If you didn't grow up watching the Option and Best Motoring videos, then you don't have the right to read this interview. I remember watching a few of the Best Motoring videos; my favorite part was watching Keiichi Tsuchiya and Manabu Orido battle on the track. I always wanted the younger guy to win and in this case it was Orido. It's been over 10 years since I saw that video. I would have never thought I would interview the same guy I rooted for all those years ago.
So let me set the scene: A few days before a D1 event, the RS-R team was at Design Craft Fabrication making last-minute repairs. As you probably know, Design Craft is my shop. (That's how I was able to get this interview.) Orido's Toyota Supra needed more steering angle. I told him I could weld up a few things to get it to work and that I would do it at the shop early the next morning and have it done by the afternoon practice.
"Can you do it tonight?" he asked.
I thought, "He wants me to work all night while he goes out drinking with his buddies like the rest of the D1 drivers."
Nonetheless, I agreed. After all, being an unsung hero is normal for most mechanics who work on racecars. If you most of the drivers what they did to their cars they will simply answer, "I drove it."
At 8:00 p.m. the car arrived on a tow truck and my crew started fixing the problems. About midway into fabricating a part for the steering, Orido and the RS-R team showed up to get dirty. I assumed I'd be working with the RS-R/Boss Tuning mechanics. But to my surprise Orido jumped right under the car in his clubbing-style clothes to get dirty wrenching. "That's cool," I thought. "He'll probably hang out for an hour then go drink with his buddies."
Soon it was 4:30 a.m. We were finished with the modifications and Orido was still making last-minute adjustments. That's when it hit me: This guy is a professional driver in Super GT and a well-respected driver in the drifting community, yet he stayed to work. I realized Orido is more than just a driver: He is dedicated to winning. If that means he needs to get under the car to get it ready, then so be it. I never had so much respect for a racecar driver until I met Orido.
I busted my ass on his car, and as payment I got the exclusive interview with Orido. We talked about his transition from judge to driver.
2NR: You've been judging D1 since its inception. Why did you decide to compete this season?Manabu Orido: I prefer driving over judging. When drifting started getting bigger, I was asked to judge, since I had won many smaller drift events. Now I am starting to see friends like Nobuteru Taniguchi and Takahiro Ueno competing and getting better, so I feel like I need to get back in the driver's seat and run with my friends.
2NR: How do the other two judges, Keiichi Tsuchiya and Manabu Suzuki, feel about you competing instead of judging?MO: At first I was offered to do demo runs and Tsuchiya said he could tell I enjoyed running more than judging. Now that I have left to compete, he is very supportive of me and understands why I want to drift.