i kinda suck at this as coming from adelaide you dont exactly get much opportunity to "meet" famous people, only really "see" them.
ken nomura was probably my favourite big name as he was a huge inspiration to me when i was younger, but didnt really get to chat to him much, just seen him around, and got a pic with him. nobushige kumakubo is another big one, an amazing dude, awesome attitude and one of the friendliest guys you'll meet, not much in the way on english, so when you see him around it's some basic japanese and a smile. naoto suenaga is another one, he speaks a bit of english, once again a top bloke and always happy to have a joke around.
ive seen a fair few other D1 drivers around the pits, but not many more when it comes to meeting them.
also Daigo Saito, a ruthless drifter, crazy, bit more stand-offish that other drivers, but i was most happy about getting to drift with him, as well as Shinji Minowa, another D1 driver, although i didnt get to meet him, only drift with him.
i wont go into drifters from other countries as no one really knows many outside of D1GP haha
there are a lot of names that ive met that were important to me, and recognised within the drift community, but it's probably gonna bore most people here so ill leave it at that.