Initial D vs MF Ghost

Initial D and MF Ghost are both manga series by the same author, Shigeno Shuichi, and adapted into anime. I became interested in Initial D after watching the first season of MF Ghost (which is in its second season now; the manga series is also on-going). I haven't read the manga for either of them, so my thought are limited to the impression I have from the anime adaptations.

I found Initial D to be more gripping than MF Ghost. Both adaptations feature races and spend a considerable amount of time on them. However, the races in MF Ghost did not feel as exciting to me, compared to those in Initial D. Both of them feature cars drifting and overtaking and speeding away, so what sets them apart?

I think it could be that Initial D focused heavily on a single character, Fujiwara Takumi. While Takahashi Keisuke also featured more in the later seasons, it was very clear that Takumi is the main character, the protagonist of this series. While other races were talked about, Takumi's races were always shown. In contrast, MF Ghost's main character/protagonist is Kanata, but the race scenes kept switching between him and other drivers. To me, this kind of diluted the sense of excitement as the pacing keeps being disrupted.

The other reason could be because the races in Initial D are one-on-one, while those in MF Ghost are either time trials (which means you just see a driver speeding along) or 15-driver races, where the protagonist may spend a large amount of time trying to catch up or keep position. The races (at least, the portion shown on screen) in Initial D are always dogfights, but those in MF Ghost end up covering more drivers that kind of dilutes the attention on any single one.

Takumi's races in Initial D are downhill races, and the differences in engine power are not as big compared to the races in MF Ghost, where the courses have both uphill and downhill portions. It is always more exciting to see someone win through skill rather than pure engine power, and in that sense, Initial D shows a lot more of that.

Therefore, I found Initial D to be more gripping, more exciting. Even though its use of computer graphics is kind of dated (especially the earlier seasons), it manages to give a sense of "being there" because the show follows a single driver throughout the race. Meanwhile, I am looking forward to seeing the rest of the anime adaptation of MF Ghost (hopefully, it adapts the entire manga series).