Prodrift Licencing

Recently Prodrift held their licencing weekend at Rosegreen, for semi pro drivers to attain their pro licences, provided they were good enough

A sad occasion as due to a recent court ruling over noise issues, this was the 2nd last drift event to be held at Rosegreen

Former BN-Sports Nissan PS13 SilviaEx Koguchi Power / Falken D1GP Toyota JZX100 Chaser

The wall of death...

Claims another victim
My favouite photo from the day, E30 M3

Random Japan Overload

Kinda getting bored of going on about Japan now, save it til next time I go, so to wrap things up heres a whole load of Random Things to see in Japan.

A curved escalator
That is not allowed have any friends....
A western style toilet, a Japanese style toilet is little more than a hole in the floor...
Kit Kat!!! I was in shock!! Chocolate is rare in Japan, they are far more into sweets and candy, might explain many peoples rotten teeth!!
And I did buy it in Japan, not just snook over from home
Ladies only railway carraiges, sadly 'groping' is a big problem in Japan, unlike the rest of the world

Another McDonalds or this? I know what I would prefer, cheap and tasty too, not to mention healthier!!
Ah well, 14 days has passed too quickly, time to go home



The last photo I took in Japan
At least the flight home was comfortable, it was empty! I could have slept across 4 seats if I liked

Till 2009 anyway, me and Chris had fun in Japan

VeilSide - The Return visit

On the way back from Tsukuba circuit and contrary to popular belief it was further away than we thought, but we had to drop by our friends at VeilSide. Unlike the last time, the shop was quiet and things were being re-arranged. Mr Yokomaku was away in America arranging for VeilSides involvement in the next Fast and Furious film, and far less cars were in the showroom, some of them had been moved to VeilSides new showroom in Nagoya, but there were a few new ones too, including their latest kit in development for a European car

Which will be revealed soon, it is for an Italian car

It helps to have a rich boyfriend, and one who modifys cars at that. This is Yokomaku sans girlfriends car, in pink, with lovehearts. Very girly! Not for me but the work deserves respect


Also here was a recently completed Fortune RX-7. This clearly shows how wide the kit is. Every panel apart from the roof and windscreen has been replaced
VeilSides transporter was parked outside, better known as the greenhouse. There are curtains which can be drawn to show or hide whats inside

Evil!!

Chris shows how big a fortune kit is, the white boxes are for a fortune kit for the NSX

The Real Deal, not copied 50% fibreglass 25% chicken wire 25% newspaper rubbish, this is real and genuine, it will fit the car like a glove, wont need ages sanding and filling in the bodyshop and wont warp when its painted, not to mention an easy repair should it be damaged and not a replacement, unlike copies which tend to explode

Still 1 of my favourite cars, the R32 GTR Evolution R-III, well over 860bhp and 1 of the GTR's that really pushed the Japanese tuning scene foward,with both style and performance


Random Japan Part 5 - The Japanese truly love Carbon Fibre, as they make benches in train stations out of it, and not just lightweight parts for cars
And its real carbon, not just 1 layer on top of fibreglass

Tsukuba Circuit

After missing out in December I finally got the chance to see the home of Time Attack, Tsukuba Circuit, in Ibaraki, Japan. There was an Option Time Attack on today, but there was not any serious Time Attack cars there, moreso just people driving their (fast) road cars with a transponder attached, not much commentary needed on these photos, was like watching the intro movie from Gran Turismo, and yes the Nissan Marches (Micras) were quick! Gave the Porsche and Ferrari some competition

The Real Tokyo Drift

So been in Japan for 11 days and have not seen any decent track again - until now, and its off to Mobara circuit on the outskirts of Tokyo. The last time I was here, I was 'spoiled' a bit as there was a very good lineup of drivers and nice weather, but today was a bit colder, but far more civilised, mostly local drivers and less extreme cars, mostly driven to the track too. Myself and Chris were the only non Japanese there, so were easily spotted by Tada san, the owner and manager of the circuit, who tried out his English on us. He said it was rare for people to visit on these quiet practice days


At most drift days there is always 1/2 drivers that stand out and today was no exception, this SR20 powered C33 Laurel was great to watch


and this AE86, driven in a very committed fashion, the only way to drive an AE86

JZX100 Chaser just about to lose it

Most cars were dented with chipped bumpers,dented wings etc but this 180Sx Sil80 really took 'well used drift car' to another level, every panel dented, Sil80 front end conversion and mismatched panels

Very fast JZX110 Mark II

The skill level was fairly low today, so no D1 spec driving, but its still fun to watch.