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 |  |
| Born | May 9, 1965 Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture |
| D1 Grand Prix career | |
| Debut season | 2001 |
| Current team | PACIFIC RACING TEAM DUNLOP |
| Wins | 4 |
| Best finish | 2nd 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
(key)
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 |