Ken Nomura

Ken Nomura (Shinjitai: 野村謙, Nomura Ken, born Fukuoka, May 9, 1965) is a drifting driver from Japan. He made his debut in the D1 Grand Prix in the 3rd round in 2001, driving the Blitz D1 Spec ER34 Skyline which he still drives. His nickname is Nomuken (のむけん) or Monkey Magic (as a reference to his company).

Ken Nomura
Nomuken in a comedy pose during a Pit Walk session, Silverstone Circuit, October 2005
Nationality Japan
Born (1965-05-09) May 9, 1965
Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture
D1 Grand Prix career
Debut season2001
Current teamPACIFIC RACING TEAM DUNLOP
Wins4
Best finish2nd in 2006, 2008

In his youth, Nomura was a baseball player and was very well known within his region, but his career never progressed any further through injury and turned to property developing.[1] Once he gained his driving licence, he was dedicated to night-time street drag racing and then progressed to touge racing.[1] In 1992, Nomuken was runner up in the "All Japan Ikaten" Finals and later in 1996 opened his own tuning shop Uras (reverse for saru, Japanese for monkey), producing drift specific products.[1]

When he first joined the D1GP series in 2000, his performance was average, he had been away from drifting for some time before competing in its inaugural year. But as soon as he signed a contract with parts manufacturer Blitz as a works driver, his skills quickly developed.[1]

In the D1 events, he is known for his imitation of a monkey, as the pioneer of the smoke technique, he drifts with the most smoke. He is widely a fan favorite in the series.[1] He also competes in the budget spinoff series, D1 Street Legal with a toned down version of his Skyline.

In 2006, Ken Nomura won the D1GP Non Championship Event World All Star.

He has also appeared for a TV commercial for his sponsor, Dunlop Tires in Japan, appears as a guest presenter in Video Option and Drift Tengoku as well as a columnist for the Option magazine and judges in drift events.

He announced his intention to retire after the 2018 season on Twitter,[2] and ran his last full-time race on Odaiba.[3]

Complete Drifting Results

Nomuken's Blitz ER34 Skyline GT-T
ColourResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
GreenLast 4 [Semi-final]
BlueLast 8 [Quarter-final]
PurpleLast 16 (16) [1st Tsuiou Round OR Tandem Battle]
(Numbers are given to indicate Top 10 finish)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
(Given to indicate that the driver has been stripped of their position through disqualification)
WhiteFirst Round (TAN) [Tansou OR Qualifying Single Runs]
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
  • 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.

D1 Grand Prix

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Position Points
2001 Nissan 180SX EBS
DNQ
0
Blitz Nissan Skyline ER34 NIK
BHH
TAN
EBS
TAN
NIK
2002 Blitz Nissan Skyline ER34 BHH
TAN
EBS
6
SGO
3
TKB
10
EBS
10
SEK
6
NIK
2
3 58
2003 Blitz Nissan Skyline ER34 TKB
6
BHH
4
SGO
9
FUJ
TAN
EBS
8
SEK
6
TKB
16
7 44
2004 Blitz Nissan Skyline ER34 IRW
3
SGO
3
EBS
1
APS
8
ODB
7
EBS
8
TKB
16
4 72
2005 Blitz Nissan Skyline ER34 IRW
8
ODB
TAN
SGO
2
APS
9
EBS
16
FUJ
4
TKB
8
6 49
2006 Blitz Nissan Skyline ER34 IRW
6
SGO
1
FUJ
10
APS
1
EBS
2
SUZ
2
FUJ
10
IRW
3
2 109
2007 Blitz Nissan Skyline ER34 EBS
6
FUJ
16
SUZ
7
SGO
6
EBS
1
APS
7
FUJ
11
5 57
2008 Blitz Nissan Skyline ER34 EBS
2
FUJ
8
SUZ
6
OKY
6
APS
2
EBS
15
FUJ
11
2 78
2009 Blitz Nissan Skyline ER34 EBS
1
APS
2
OKY
3
OKY
10
EBS
5
EBS
7
FUJ
7
FUJ
18
3 106
2010 Blitz Nissan Skyline ER34 EBS
7
APS
4
OKY
2
OKY
9
EBS
2
EBS
16
FUJ
6
4 90
2011 BLITZ DFellow Nissan Skyline ER34 ODB
7
APS
4
SUZ
11
OKY
10
EBS
8
EBS
12
FUJ
8
6 140
2012 BLITZ Dfellow Toyota GT86 ZN6 ODB
15
SUZ
16
APS
Q-16
EBS
Q-25
EBS
Q-16
CSC
6
ODB
16
22 20
2013 Blitz Toyota GT86 ZN6 MSI
Q-28
SUZ
Q-30
EBS
Q-22
EBS
Q-23
HBR
N
ODB
Q-31
- -
2014 PACIFIC RACING TEAM with URAS Toyota GT86 ZN6 FUJ
Q-43
SUZ
Q-25
APS
R
EBS
N
EBS
N
ODB
N
- -
2015 PACIFIC RACING TEAM with URAS Nissan Skyline ER34 ODB
Pq-21
SUZ
Q-36
EBS
Q-39
TKB
Q-24
MSI
Q-43
ODB
N
- -
2016 PACIFIC RACING TEAM with DUNLOP Nissan Skyline ER34 ODB
Q-27
FUJ
15
TKB
Q-35
TKB
12
EBS
23
EBS
Q-28
ODB
N
27 16
2017 PACIFIC RACING TEAM DUNLOP Nissan Skyline ER34 ODB
22
ODB
Q-21
TKB
Q-36
MSI
Q-30
EBS
Q-22
EBS
18
ODB
N
34 2
2018 PACIFIC RACING TEAM DUNLOP Nissan Skyline ER34 MSI
8
MSI
18
APS
Q-20
TOK
Q-18
TKB
15
EBS
Q-23
EBS
23
ODB
17
24 23

References

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