A notable change to the DOSS scoring system came into effect this season: vehicle speed is now weighted equally with angle and transition, correcting a previous tendency for high-speed runs to compensate for insufficient angle.
Round 1
Tansō (Single Run)
Naoki Nakamura of TEAM VALINO WORKS set the benchmark in Round 1, posting 99.10 points in his first run from Group D — a near-perfect pass through all four zones with minimal correction. His second run, an attempt at an even higher score, ended with an overshoot at the final left-hand corner and was not improved upon. The first-run score was enough to take the Tansō win.
Kojiro Mesaka finished second with 98.46 points, having scored well on angle and stability through the judges' corner section. Hokuto Matsuyama completed the top three with 97.82, though a loose transition into the hairpin cost him points and left him short of Mesaka's mark.
Shina Tamaki qualified fourth on debut in her second season, producing a composed and penalty-light run. Ryo Ishii followed in fifth with a clean second run, scoring well on transition energy and stability through the hairpin.
Tournament (Tsuiso)
The Round 1 tournament brought several notable upsets through the early stages. Reigning champion Hideyuki Fujino fell to POP in the Best 24, while rookie Kazutaka Yanagi defeated Taigo Saito to advance. In the Best 16, Nakamura lost to Masashi Yokoi, setting off a run of momentum for the latter that would carry him to the final.
Tamaki and Ishii both made their Best 8 debuts in the same round, while Yanagi also advanced after defeating Mesaka. In the Best 8, Yokoi, Kodai Sobakirii, and Matsuyama progressed, and Tamaki made her first-ever Best 4 appearance after defeating Ishii in a clean contest.
In the semi-finals, Yokoi edged Tamaki on speed across both runs. Sobakirii defeated Matsuyama in the other half after Matsuyama appeared to experience a mechanical issue mid-bout.
The final saw Sobakirii attempt an aggressive chase run from the entry. Contact with Yokoi's car damaged the front-left suspension on Sobakirii's entry, ending his run and handing Yokoi his first tournament victory since 2023 — his first weekend in a new private team setup after years at D-MAX.
Round 2
Tansō (Single Run)
Round 2 produced one of the standout Tansō results in recent D1 Grand Prix history. With drivers now more familiar with the layout and track conditions consistent from the previous day, scores rose across the board.
Nakamura again set the early benchmark with a 99.48 in his first run. His second attempt went further — a run of complete precision across all five sectors, with no corrections and an ideal line through every zone, produced a score of 100.60. The only driver above 100 points on the day, Nakamura secured his second consecutive Tansō win.
Mitsuru Murakami finished second with 99.47, scoring well on angle and stability. Hayato Hatanaka completed the podium in third with 99.02 after a smooth and controlled run.
Tournament (Tsuiso)
The Round 2 tournament followed a similar format, with the 24 Tansō qualifiers competing across the bracket. A notable moment came in the Best 16, where Yuta Fujiwara — a GT driver in only his second D1 season — secured his first-ever tournament win against Tetsuya Kume, using strong entry speed in the chase to his advantage. Yokoi advanced through the Best 8 despite repairing significant damage to his car following a check-run crash, before a tyre bead failure ended his campaign.
In the Best 4, Nakamura faced Fujino. Fujino ran close in the first bout, scoring 13 approach points, and took a clean lead run in the second at 99.4 points. Nakamura responded with a full 15 approach points in his chase but could not overcome Fujino's lead-run score. Fujino advanced.
In the other semi-final, Sobakirii defeated Ishii following a second-run contact that halted Ishii's car.
The final between Fujino and Sobakirii was one of the closest of the weekend. Both drivers exchanged approach runs with scores above 14 in both bouts. The margin came down to the lead-run comparison, where Fujino held the higher total. He took the Round 2 tournament victory, with Sobakirii finishing runner-up for the second consecutive round.
Sobakirii's two runner-up finishes across the weekend placed him at the top of the early championship standings.
After two rounds at Aichi, the 2026 D1 Grand Prix season has opened with Nakamura establishing himself as the driver to beat on single runs, while Yokoi and Fujino's tournament victories signalled that the competition battle will be wide open as the series continues.
