Can You Get Into the Pits at D1GP and FDJ? Pit Walk Guide (2026)

Yes, but at only one event left in 2026 can you buy your way into the pits. D1 Grand Prix Rd.7 and Rd.8 at Autopolis (Oita) on 24–25 October 2026 sell a pit walk ticket for ¥2,500 a day in advance or ¥3,500 on the day, and the walk opens at 12:20 after the solo runs. The D1GP Odaiba final, the FDJ3 rounds, D1 Lights at Tsukuruma and the Ebisu Autumn Drift Matsuri list no pit or paddock pass. We checked the official pages on 8 October 2026.

A pit walk is a short, timed window when spectators can walk the pit lane, see the cars up close and ask drivers for autographs and photos. In Japanese it is written ピットウォーク. Most of the day the pits belong to the teams, and D1 says plainly that fans cannot go in at any other time.

Which late-2026 events let you into the pits?

Here is every competition and matsuri left on the 2026 calendar that overseas fans ask about, with what each organiser actually publishes about pit access.

The full list of dated events, including club days, is on the TSUISO event calendar.

How does the D1GP pit walk at Autopolis work?

D1 announced on 30 September 2026 that the pit walk returns at Autopolis on both days, after the solo runs (tanso, the judged single runs that seed the bracket). The timetable posted on 2 October puts it at 12:20 on Saturday and Sunday. Passenger rides for Premium holders start at 12:40 and the tsuiso (chase battle) introductions at 13:20, so the window is short. D1 also hands out driver cards there for you to get signed.

Children of junior-high age and under get into the circuit free with a guardian, but they need their own pit walk ticket. Babies who are carried or in a stroller are free. Premium ticket holders and D1 fan club members are let in first when the walk opens, so expect queues at the most popular drivers before general ticket holders get in. If you want a specific autograph, be at the pit entrance early.

More on the rest of the weekend, from parking to the Friday practice day, is in our D1GP Autopolis 2026 tickets and access guide. If you plan to shoot photos in the pits, read our guide to filming and photography at Japanese drift events first.

Where do overseas fans get stuck buying a pit walk ticket?

Every Autopolis ticket, the pit walk included, sells through Lawson Ticket under L-code 82986. General and overseas sales opened on 1 October 2026 and close at 23:00 JST the day before each race day.

That is the stuck step. Lawson Ticket’s own FAQ says its phone verification works only with Japanese mobile numbers starting 090, 080, 070 or 060, and not from outside Japan. The e-ticket lives in the Japanese-language Lawson Ticket smartphone app, and the family ticket is paper only. D1’s page links a separate entry marked “overseas only”, but it does not say which tickets, cards or delivery methods that entry covers, and when we opened it on 8 October 2026 it showed only an error screen. Waiting for the gate is a gamble: the page says same-day pit walk tickets will not be sold if the planned allocation sells out. Our guide to buying Japanese drift event tickets from overseas explains how each platform handles foreign cards and phones.

Will there be a pit walk at the D1GP Odaiba final?

Nothing is announced yet. D1 published the 2026 TOKYO DRIFT ticket page on 7 October 2026 under L-code 38020, and it sells reserved seats only.

None of those tiers mentions a pit walk, and no timetable has been posted. For reference, the 2025 Odaiba timetable did list a pit walk on both days (14:05 Saturday, 13:35 Sunday) and a course walk at 18:40 after the awards. D1’s 3 October 2026 fan club post also says members get priority entry to the pit walk or course walk. Read that as a hint, not a promise, until the 2026 timetable appears.

The exhibitor area at Odaiba is free to enter without a D1 ticket. Seats, trains and the 2025 layout are covered in D1GP Odaiba 2026: dates, tickets and access.

What about Formula Drift Japan and Ebisu Drift Matsuri?

Formula Drift Japan. The 2026 FD Japan season finished at Okayama on 3–4 October. What remains is FDJ3, the series’ third tier: Rd.5 at Fuji Speedway Drift Park on 18 October and Rd.6 at Tsukuruma Circuit Nasu on 1 November. The Fuji notice of 6 October lists two gate fees, ¥1,200 for Fuji Speedway entry (¥900 for high-school students) and ¥2,000 in cash for FDJ3 at the Drift Park entrance, with free parking. It says nothing about the pits, and the timetable is still to come. FDJ events have run pit walks this year: the FDJ2 Rd.5 timetable at Okuibuki on 13 September 2026 included a 30-minute “pit walk autograph session” from 12:00, and the only tickets listed were a ¥3,500 gate-only day ticket and parking. More on the series is in our Formula Drift Japan guide.

Ebisu Drift Matsuri. A matsuri (festival) at Ebisu Circuit is a mass drift event for entered drivers, not a judged competition, and there is no spectator pit pass. Spectators pay one admission valid for the whole festival. The pits are paid reservations for drivers, made only through web entry together with the matsuri entry, at ¥22,000 to ¥30,000 including that entry. The official page also asks spectators not to approach drivers during runs to ask for passenger rides, because most entrants are private enthusiasts. Dates and deadlines are in our Ebisu Drift Matsuri 2026 guide.

If standing next to a D1 car is the goal, Autopolis on 24 or 25 October is your one confirmed chance in 2026.