The theme of the next few posts are going to ‘Better late than never’, as this event has passed almost 2 months ago – but to be honest I haven’t seen that great of coverage online of it; so in that sense, you’re in luck. HKS Premium Day is by far one of the greatest circuit based events in Japan any given year. HKS goes all out to give the enthusiasts a true day full of automotive excitement, featuring many of the cars they love and follow on a regular basis. This was my first time attending, but I can tell you I’ll do everything I can to go again next year. I’m lucky enough to have built my business in a such a way that allows me to get media access to all events in Japan so I am able to bring you some pretty first class coverage. Again, I apologize for the lateness on this, but I know it will be worth it.
Let’s start off with a walk through the lot and some of the garages…
When we first pulled up to Fuji the sun was just rising over the East of the circuit. There were some pretty ominous clouds but they faded as the morning sun burned brighter.
But you can see how bad it was – I feared for rain…
Upon our first walk through it was still a little too early to get press credentials, so we decided to walk around and get shots of some of the cars and booths that were setting up. There was a group of Skylines right in front that looked pretty aggressive.
This IDI 32 at the Pisto booth looked like a very purpose built car. Something you’d see quite often at Tsukuba attacking the clock.
A couple of IDI and Pisto employees chatting it after setting up the booth. The famous Do-Luck equipped R33 attack build nearby.
A variety of S-Chassis’s ready to take on Fuji in the Hyper Challenge.
This Zenki S14 looking pretty intense, unregistered and all.
The amount of different cars at this event is great. A DC2 built by Racing Presley with C-West wing and various aero drives by a pod of different cars in the background.
Basic GTR on a mix of Volk and R33 wheels. Your standard Japan track vehicle.
This Legacy wagon built by AS Mori is seen often at Evome and Attack at TC2000; today it would tak eon Fuji along side cars like it’s neighbor here, the Supra.
Can’t get much different between an EK hatch and a MK4…
Around this time we walked back to the car to drive over to the front entrance of the raceway to get the media passes and sign wavers. Upon coming back, we went a little deeper to check out some of the contenders that would be fighting it out for the fastest time in the Option Fuji Super Lap event.
One of my personal favorites of the day was the Garage Mak Z33. Not only did it set a personal best that day, but it did so looking great and sounding insane. It was probably the loudest car on track.
Varis had a couple cars on display like this Z34…
…and the Garage G-Force twincharged EVO X. If you read my last post I was actually just in Japan photographing this car for Import Tuner…
Beautiful looking GTR.
Varis EVO-X – I think I may have posted this already but it’s been so long I can’t remember…
It didn’t stay in the sun too long. They drove it straight into a garage to prep it for the days competition.
Which was the case for many of the cars that entered the Option Super Lap – Top Secret was no exception either. Bring two cars; their 86 build…
…and their insanely fast R35. Watching this thing go down the straight at wide open throttle was incredible.
One of the cars I was most excited to see was the Top Fuel/Voltex built S2000. This was by far the fastest car on circuit that day – even out pacing the HKS GT1000 R35.
I’ll have a lot more coming on this car – even possibly a new canvas print. Bigger this time, because it seems that’s what people want…
Garage Saurus, experts of the R32, had a handful of cars on hand. We’ll take a close look at this particular one in our next post.
Nakano-san applying some last minute decals to the Reverse R32.
Wacky Mate FD3S. I didn’t get to see this thing run for some reason; it’s possible that it had some mechanical issues. I’ll look into it.
As the gates opened to the public it wasn’t long for the crowds to pour in to enjoy the dream day that HKS had organized for them. Check back for more soon! There’s plenty to come…