You Won’t Believe Which Formula DRIFT Legend Is Returning After 10-Year Absence

After a decade away, Japanese legend Daigo Saito returns to Formula DRIFT in 2025 to take on James Deane, Luke Fink, and the rest of the stacked grid!

The driver that Formula DRIFT once proclaimed as “arguably the best drifter in the world” is set to make his highly anticipated comeback to America’s top-tier drifting competition.

Daigo Saito isn’t just a Champ — he’s a LEGEND. 2012 champ. 2025 challenger. This season’s about to be WILD.

Daigo returns to Formula DRIFT on US soil this season with Jerry Yang Racing & @GTRadialUSA.#FormulaD #FormulaDRIFT pic.twitter.com/fnAmlOP5EE

— Formula DRIFT (@FormulaDrift) March 5, 2025

If Saito’s name (somehow) doesn’t immediately ring a bell, you’ve probably seen the viral #BATTLEDRIFT video where he went door-to-door with Vaughn Gittin Jr in his absolutely bonkers V12 Lamborghini Murcielago.

Having stunned Asia with his talents, Saito’s Formula DRIFT (USA) story began in 2012 when he arrived with his Achilles Radial Lexus SC430, typically a luxury sports coupe, which was a total game-changer at the time.

The (once) luxury sports coupe featured a stroked 3.4L Toyota 2JZ-GTE engine with around 1,200 horsepower (and claims of up to 1,400) alongside 1,000 lb-ft of torque. Those numbers were mind-blowing a decade ago and are still impressive today.

He’s not only known for his crazy builds, either.

His rookie season was legendary, where Saito reached the podium in his very first FD event at Long Beach. He then went on to grab third place in Atlanta and then clinched victory at Palm Beach.

He followed that with a fourth-place finish at Wall Speedway before sealing his rookie season with a win at Irwindale in the final round.

The mind-blowing performance earned him both the 2012 Formula DRIFT Championship and Rookie of the Year honors, making him the first Rookie in FD history to claim the championship.

What makes this achievement even more impressive? Saito accomplished it while competing on seven tracks he’d never driven before while operating on a limited budget, often having to repair parts rather than having the option of replacing them.

His second Formula DRIFT season saw him finish third overall, winning three rounds (Atlanta, New Jersey, and Irwindale) and taking second at West Palm Beach.

A practice crash in Seattle and vehicle issues in Texas kept him from potentially securing back-to-back championships.

He returned in 2015 with a 1,200 horsepower Nissan GTR before stepping away to focus on the D1 Grand Prix series - which he won in 2016 while setting a record with five wins in a single season.

Following this, Saito became the first driver in history to win both major drifting championships (at the time) – D1 Grand Prix and Formula DRIFT. In the same year as his 2012 FD USA upset, he also clinched the Formula DRIFT Asia title.

At the time, fellow FD legend Fredric Aasbo acknowledged Saito’s influence, stating, “Daigo Saito exploding onto the Formula Drift scene in 2012 was the greatest thing to happen in the world of drifting in recent years.”

Aasbo added that Saito was able to “school everyone in the art of tandem and smoked out every single FD track across the US.”

For 2025, Daigo will again be teaming up with GT Radial USA alongside new sponsor Jerry Yang Racing (JYR). Right now, everyone’s wondering which car he’ll be competing with. While many expected his Toyota GR Supra (the world’s first drift version), he’s recently put that up for sale, so it’s a no-go.

Given that JYR has worked with plenty of other Japanese drivers, including Hiroya Minowa, Robbie Nishida, and Kazuya Taguchi, we’re optimistic that he has much better backing this time around.

Given his history of outrageous builds, fans can expect something truly spectacular (and competitive) at the starting line.

Although there was some initial disappointment with the calendar announcement, 2025 is shaping up to be an epic year for Formula DRIFT.

The good news has kept coming, and we’re hyped by the prospect of seeing Saito go door-to-door with the most successful driver in FD history, James Deane, and the likes of Australian drifting legend Luke Fink.

As the saying goes – “No Daigo, no party” – and Formula DRIFT will certainly be partying in 2025!

For now, we’ll leave you with “that” video, which we’ll never get bored of watching.

Written by Bill Jefferies

Bill is a drifting journalist and photographer who has been part of the Drifted team since 2015. His work extends to various print and online publications, including Wangan Warriors.

As part of the King of Nations team, he traveled extensively for several years, capturing top-tier international drift events worldwide. His hands-on experience, including rebuilding his own Nissan Silvia S15 drift car, gives him unique insights into drift car building and global drift culture.

When not behind the lens or keyboard, Bill can be found browsing classifieds for his next JDM project or shredding virtual tires on popular simulators like Assetto Corsa, CarX, and Forza.

You can learn more about Bill's story here or follow his socials on X (formerly Twitter), Flickr, Facebook, and Instagram.