About Yasuyuki Kazama
Yasuyuki Kazama (風間靖幸, Kazama Yasuyuki; born 1 February 1970) is a drifting driver from Japan, formerly competing in D1 Grand Prix, well known for using the Nissan Silvia S15. He is also known as Waku Waku and Spin Benz Dokan. == Biography == Kazama was first introduced to drifting at age 17 when he watched Gengo Kitazawa, who later became his spotter and mentor, drifting on a touge. As soon as he got his driving licence he began drifting in his Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 with the proceeds of his job in a filling station. He later escaped death when his car slid down underneath a crash barrier and fell 30 feet down the mountain. He was originally a mechanic and sponsor driver for "Kei-Office" until 31 August 2005, when he left the company to start up his own shop called Rodextyle but he continued to support Tsuchiya's company as the sponsor driver for his new company DG-5 until 2007 which he eventually retired from competition drifting to focus on Rodextyle. Kazama was formerly known as Spin Benz Dokan due to an incident that happened after the 2001 D1GP season finals in Nikko, when Sunpros had filmed a 'Team Drift' segment for the Drift Heaven series and involved hitting a then-D1 Driver Toru Maruyama's daily Mercedes Benz. He was later known as Waku Waku Kun or Rodeo Clown due to his reputation as a clown within the series and being well known for his Rodeo Drift, a form of doughnutting by sitting on the driver's door of the car which he first practiced at the Big-X events, then later at D1GP pre-tsuisou rounds warm-ups in 2005 when he changed the side windows of his car to make it possible to perform the trick. Kazama is also known in the United Kingdom for his only mainstream TV appearance outside Japan in the BBC2 show Top Gear, in which he teaches Richard Hammond drifting in a stock Vauxhall Monaro VX-R. As with the rising popularity of the drifting scene there, he has since made two appearances in both Autocar in April 2006, driving a Caterham Seven and February 2007 issue of the Octane.[1] === Drifting career === Kazama made a name for himself in drifting contests throughout the 90s, driving a Nissan Silvia S13, Nissan Skyline GT-R BNR32, Toyota Mark II JZX90, and a Nissan Silvia S14. In 1994, he placed 3rd overall for Young Version's STCC (Super Technic Challenge Cup) event, a yearly single-run competition series that was judged by Keiichi Tsuchiya and was held at Tsukuba Circuit as the series' main venue.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.