Nobuteru "NOB" Taniguchi

Drift legend · Japan

NOB Taniguchi mid-drift in the HKS Toyota Altezza at D1GP Thailand 2012

Founding-era discipline, no theatrics.

A founding-era D1 Grand Prix driver who codified the S-chassis and JZX tandem language the entire modern discipline now inherits. Yokohama / HKS factory programmes through the 2000s.

Taniguchi started in D1 Grand Prix's founding-era grids in 2001 and spent the 2000s as one of the visible reference drivers for what S-chassis tandem driving could be. The driving identity, calm chase runs, deliberate angle, no panic, became the proto-template for the modern Japanese pro tandem style.

He campaigned under HKS, Yokohama and a series of factory-backed programmes. The Toyota SXE10 Altezza he ran in the early 2010s D1GP era became one of the most-cited examples of a non-traditional chassis brought to the front of the grid by discipline rather than horsepower.

Outside of D1GP, Taniguchi also raced GT300 in Super GT, the same level-headed touring-car-style discipline that travelled to D1. He is the kind of driver every modern pro can trace technique back to, even when their visible influences are flashier names.

At a glance

  • Role: D1GP founding-era driver
  • Region: Japan

Career highlights

  • 2001 →: D1GP founding-era grids. On the D1 Grand Prix entry list from the founding season. Anchors S-chassis tandem language in the early professional scene.
  • 2012: D1GP Thailand Round 5 (HKS Altezza). The SXE10 Altezza programme, a non-traditional chassis taken to the front of the grid by discipline rather than power.

Signature cars

Source: D1 Grand Prix