Katsuhiro Ueo
| Katsuhiro Ueo | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |
 Japan
|
| Born |
May 26, 1972 Tamana, Kumamoto |
| D1 Grand Prix career | |
| Debut season | 2001 (D1GP) 2006 (D1SL) |
| Current team | Z.S.S. Racing w/ SIFT and Brains (D1SL) |
| Former teams | Wisesquare, Driftspeed, Team M.O.V.E., NKB Racing, Car Boutique Club, Revolver, Tomei Powered, Cusco Japan, Yuke'S, Ueo Family and Garage SIFT (Privateer) |
| Wins | 7 (3 Main Rounds, 1 Exhibition, 3 D1SL) |
| Best finish | 1 in 2002 (D1GP) and 2016 (D1SL) |
| Championship titles | |
| 2002 (D1GP) 2016 (D1SL) | 2 |
Katsuhiro Ueo (植尾勝浩? Ueo Katsuhiro, 26 May 1972, Tamana, Kumamoto) is a Japanese professional drifting driver, who used to compete in the D1 Grand Prix, well known for using the Toyota AE86. He is also known as, Therefore, it is (デスカラデスネ/ですからですね Desukara Desune) and Cheese.
He was into cars from a young age, and started out competing in gymkhana events, starting with a R32 Skyline GT-R. At one of these events one of his younger colleagues took him to the Touge and challenged him saying that he couldn't do it. So he went out and proved him wrong, and this got him started in drifting. As well as his drifting he is also the owner of tuning shop and used car dealership Racing Garage SIFT.
To start off his drifting activities, Ueo got hold of his first AE86, which was a Corolla Levin AE85 (converted to AE86), he had owned this from 1998-1999 and had won several drifting events (Carboy, Battle Magazine, P's Cars) at the time and was also known as 'Manji-master'. In 2000, Ueo decided to change to a Sprinter Trueno, starting with a black SR trim AE85 and used it at the Kyushu Ikaten, which was held at Mobility Omuta on March 29, 2000 (he won in the finals against Masao Suenaga). The 2000-spec AE85 was later repainted Cream in mid-2000 with revised changes and won the All-Japan Ikaten at Bihoku Circuit on Sept. 7, 2000. Starting in late 2000, Ueo got hold of a genuine AE86 Sprinter Trueno (GTV Trim) which he swapped parts out of the AE85 to the new AE86. This car was more commonly known as Professor, due to a decal that was placed on the side of the car at the time. Ueo continued to use this AE86 for 2002 until 2006.
He has been competing in the D1 Grand Prix since the first season, debuting at Round 3. He has always done well, getting his first win in 2002 and going on to take the championship. Ueo had switch to two different Truenos starting 2003 up until 2004, he used an AE85 (different from 2000 one) while the GTV was used as a backup car. In 2004 however, Ueo had a tough season, either unable to pull through the First Round or Best 16. It turned out, that the AE85's chassis strength had started to weaken since the reinforcement method done to it was by the use of rivets, compared to the GTV which used a tougher stitch-welding method. At this point, Ueo went back to the GTV for 2005-2006, and Ueo was able to retain his fame, after getting his 2nd victory at Round 2 of 2005. Ueo also accomplish of getting 3 straight 100 tansou runs at the 7th round of 2005.
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