Let me preface this post by saying that the amount of travel to spend a single day in Japan is surprisingly achievable. It’s not like I would recommend it, there are definitely more efficient ways to go about it, but to say it wasn’t a fun experience wouldn’t be wholly true; at the very least it’s a conversation starter.
This time of year is best spent on reflection (because if not now, when right?). So much is happening during the year, and we’re so busy just living, that we rarely take the time to pause and take stock of what’s been accomplished, remember what we’re working towards, or how we’re handling it all mentally. So, when things start to slow down during this last week of December, I think as a society we traditionally use the time to reflect.
On the last weekend of October, Sugo Sportsland played host to the 2019 Attack event, officially kicking off time attack season in Japan. The event, which typically has a smaller turnout due to location, was paired with the Goodluck Challenge; a local motor sport event at Sugo.
A walk through the paddock at Sugo Sportsland during the recent Attack event. Sugo usually hosts a smaller group of drivers due to it’s distance from Tokyo, but the ones that do attend are very serious. Check out our behind the scenes video of the action…and the downtime.
Every so often I like to check in on cars and drivers that we’ve spotlighted in the past to see how the development of their build is going. Earlier this year I had the opportunity to talk to Tajima Hirotsugu about his Nismo 380RS, but that was months ago and he’s been busy over the off-season.
Haven’t done an Encounter post in quite some time now. I usually reserve them for random cars that I come across that seem worth sharing with everyone. This particular car fit the bill almost perfectly.
Coming out of a two year hiatus, Justin Yoo returns to CVR for the NDF Attack Challenge hosted by VTEC Club and is met with surprising success.
Spicy Vinaregret – October 21, 2019 Kristian and I sit down again in Unit B to go over some question submissions from the hotline and Instagram. Join us as we discuss in detail what it’s […]
Motivation In Mexico – SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 Recorded in the living room of a vineyard chateau on the Baja Peninsula, episode 21 of NDFX features personality powerhouses Justin Yoo, Kristian Wong, and Duane Bada. Join […]
There is no doubt that the shear excitement of driving a purpose-built race car on the edge is enough for any driver to justify the money and work that gets put into building it. Although, surprisingly there are very few people that understand the actual amount of work that goes into building a race car; Amir Bentatou is not one of those people.
There are a select few cars that, despite my frequency in traveling to Japan, always seem to elude me. Most of the time it’s due to a geographical hardship, as I’m often in the same parts of the country time and time again.
Flying Lizards In Japan – August 13, 2019 On Episode 20 of NDFX, we get introspective on the things we should be grateful for, talk about what you like and dislike about Japan, write anime […]
I’ve never disclosed the shop list of 80R before launch as I do my best to limit the amount of information provided that should be reserved solely for those anticipating the launch.
I’m very excited for the official launch of 80R Volume 2. This has been another year-long project for us that has resulted in what I’d like to consider the evolution of 80R.
Life and New Girl – July 31, 2019 Kristian and I are back in Unit B answering questions you sent in last week. Join us as we get deep into life and what drives our […]
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.
Willem Drees – July 16, 2019 FF record holder, Japanese fashion sensation, and creative powerhouse Will Drees stops by Unit B for a chat. Join us as we discuss the importance of family history, balancing […]
Sleepy Duane – Q&A Feat. Duane Bada – June 26, 2019 Kristian and I are joined by R Compound owner, Daune Bada, in a late night/early morning cast where we discuss priorities in life, addressing […]
Over the past few months we have been working with Stand 21, the prestigious motor sports racewear company headquartered in Eastern France, in developing a signature race glove for Dogfight.
Special episode – Q&A feat. kristian and Karl osaki – june 10, 2019 Another show hosted around Instagram’s Q&A feature with special guests Kristian Wong and Karl Osaki. Join us as we answer your questions […]
With the possibility of snowfall around Mt. Aso over the weekend, the likelihood of Autopolis Super Lap being cancelled loomed over me as I boarded my Solaseed Air flight to Aso-Kumamoto Airport.
The title sponsor of this year’s Attack Tsukuba event was Goodride Tires; a company that has it’s hand in a variety of motor sports, but up until recently was most known for it’s involvement in drifting.
Without a doubt, Philip Robles has become a household name in the time attack scene around the Southwestern US. Having competed in a wide variety of sanctioned events throughout Arizona and California over the past several years, he has solidified his place among motor sport’s most dedicated drivers.
