Aside from being a tremendously skilled driver, and the creative parts producer of the shop Ready Go Next, Daisuke Aoki is the creator of the ‘Attack’ series events in Japan and, for over a decade now, has provided drivers with an organized venue in which to challenge themselves behind the wheel. While he is a character that prefers to operate behind the scenes, he is not stranger to the pages of NDF, and after reviewing his performance from this most recent time attack season in Japan, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight his newest achievements.
From our Instagram post yesterday:
“In 2016, after achieving a time of 56 seconds at Tsukuba Circuit on Advan A050, Daisuke Aoki began to experiment with various radial tires. While everyone was focused on improving times on the 050GS, Aoki did his best to reveal areas he could improve in on the slower radial tires. For years, he focused on his driving alone while maintaining his FD with the normal engine, OEM twin turbos, and normal transmission set up. He slowly became the fastest driver at TC2000 on radial tires, surpassing the much more powerful GTR35 drivers. It wasn’t until recently, over the past 3 years, that he swapped to a TD06 single turbo setup, upgraded his brakes, swapped in a 4.3 final drive to the OE transmission, and began to reduce the FD’s weight by utilizing dry carbon parts (currently weighing in at 950 kg). The small changes to the car had a massive impact because of the amount of seat time he had amassed over the past decade. Aoki had developed an intimate relationship with his car; one that can only be unlocked with time. He now holds the 19th fastest overall time at Tsukuba with a 53.797 set in a car that makes a mere 400ps, making him the 3rd fastest FD driver at the circuit. For reference, that is only 1 tenth slower than the infamous Revolution RX7 – which was essentially a 550ps, sequential gearbox, GT300 build. He also holds the TC2000 radial record, reset again and again this year.
Aoki has become a guiding voice in time attack and continues to set the example for the new generation of drivers. Not just with his organizing of Attack, or his development of lightweight parts, but where it matters most; behind the wheel.”
I think over the 2023/2024 season I got to see Aoki drive more than he ever has previously. Bouncing between Advan A050GS, and a handful of radial tires, most notably the Bridgestone RE-12D Type A, and new Shiba Tire R31, Aoki continued to surpass his previous records surprising everyone following the sport. As stated previously, his season crescendoed on March 5th when he set a new, and the current, radial tire record of 54.443 on the Shiba Tire R31. This new time surpassed the time he had set earlier on the Potenza, and is eerily close to his Advan A050 time (53.797). He truly became the radial master. The story is even more impressive when you find out that Aoki promised Shiba Tire that he would break a 54.5 this season using their new compound. It’s incredible what you can accomplish when skill and willpower collide.
Enjoy the 2024 season gallery of Aoki’s FD
More exclusive photos and words in Volume 3 80R, available for a limited time at shopndf.com