Masato Kawabata

In 2007, at round 2, held in Fuji Speedway, during a sudden death round against Daigo Saito, Saito dipped into the inner apex of the 300R corner and jumped the curb of the track, causing his front wheels to lose traction, which resulted Saito's car to understeer and collecting Kawabata's Silvia onto the tyre barrier in the process, severely destroyed both cars. The impact between the cars and when they were hurled into the track protection barrier happened at speeds of over 150 km/h. Kawabata had to be taken to hospital for treatment for whiplash injuries, Saito miraculously evaded any physical damages. Kawabata won the round which he was unable to continue, leaving Atsushi Kuroi without an opponent. For the following round, he returned with a new car and took the win at the next round at Sportsland SUGO.

Kawabata took his first win at Fuji Speedway in 2006 and went on to finish 4th in the overall points. In 2007 he did even better however winning two rounds and the overall title by one point over Nobushige Kumakubo.

Kawabata first received his license at 18 and at that point he bought the Nissan 180SX. He practiced alone until he met late D1 driver Atsushi Kuroi who started to teach and advise Kawabata. At age 19, Kawabata entered a drift magazine sponsored contest and took first place. At 21, GP Sports started to sponsor Kawabata with a full line of aero parts. Kawabata and first appeared in the D1 Grand Prix in round 4 of 2002.

Masato Kawabata (川畑真人 , Kawabata Masato, 15 October 1977 in Osaka) is a Japanese professional drifting driver, currently competing in the D1 Grand Prix series for TOYO TIRES GLION TRUST RACING.