Career
Kawabata first received his license at 18 and at that point he bought the Nissan 180SX. He practiced alone until he met late D1 driver Atsushi Kuroi who started to teach and advise Kawabata. At age 19, Kawabata entered a drift magazine sponsored contest and took first place. At 21, General Practice Sports started to sponsor Kawabata with a full line of aero parts.
Kawabata and first appeared in the D1 Grand Prix in round 4 of 2002.
In 2007 he did even better however winning two rounds and the overall title by one point over Nobushige Kumakubo. In 2007, at round 2, held in Fuji Speedway, during a sudden death round against Daigo Saito, Saito dipped into the inner apex of the 300R corner and jumped the curb of the track, causing his front wheels to lose traction, which resulted Saito"s car to understeer and collecting Kawabata"s Silvia onto the tyre barrier in the process, severely destroyed both cars.
The impact between the cars and when they were hurled into the track protection barrier happened at speeds of over 150 km/h. Kawabata had to be taken to hospital for treatment for whiplash injuries, Saito miraculously evaded any physical damages.
(key)
D1 Grand Prix.