Encounter: Spoon Sports Endurance S2000

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I’m sure you’re familiar with the saying, “Some of the best things in life are free”.  A saying most likely referring to memories or moments in time.  For the most part I’d agree, as it’s happened to me several times.  The things in life that are the most special often happen unexpectedly and in the most obscure places – take this encounter for example.  If you want to get technical with it, this moment wasn’t technically free, but I can say that it was both unexpected and obscure; crazy any way you want to look at it.  On our way back to Tokyo from Motegi, my friend and I had decided to pull over at a rest stop for a bite to eat and a little refill of caffeine (in the form of some Emerald Mountain Blend).  The long drive back on the expressway had started taking it’s toll on us and after spending an entire day shooting an endurance race, the last thing you want to do is drive for 2 hours back home.  As we pulled into the parking area, and drove towards the back to park, we noticed a trailer with a pair of Nissan’s resting atop.  As we got closer we realized it was the two Okabe Jidosha Taikyu team’s cars.  I suppose they had the same idea as us and stopped for a little break.  Not one to miss a photo-op, I grabbed my camera and tripod and snapped a few shots before we went into the restaurant (You can see one of the shots here – I’ll post more later).  As we were eating our curry and whatever the hell else I had ordered, we kept trying to pick out who was involved in the racing team.  I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to tell just by looking at someone, but we tried anyway.  We finished up, grabbed some coffee from vending, and made our way back to the car when we saw this.  Click past the break for more – I promise you won’t see stuff like this anywhere else.

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Unexpected?  Yes.  Awesome? Absolutely.  Parked right next to my friends S2000 was the Spoon Sports Super Taikyu S2000 that we had witnessed tearing up (and getting torn up at) the Twin Ring just a few hours ago.  Now, although I’m a big Honda fan, seeing the Okabe Z’s was cool enough for me, so I was pretty blow away when we became a race car sandwich.   Getting up close with this machine was a real treat and I’m thankful that I had brought my tripod along.

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Because we were parked in the very back of the lot, the lighting wasn’t that great.  If I didn’t have my tripod I probably would have never gotten these shots.  The one street lamp that did provide light did a good job of setting the scene though.  The strewn pieces of rubber, the little dings and dents, all tell a story of what took place at that days race.

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It’s as if I had ascended into Japanese motor sport heaven.  We were both really taken up in the whole thing and must have spent about an hour talking about and staring at it.  It’s quite unfortunate that the team didn’t have much luck in that days race; or the entire 2012 season for that matter.

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Honestly, we probably would have stayed there another hour if one of the mechanics didn’t come out to leave – with the car of course.  They too were headed back to Tokyo – most likely to drop the car off at Type One.  We talked with the mechanic for as long as he had patience for and my friend got a little information as to what had taken place at the race and the team’s misfortune at that round.  I was still in shock as we watched it drive off.  I find it somewhat amusing that later in the week, one of the mechanics at Type One gave me a tiny Option2 model of this same car;  I’ll post a picture later if I remember.  So, that’s my personal encounter with the Spoon Sports Super Taikyu car – hope you enjoyed.  Thanks for visiting!

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