The day before Attack has generally been one that is open to the public. This year, however, working in the confines of Tsukuba’s limited space, and in an attempt to improve the event experience for the drivers, Aoki opted to make Day 1 of Attack a private event. Unlike previous years, you had to purchase special advanced tickets to attend.
Despite it not directly affecting me, I will say the decision was without a doubt a smart one. Attack, having increase exponentially in popularity over the years, has gotten to a point where it, quite literally, has outgrown Tsukuba Circuit. Putting measures in place to limit congestion in the paddock sucks from a spectator point of view, but it was a necessity to keep the event running smoothly and safely. With all that being said, the Practice Day of Attack was way more chill this year without the crowd. Even at its busiest year, it was never too bad (nothing like the main event), but there was a noticeably more relaxed air throughout the day. It was also the first day at Tsukuba that the winds weren’t terribly harsh.
While I still had much to do before the event with CSG, I managed to grab some footage around the paddock, and mic up a few select cars for some exclusive in-car video with my friend Mike – which we’ve been posting throughout the past 2 months. There were 80 cars that registered for the practice event, giving us a nice preview of what’s to come. A couple drivers were able to updated their personal bests, and others that were still dialing in their setups for the following day. Anyway, enjoy the video; as usual, if you have any questions about any of the cars or drivers feel free to drop a comment/question below!