Seiya Mitsuhashi

Why Motorsport

Ever since I can remember, cars were my only passion. At age 3, a neighbor gave me an electric Skyline GT-R, and without being taught, I figured out how to reverse and turn in tight spaces. My mother bought me GT-R and Gran Turismo 4 on PS2, and I spent every day racing on gravel and snow courses. Watching the anime "Touge D," I dreamed of driving like that one day. Then I discovered WRC rally DVDs at a video rental store, and seeing the sheer speed of rally cars on rough terrain ignited a dream: "I want to compete in WRC." Around elementary school, my uncle — a 10-time consecutive Japan Dirt Trial champion — took me to a dirt trial event. The intense G-force I felt as a helper in an Impreza and Lancer Evolution X is something I will never forget. At that moment, I made up my mind: "I want to do dirt trial." But through middle and high school, I had no close friends who shared that passion — talking about cars only got me laughed at — so I kept telling myself "I am not interested in cars." I got into beauty in high school, styling my hair every morning. After graduation, I was encouraged to become a stylist, and even visited a beauty school for a trial. But motorsport was always in the back of my mind. Torn, I decided to go to university and work part-time at my uncle's place. In 2019, my uncle took me back to the world of dirt trial. The moment I felt the rush of being in the helper seat again, my decision was made. I made my rally debut in winter with a Daihatsu Mira 4WD, and the following year bought a Daihatsu Storia 1.3L FF. That is where my serious dirt trial life began.

Goals & Vision

I have many goals right now. My biggest goal as a driver is to win the All-Japan Dirt Trial Championship. I cannot yet say my EK9 or Impreza is fully mastered — I still have a long way to go in becoming one with the car. Mentally, the biggest challenge is those moments where I start to tighten up, unable to push to the next level. I want to be able to drive freely and deeply focused, with full enjoyment. On the business side, I want to grow this platform into something bigger. I want rally and dirt trial to be loved by people around the world, just like soccer and basketball. To drivers who feel like they are alone — I want this site to give them dreams, new paths, and new discoveries. And as both a driver and entrepreneur, I am going to take this to the world stage. The reason I built this business is to eventually race on that stage myself. I want to raise DirtMan's global value, be recognized by people worldwide as something interesting — and keep racing forward.