Cold and bright was the morning as I departed for Kawaguchi Station. The warmth of the sun felt nice, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit disappointed in the clear weather. After weeks of overcast mornings, the day I was to shoot Saito’s FC, the sun just had to be shining with vengeance.
Late in the month of May, Summer has started to show its true colors in Japan. With temperatures already pushing well into the 30’s, it’s time we say farewell to the cold mornings at the circuit, and face the cold reality that we won’t be racing anytime soon.
Since we last spoke in person back in February, Sato has been keeping me filled in on the progress of his FD build over the past few months. Determined to have the car ready for Attack next season, the progression has been rapid to say the least.
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.
This 1995 Mazda RX-7, owned by someone choosing only to be referred to as ‘The Temple of Buddha’ (or something like that I don’t actually know), is so far off the grid that I normally operate on that when I saw it at Fuji the other week, I had to take a closer look.
When I had first decided that I would be attending Final Bout, to be honest, it wasn’t the event that I was actually looking forward to; it was seeing this particular car. Don’t get me wrong, I was excited for the event, but getting to see in person, and more so getting to meet the builder, of what I perceive to be the most well executed FC in the country would become the highlight of my trip.
The last time I saw this car was literally a year ago; and I can tell you, it looked nothing like this. Yes, this is the same FD chassis that PanSpeed commissioned last year at HKS Premium Day, except that this year the car has gone through quite a cosmetic transformation. Actually, you can see it’s previous reiteration here. Over the course of last year, the car was stripped of it’s exterior and fitted with an entirely new aero kit that PanSpeed has been developing. I know this is a bit late in the day, but I finally stopped fiddling with my new audio equipment that I got for the new Podcast long enough to get the article out.
Saitama native Nakashima Tomoyoshi, or Tomo for short, is an avid fan of the RX-7. Unique in many ways, the car has stolen his attention for better half of several years. Before he built the FD you see here, Tomo was the proud owner of a white Savanna FC.
Pan Speed. In the realm of rotary tuning, very few names come before it. They are top tier; specialists in their territory. Their flagship car, seen here, is iconic in both build and […]
Nakajima’s one minute flat, RE Tuned FD3S at circuit.
We pick up on circuit late morning in Tsukuba, where, lap by lap, the times are decreasing ever so slightly. By this time, many of the drivers have recorded personal bests or were well on […]
As the morning sun rose over Tsukuba, and the clock closed in on 9am, the lighthearted paddock conversations gave way to a sound that I’m not even clever enough to describe in words. The first […]
Battle Evome; the name itself invokes a sense of elitism and power. The event, held at Tsukuba Circuit just 4 times a year, attracts the fastest of the street and privateer time attack cars across […]
.
One random evening, after a few passes through the infamous C1, my friend from JDM Clips and I decided to cruise through to the Daikoku PA to see if there was anything going on. Unfortunately the entire parking area was closed for a reason that I can’t remember at the moment. We’re not ones to give up so easily though, and made our way to a few other spots. One smaller PA my friend had suggested we check out was located underneath the Bay Bridge – so away we went. Turns out it was a good idea because there was a good handful of RX-7’s that were meeting up there. We parked and took a stroll through the tiny lot, but didn’t really see anybody around. I think most of the owners were inside grabbing a bite to eat or a refreshment. I went back to the car, grabbed my camera and attempted to grab some decent shots in the dark lot with no tripod. I actually wanted to post these up sooner, but considering today is the unofficial day of the RX-7, it seems fitting to post now. Click past the break to see what was hiding under the bridge.
