Masato Kawabata
Nationality	Japan
Born	(1977-10-15) 15 October 1977 (age 47) Osaka, Osaka Prefecture
D1 Grand Prix career
Debut season	2002
Current team	Team TOYO TIRES DRIFT
Former teams	TRUST
Championships	3
Wins	19
Best finish	1st in 2007, 2013, 2015
Previous series
2017-2019 2019,2021	FIA Intercontinental Drifting Cup Russian Drift Series
Championship titles
2007 2013 2015 2017	D1GP Series Champion FIA Intercontinental Drifting Cup

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 Team TOYO TIRES DRIFT.

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 and later he work for them moving from his hometown to Niigata where GP Sports based.

In 2002, Kawabata win the Advan Drift Meeting event at Ebisu circuit where he acquired D1GP license. In the same year, he debut at round 4 of D1 Grand Prix which also held at Ebisu circuit.^[1] He would continued compete as privateer with support from GP Sports.

In 2004, Kawabata was hired by Trust to replace Hideo Hiraoka and drove an S15 Silvia built by GP Sports. On his third season with the team, he took his first win at Fuji Speedway in 2006^[2] and went on to finish 4th in the overall points.

For 2007, Kawabata drive for Toyo Tires who entered D1GP as works team but continiued to drive the same S15 from previous year. Initially Toyo wanted Kawabata mentor Atsushi Kuroi as lead driver, however Kuroi suggest Kawabata instead. he did even better however and despite a crash in Fuji with Daigo Saito where Kawabata suffers a concussion, he win two rounds and dramatically win the overall title by one point over Nobushige Kumakubo who loses his semifinal battle against Yoshinori Koguchi.^[3]

In 2008 after he win the opening round, he change his car to 180SX in second round in Fuji however he would struggle with the car and ended sixth in standings. In years following he would consistenly win at least 1 round in every season including the final round of 2009 season which would be his and Atsushi Kuroi last competitive battle in D1GP before Kuroi passed away in 2010.

In 2013 Kawabata win his second title following two Solo and Overall win at Ebisu and Odaiba and become the first driver to win both Solo and Overall championship since the Solo Run championship is awarded in 2011.^[4]

In 2014 TRUST return and collaborate with Toyo Tires and he started to participate in D1GP with Nissan GT-R in 2014 and also left GP Sports in same year. The following year the Kawabata clinched his third D1GP title before the final round becoming second driver to do so.^[5]

2016 was difficult year for him as Daigo Saito went to dominate the series. Despite able to beat Saito in exhibition event he went winless for the second time in 3 years and he finished the season second in standings. He also started his own shop called True Man Racing (True Man is rough English translation of his name) and collaborating with fellow D1 driver Hideyuki Fujino they released a bodykit for Nissan 180SX called Kick Blue.^{[citation needed]}

Following the defeat from previous year Trust built Kawabata new GT-R for 2017 season while his previous car was driven by returning Masao Suenaga, Toyo Tires as tires sponsor also released new Proxes R888R for competition. He win the third round in Tsukuba which his only win in the season, he end the season 5th in standings.

In 2018 Kawabata win 6 straight Solo Run creating a new record but unfortunately in Battle Run he failed to win a single round and lost the D1GP title to Masashi Yokoi.

In 2019, following Trust withdrawal he competing in the D1GP with Toyota GR Supra and became the first person to win D1GP round with it the following year. Unfortunately his performance worsened as the season progressed. He change his car to new Toyota GR86 in 2022 built by his teammate Hideyuki Fujino where he gave GR86 first ever win in Drift competition, finished the season as runner-up claiming two wins and the Solo Run champions. He won a single round in both 2023 and 2024 season.

Kawabata rarely compete outside of D1GP and Japan but he regularly compete in D1GP oversea competition.

With D1GP expansion to China, Kawabata compete in D1GP China with his own built car. After coming third in inaugural season, he win the championship the following year an continued to compete until series is stopped after 2018. With D1GP reviving it's overseas expansion, Kawabata start to compete in D1GP Thailand and Southeast Asia for Drive to Drift which is a team formed by his former teammate and Thai driver Daychapond Toyingcharoen. In 2023 he win the D1GP Southeast Asia title after competing in all Thailand and Malaysian round of the series.

Kawabata compete in the inaugural FIA Intercontinental Drift Cup at Odaiba which is the first drifting competition held under FIA driving the same Nissan GT-R he use in D1GP where he become the inaugural champion after winning the first leg and runner-up in second leg. He continued to compete in the next two edition of the competition but unable to reclaim the championship.^[6]

In 2019 Kawabata compete for Forward Auto in Russia Drift Series GP driving a 180SX however due to COVID-19 pandemics he's unable to compete in 2020. He returned to the competition in 2021 once again driving 180SX but he personally built it himself. Unfortunately he is unable to participate for full season due to travel restrictions.

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. His car's front wheels lost traction, which resulted in the car to understeer and collect Kawabata's Silvia into the tyre barrier in the process, effectively destroying 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 immediately come out from his car but fell to the ground just as he walk out and had to be taken to hospital for treatment for whiplash injuries, Saito miraculously evaded any physical damages. the

Kawabata won the battle 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.^[7][8]

• 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.

• JDM Option
• Employer's site
• D1 Supporter profile
• Driver Profile