rowspan="2" | NC

! rowspan="2" | 0

! Toyota Chaser JZX100

|

|

|

|| EBS
TAN

|| NIK

|

|

|

{{D1|2002}}

! Team Orange

! Nissan Silvia S15

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| BHH
4

EBS
TAN

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| EBS
5

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SGO
9

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| TKB
6

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SEK
4

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NIK
10

|

! 4th

! 56

{{D1|2003}}

! Team Orange

! Nissan Silvia S15

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| TKB
1

BHH
TAN

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| SGO
1

FUJ
TAN

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| EBS
5

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SEK
5

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| TKB
4

|

! 2nd

! 78

{{D1|2004}}

! Team Orange / Ebisu Circuit

! Nissan Silvia S15

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| IRW
4

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SGO
5

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| EBS
5

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| APS
16

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ODB
16

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| EBS
9

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| TKB
2

|

! 6th

! 60

rowspan="2" | {{D1|2005}}

! rowspan="2" | Team Orange / Yuke's

! Nissan Silvia S15

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| IRW
4

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

! rowspan="2" | 4th

! rowspan="2" | 55

Subaru Impreza GDB

|

|| ODB
TAN

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SGO
10

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| APS
6

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| EBS
11

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FUJ
5

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| TKB
3

|

{{D1|2006}}

! Team Orange / Yuke's

! Subaru Impreza GDB

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| IRW
2

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SGO
8

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| FUJ
3

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| APS
2

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| EBS
1

SUZ
TAN

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| FUJ
4

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| IRW
4

! 1st

! 110

rowspan="2" | {{D1|2007}}

! rowspan="2" | Team Orange / Yuke's

! Subaru Impreza GDB

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| EBS
1

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| FUJ
3

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SUZ
4

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| SGO
2

|

|

|

| rowspan="2" |

! rowspan="2" | 2nd

! rowspan="2" | 99

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX CT9A

|

|

|

|

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| EBS
8

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| APS
8

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| FUJ
3

rowspan="2" | {{D1|2008}}

! rowspan="2" | Team Orange / Yuke's

! Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX CT9A

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| EBS
12

FUJ
TAN

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SUZ
8

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| OKY
16

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| APS
8

EBS
FUJ

| rowspan="2" |

! rowspan="2" | 13th

! rowspan="2" | 28

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20070211045126/http://www.yukes.co.jp/d1-project/index.php?c=13-6 Yuke's D1 Project Blog (Nobushige Kumakubo)]
  • [http://www.geocities.jp/d1gp_5thmotorsports/d1_drivers/kumakubo.html D1 Supporter profile]

{{s-start}}

{{succession box|before=Yasuyuki Kazama|title=D1 Grand Prix Champion|years={{D1|2006}}|after=Masato Kawabata}}

{{s-end}}

{{D1 Grand Prix}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumakubo, Nobushige}}

Category:Japanese racing drivers

Category:Drifting drivers

Category:1970 births

Category:Living people

Category:D1 Grand Prix drivers