Seeing as he lives all the way down in Kyushu, I consider myself lucky to have caught Nozaki and his FD at Fuji during Seven’s Day. I didn’t get the opportunity to see him at Autopolis Super Lap and was excited to see the build up close.
As a kid, Nozaki used to drive the touges of Beppu in the Oita Prefecture of Kyushu. Set between the sea and a range of volcanic mountains, these roads provided a very similar experience to the famous touges like Hakone and Shizuoka. Most nights were uneventful; being a local he knew the roads well and frequented them in his GTO weekly. One night, however, he was caught off guard by a small animal that darted across the road mid-turn. Nozaki reacted to avoid it and ended up crashing – hard enough to total his car and be sent to the hospital. That experience, coupled with the backlash he received from his parents (rightly so), was enough for him to hang up his street days and turn his focus towards attacking the circuit. In this case; Autopolis.
To replace the car he lost on the touge, he picked up a Mazda RX-7 FD from a friend in the area. He was able to get it at a bargain price because the car had been sitting with mechanical issues for some 5 years, and his friend was looking to be rid of it altogether. The motor was already a side-ported 13B with a single TD07-25G, but in its current state ran so poorly that the whole setup needed to be redone. After saving some money, Nozaki left the car in the hands of RE for a complete overhaul with only two requests; it makes enough power to set records, and it is reliable. Most likely a common request when rotaries are dropped off at Amemiya’s shop.
Electronic power steering from a Toyota SW20 was also added to relieve some stress off the engine.
A custom, gusseted roll cage and reinforcement adorn the interior in place of the stock amenities.
