I guess its because Initial D is based pretty much on illegal street racing. They don't base it on the legal circuit concept, but pretty much illegal mountain racing.
With Shuichi Shigeno the author having a real life AE101 engine transplanted into his Hachi Roku, and King Dori Dori Keichii Tsuchiya ensuring that the anime doesn't go too much out of realism, its hard not to imagine ID is not the hottest animated racing manga now. With the catchy Eurobeat themes and flashy sports cars and characters that pack entrancing identities, ID really is addictive. SegaRosso adds to that by creating Initial D Arcade Stage. Even more money flows into their pockets with this monopolisation.
Maybe I'm wrong, but over the past few years, Mt. Haruna (Akina's real name) has seen pretty much races and its share of accidents. This prompted the Jap government to step up measures to prevent such things from happening again. Includes stuff like placing speed strips at the 5 Hairpins and shallowing out the drain gutters. So no drifting and stuff.

Basically, its like every racer boy's dream. Jap cars and such, going faster not only on straights, but in the thrill of drifting across hairpins at crazy speeds.