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Forget Formula 1. Forget MotoGP. WRC? Pah. The new racing series that should have its own Netflix series is... office chair racing! Yep, Japan at it once more. It's called the Isu1GP, which quite literally translated to Chair1GP, because of course. There's an official Japan Office Chair Racing Association (JORA), because its Japan and of course there is. And before you think it's just some comical sham of a publicity event (well, I guess it is but no!), you should know that it's pretty hardcore. Races are 2 hours long (that's literally the maximum race cutoff time of an F1 race). There's a qualifying session to determine the grid position. Each team consists of three people (drivers? Riders? Chairers?), who can swop out Le Mans-style. Modifications to the chair are not allowed. Racers cover up to 20km total over the course of a race. 20km!!! That's a proper sport right there. The origins of this event are quite cute. Back in 2010, a man running a struggling photography studio was trying to help himself and other small businesses on his block were struggling to compete with high-end malls and new supermarkets popping up in their city. And so this event was born. And that spirit endures: As part of the current requirements to host the event, "the venue will, in principle, be a paved road adjacent to a shopping street". And it's taken off (somewhat). It's held in over 20 locations, there's actually a race calendar, there's even a junior high school tournament (training the next generation!). The promo materials range of old school motorsport posters (with appropriately terrible photoshopping) to what could easily pass off as a poster for another Korean reality show on Netflix. I love how pure Isu1GP is. I mean, racing around on chairs is the sort of shenanigans we all got up to during our school days (right? right???). But here's my favourite detail of all: The winner gets... 90kg of locally produced rice. Stay weird, Japan.

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