Tag: Fuji Speedway

Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Event: Nismo Festival 2011 v.1

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OK, I’ve been putting this off for too long.  AutoCon can wait – it’s time for Nismo Festival coverage!  Held at Fuji Speedway annually, Nismo festival is the mecca of all things Nissan and, really, there couldn’t be a better venue!  On clear days, like this, Fuji-san is a visually dominating feature.  However, Nismo did their best to offer a variety of street and race cars to distract you from the great mountain view.  The highlight of this year’s festival had to be the motor sports ‘garage sale’ that Nismo put together.  Offering various wheels, and body parts from Super GT cars at extremely low prices – great for home decoration and collecting!  Imagine taking home a pair of Mag Volk wheels from a Super GT machine for $10 each!  How awesome of a coffee table would that make?  Anyway, click past the break for volume 1 of the coverage!

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Encounter: Omori Factory Clubman Spec R34

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Nismo; the name itself inspires thoughts of Nissan specific performance builds.  The list of performance related OEM divisions is long, but none are quite as powerful as the relationship between Nismo and Nissan.  With that said, the name Omori often goes unnoticed.  Omori is where Nismo is headquarted…well, was anyway; I believe it is moving to Yokohama.  Regardless, Omori Factory has been the birth-site of many NISMO creations.  Including the elusive Clubman Spec R34 you see here.  Click past the break to see more of the elusiveness…

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Event: R’s Meeting 2011 – Fuji Speedway v.2

Welcome back to the second part of the R’s Meeting coverage from Fuji.  I’m considering this a remote post because I’m actually not at home right now.  If you’re a regular follower you’ll have seen my post about my computer crashing; so I flew to Oakland to get some software from my friend in Hayward.  While I’m here I thought I may as well post up the second part of the Skyline madness.  Remember we have a facebook page now – be sure to friend up on the side bar.  Cheers!

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Event: R’s Meeting 2011 – Fuji Speedway v.1

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Have you ever had one of those months that seems to last only a few days?  Between work and my unnatural, incessant need to constantly be inside of an airplane, it feels as if I haven’t been home for more than a few hours each week.  It shows in the site traffic too; so here to remedy this is the first installment of the GT-R Magazine R’s Meeting 2011 at Fuji Speedway.  I gave you a preview of JDM Clips’ coverage when I posted the Encounter with Auto Gallery Yokohama’s R32, but past the break is the first round of event coverage.  Enjoy.

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Encounter: Auto Gallery Yokohama R32

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This past weekend at Fuji Speedway, GT-R Magazine held ‘R’s Meeting 2011’, a giant gathering of Skyline owners and their cars.  This event seems to be extremely similar to the Skyline Festival; which was sponsored by Nissan.   Exhibitions and ride-alongs were given throughout the day from the various tuners that attended.  One car that I will always be happy to see, and will eventually get to photograph one day, is the Auto Gallery Yokohama R32.  This has always been my favorite Skyline build and I’m excited to share some photos with you – compliments of JDM Clips.  Click past the break for a few quick snaps.

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Event: ノスタルジックカー Skyline Festival 2011 @ Fuji Speedway v.3

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Alright, now that I’m back in the US and have access to a computer again, I can finally post up the last of the Skyline Festival pics.  In addition to the meet that was held in the parking lot of Fuji, attendees were given the chance to race their cars on the actual Speedway.  Among these were a few real race cars, as well as a handful of perfectly matched replicas.  The R32’s were a hit in the road racing scene, and there was no shortage of them at the track during the Skyline Festival.  Let’s take a look at some of the machines that were lapping Fuji.

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Event: ノスタルジックカー Skyline Festival 2011 @ Fuji Speedway v.2

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Before I continue the coverage of the Skyline Festival, I figured I’d post up a walk around of the visitor’s lot, so you can get an idea of the caliber of the cars that weren’t in the actual show area.  As usual, you can find some pretty cool stuff in these lots, as most enthusiasts pour their hearts into their own personal cars.  You’ll see too, that even people who don’t own a Nissan can still appreciate the Skyline and what it has brought to the motorsports scene across the world.  Click past the break for more.

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Event: ノスタルジックカー Skyline Festival 2011 @ Fuji Speedway v.1

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Throughout the year, ノスタルジックカーショー (Nostalgic Car Show), hosts a series of events for classic makes of cars – included in this series is the beloved Nissan Skyline.  Every year hundreds of Skyline owners and tuners gather to share each others passion for the Skyline.  These one make car shows are great for getting an in-depth look at the history of the model, as well as capturing the individual creativity of each owner.  Fuji Speedway was host to the event this year, and as usual, the owners had the opportunity to take their cars out on track.  Click past the break for coverage.

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JDM by Narita Dogfight

Encounter: Mugen RR @ FSW

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I know I haven’t been updating the site as much as I should;  I’ve been busy with real life.  All that aside, I received a nice surprise in my email yesterday morning by the way of some new photos from Japan.  Taka sent more coverage of the Mugen Circuit Challenge my way, but this time it took place at Fuji Speedway.  One of the cars that caught my eye was this Mugen RR.  Only 300 of these were produced, and they would run you close to $40,000 if you wanted one.  For that though, you get one hell of a weekend track car; compliments to the host of finely tuned Mugen products on board.  Click past the break to see it in action.

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Feature: Good Smile Racing Z4-GT

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Following up that pink Studie BMW post, I have an awesome feature on this unusual GT300 contender.  The Studie built  Hatsune Miku Good Smile Racing BMW Z4 (初音ミク グッドスマイル) is unique to say the least.  For starters, the team’s theme is based on a character that was originally created to market Crypton Future Media’s new ‘Vocaloid’ software, a synthetic singing application that can be used to add vocals to backing music – sounds like something from a science fiction movie.  Anyway, as you would imagine if you’ve been to Japan before, the character soon became overwhelmingly popular (Check this video out).  The second unique feature of this team, and probably the coolest, is that it gathers it’s racing funds from individual fan donations.  The individual sponsorships range between 3,000yen to 300,000yen, and allows the fans to get a chance to visit the team pit during a race, have their name on the car, get a special team sticker, and other perks.  Thanks again to JDM Clips for providing coverage and information.  Check out the feature past the break.

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Event: Super GT – Behind the Scenes

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Race day – it truly is special.  As the purpose built machines line the grid, the quiet idling of their hungry engines a deceiving tone.  Just minutes before the red lights go out; the exhaust notes scream held back only by the bouncing rev limiter of the launch control.  The paddock thick with anxiety.  The rivalry, the tension, the noise and drama.  As the green flags drop the machinery comes to life, and a torrent of power is unleashed across the asphalt.  Exciting right!?  But there is a lot that goes into getting everyone into position on time.  Our friends at JDM Clips got some great behind the scene shots in and around the Pit area of the first Super GT round at Fuji Speedway.  Click past the break to check it out!

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