Friday morning a few other track hosts held open events for those entrants that wanted to do some testing the day before the Attack event on Saturday. Many of the top tier teams took advantage of the time, as did the overseas competitors. Since this day was a little more relaxed, I took some video around the paddock and pit.
As I continued to sift through the coverage of Central Time Attack Challenge, I realized that there were a noticeably less amount of cars in attendance this year compared to last. No doubt in part due to the weather, which sort of goes to show the challenges with hosting a once a year style event in a country that has such unpredictable weather patterns. It’s really something places like Southern California don’t have to deal with, and we often take for granted.
This project has been a long time in the making. If you consider the years of traveling to and from events, the relationships formed over time, the days spent photographing and editing; to think that it was put together over the past 3 or 4 months seems fast in comparison. On behalf of everyone involved in our new venture into print, I am proud and excited to announce the availability of 80R Volume 1: The Story of Japan’s Fastest Time Attack Drivers.
Kemritte Seang is a close friend and shop mate of mine. He’s worked his way through many cars and after years of cycling through cars, he’s finally come to be satisfied with a build. Join […]
Instagram’s Q&A feature was a big hit last week, so we decided to host a Podcast dedicated to the questions asked from the NDF Instagram page. Special guests Kristian Wong and Justin Yoo of Team […]
I’ve grown so accustomed to attending Attack events that highlight fully built race cars, that I often forget how much fun a street car that’s prepped for circuit racing can be. This type of compromise is so prominent in both Japan and the US, as in most cases it’s not practical for the majority to own a dedicated race car. I’ve recently acquired another Honda to build in this fashion, and it’s safe to say I’ve been on the lookout for street driven track cars. I happened across this S15 at Fuji last weekend and was pretty taken by it, so I thought I’d post a few photos.
If you follow the site on Instagram, you’ll have seen that towards the beginning of the year I began working with Grant at Honed Developments in an attempt to better the suspension geometry of my Civic. Truth be told, I hadn’t spent too much time on this facet of the build, as other more pertinent issues had to be dealt with first. However, once Grant reached out to me and offered to provide both product and assistance, I jumped at the opportunity to tackle everything at once – I mean, how often do you get two engineers well-versed in Honda suspension volunteering to help you setup your car?
The Garage Work camp has been hard at work on several of their shop cars for the 2018 season. Iwata has chosen to put his personal build aside in order to concentrate on the advancement of a few select customers; which is a somewhat noble, but necessary thing to do when you own your own tuning shop. The dedication is paying off though, as all 3 of the cars they have competing have broken personal records. One of them stands out among the rest, however, and it all started last year when he broke a very important record at Tsukuba.
Continuing coverage from Central Circuit, we’ll take a look at the podium finishers of the day, and a few of the close runner-ups. While most everyone in the Vertex classes were quick, I was surprised at where some of the cars landed on the time sheets. I think my perception of who was fast at Central was a bit skewed from the events held in prior years. If I’m not mistaken, Iwata took fastest lap a few years ago before he crashed the EG at TC2000. Seems like the Kansai guys have been doing their homework recently though.
The days leading up to this event were spent in somewhat of a rush to compile my projects at work so I could afford some time to do a bit of research on Central Circuit, and the event itself. This would be the first time attending CTAC for both Sekinei and I, and I wanted to have at least an elementary grasp of the track layout and event schedule. It may seem dramatic, but when I’m presented with a finite amount of time to photograph something comprehensively, I get a bit anxious. With the top class getting 3 sessions comprised of 15 minutes each, you can’t afford to be isolated from the action for even a minute. With some of the fastest drivers gathered from all of Japan, I was looking forward to seeing what the day had in store.
Before I get to processing and writing about the coverage of this past weekends VTEC Club season opener, I thought I’d try out a new idea for these events. Covering VTEC Club when I could last year was a lot of fun for me. The committee that puts these events together happen to be not only great people, but good friends of mine as well. Come to think of it, photographing these events combines almost everything I enjoy in life into one location; perhaps that’s why it feels nothing like work. Maybe that’s the feeling people get when they do what they love for a career. Anyway, I’m getting way off topic here.
When Harada & Sekinei went to Fuji Speedway for the Fairlady Festival, they met up with Amisaki-san who was out showing in the main lot. Since Harada’s car is currently down, they took Sekinei’s LHD […]
This guy got a little too anxious on the parade lap last weekend at Fuji Speedway. I’ll have some more shots from the Fairlady Festival up soon.
