As the day started to fall into the night, the atmosphere became relaxed and things became a little quieter. Everyone was off the track and was gathered for a group BBQ and beverages!
It wouldnt be a Japanese Matsuri (Festival) without some Karaoke!!!
Its a rare occurance to see Minami course in this light!
But this is where the fun began. As most of you have seen on videos and photos, this sport was founded from the mountains/touge which was driven at night.
Into the afternoon the level of driving kept progressing with even D1 Street Legal drivers showing up for a few runs!
Along with some privateers with an equal amount of skill, the angle this guy was getting was in his entries was awesome!
Drifting with the roof off during summer times would be the best feeling! Would rock an open face to that too!
On my last trip to Japan a month ago I was introduced to Noboru Morita, owner of Effect Tech which is a workshop that is up for any task given including mechanical and body repairs.
I was Introduced to Morita-san through Eigo-san who owns the Spirant Roadster. He told me he knew of a very high spec’d 86 and seeing it was my last night in Japan, he didnt mind driving my friend Brad and I out to see Morita-sans 86.
This is what we came to and what an example… I have not seen an 86 of this calibre in NZ. Morita-san has had this particular Trueno for 19 years and counting and it definitely shows.
Like I said earlier, as the day went on, the level of driving and excitement along with an assortment of Orange cars that came onto the track was something else!
Like this S14 with Ichigo Face! I thought this car was styled awesome as I’m not normally a fan of S15 fronts on S14′s.
As everyone starts to setup base, I took the time to go around and introduce myself to everyone.
They seemed to like the fact that Brad and I came all the way from New Zealand to see some drifting so were so welcoming and friendly.
With everyone setting up their pit area the array of cars was something else, with each car having so much individual taste and style it was a cool mix of people all here for the same reasons.
Carrying on with some of the coverage I had got from Japan,
I stayed the night outside Ebisu Circuit the day before the event, got around 3hours worth of sleep before I woke up to the noise of cars driving through the mountains to get to the track. I wouldn’t call it a rude awakening what so ever, it was more a sight for sore eyes.
There were a few who slept in the Hall that you can see on the top right corner of the above photo, its free to whoever that wants some shelter before an event or if you’ve had enough of sleeping in your car…
These guys are the younger members of the Geki-style Members, with Hoshino-sans styling cues these were definitely above the ordinary. It was about 5am when I took this photo, the sun came up really early and once seeing the calibre of what was expected for the next two days, I couldn’t fall back asleep so I searched around to see what else was parked around.
Kouki Trueno Notch on Tri-spoke Weds. So simple yet so good.
This 100 Cresta also sporting some Weds, all class!
This 90 Mark II had signs of being a well used street & track car.
As most 86 owners do, I had a good chat with the driver of this 86 and the culture and beliefs of what the 86 is to every individual doesn’t change no matter what part of the earth you travel too! It’s all about having fun!
This was the first sighting I had of Eigo-sans NB8C other than seeing it on the front cover of Drift Tengoku Magazine for that month, so was stunned to be able to see it up close and personal. I didn’t actually talk to Eigo-san till later on during the day but on most of his cars he has built, he has made each side different on purpose, check it:
With the left side stickered, he kept the right side as a clean canvas. Cool huh… I still have a lot of in-car footage and even helmet cam footage to put up yet!
These guys were so friendly and welcoming of my Kiwi mate Brad and myself, such a good environment to be around.
These two 90′s were owned by Americans that came down that weekend but not for the same event. But seemed like they were having a good time!
This 100 Mark II sounded angry, with a decent 1J under the bonnet and the twin plate rattle you always here out of these cars, it meant business.
I’m sure you all know this car well, the infamous machine that loves Minami course and has been at most if not all Matsuri events for years. I remember seeing this car when it was in a better state back in 2009 but was good to see it back at Ebisu again still killing it.
After most of the cars were here, we headed inside towards Minami course and that’s where we were going to be based for the next two days. Hoshino-san gave us a ride in thankfully, as Brad and myself got dropped off by my father on his way up north and walking from track to track isn’t an option realistically…
More to come so stay tuned!
Enjoy,
Keisuke
Its always good to see a nice example of a Z32, with full Mission Aero and TE37′s, definitely a good looker, Shinagawa plates too!
Emily Gray (Leading) and Andy Gray (Following) from Powervehicles having some Close Practice Battles at School Course, awesome to watch a couple like themselves challenging each other!
Heres the Video on Facebook:
The spectators or gallery as they call it in Japan were very committed. Over Half of us stayed until 5am the next morning with the drifting in front of you and the echoes of Bucket Racers in the background, who would want to leave?
A well used S2000 on 16″ Watanabes heading to Kita (North) Course, need I say anymore…
