The battle for the 2009 Series Champion went down to the last race.... At the end of Round 7, Yoichi Imamura of Team BOSS with POTENZA D1 Project was in second, just eight points out of first place. In the battle for the championship, and with a number of top contenders dropping out of the competition, Imamura was in solid place, finishing in the top 16. With the championship on the line, this was a big race for Imamura, and he responded by giving no ground. After moving into the top eight,including a sudden-death finish, he became Series Champion. This is Imamura's second Championship finish, following his win in the 2003 series, a first ever in D1 history.