On Friday, January 27th, on his second session on track, Yoshiki ‘Fire’ Ando broke the 50-second barrier at Tsukuba Circuit with a record 49.897 second lap time. A truly incredible moment for motorsport enthusiasts world wide and a massive breakthrough in Japanese time attack.
There are always the core shops that participate in the Super Lap event at HKS Premium Day annually. Names like Pro Shop Fukoh, Top Fuel, Garage G-Force, Auto Select, Esprit, Top Secret, Autech and the like; which is awesome because you get to see what amounts to basically a yearly update of how the cars have been getting on. Development in time attack moves just about as fast as the cars nowadays, so it’s no surprise to see builds looking completely different year over year, as they put more and more research into obtaining as much aerodynamic grip as possible.
The 2JZ powered Z32 built by C&Y Sports has adapted a much more aggressive looks since last we saw it. While it does look more the part, the cosmetics of this car aren’t the only thing that’s come a long way. The car, since 2013, has consistently improved it’s lap times around the famous Fuji Circuit.
White; the presence of all. An achromatic array of all that’s visible in our spectrum.
It is everything without anything. It’s a complicated simplicity. In psychology, it stands for new beginnings, a clean slate; for setting a new standard. It’s only appropriate then, that Top Fuel chose to dress their time attack dominating S2000-RR in a shade of white.
My first encounter with T-Get came in the form of a R35 GTR; the last team car they commissioned at HKS Premium Day in 2014. That car, however, was visually very factory looking, with only a GT wing and mild canard setup added to the exterior (if I recall correctly it was still on factory wheels). Their 2015 entrant, the shop R34, is quite the contrast from the previous years.
When Eiichiro Sawa founded Osaka based Auto Select in the early 80’s, his main goal was to share his knowledge of tuning and racing spirit with not only his friends, but with a wider range of enthusiasts as well. In 1985, after establishing himself in the industry of aftermarket tuning, the popular magazine Carboy did a feature on Auto Select that highlighted Eiichiro’s story; this story resulted in a tremendous boost in customer base. Their decades of continuous R&D of new parts and tuning methods has kept them alive through many lulls in the industry, and is a major reason why they’re so well known to date. You’d be hard pressed to attend an attack event in Japan, or a motor sport event in general, without the Auto Select flag being flown.
I wonder if it’s acceptable, in the off chance one falls victim to writer’s block, to type freely their thoughts? I mean, this is a blog after all, and blogs are typically written in an informal or conversational style. It would be difficult to keep it informational to the topic however, if I were to just start spouting off about a random thought. In the case of the Garage Mak Z33, I could start typing about Nagano; the hometown of the shop. Or perhaps about the Miyagawa brothers, the two creative powerhouses behind the brand. I could always fall back to uncreatively (is that not a word?) listing off the modifications to the Z33. To be honest though, I’m pretty sure I’ve covered all that basic stuff in prior articles – it seems redundant to keep typing it. I could talk about how I was naked in a public bath again…does anyone even read this?
There I found myself; laying on the ground, the unmistakably cold chill of the natural wooden planks pressed against my warm back, staring blankly at the clouds drifting lazily overhead. I slowly closed my eyes, ignoring the incredulous stares from the other men in the room, relaxing my exceedingly overworked muscles. As the cool breeze consumes my elevated body temperature, and a somewhat effervescent steam radiates from my naked body, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander – recollecting upon the events of the day. It had been a long one, I thought to myself, and ending the day with a trip to an onsen was nothing short of perfect (I realize that introduction has very little to do with the event, but I thought it was notably humorous).
The poster child of HKS Premium Day; the GT1000+. An enormously high powered R35 that was built for the sole purpose of achieving the fastest lap possible. The build, which will compete in WTAC next year, was also the other half of the final event where they pit the GTR against the Endless Sports z4 GT3 I posted just yesterday.
Have you ever had this strange urge, when opening a new book, to read the last paragraph before you actually start to read it? I have. For whatever reason, I’ve always been compelled to turn to the last page before starting. Often times, it doesn’t yield any spoilers or give any of the plot away, but sometimes it can give you a pretext of what to expect throughout the new literature.
With another weekend trip to Japan under my belt this month, I’m finally back home for the night. Yeah that’s right, for the night. I have to wake up tomorrow and fly to Dallas […]
Well, to be honest with everyone, I’m kind of at a loss for words. I’ve had so much going on that I completely forgot to finish posting the second half of Super Lap Battle […]
The main attraction to HKS Premium Day has to be the Option Fuji Super Lap. The best of the best gather and attack the circuit to claim their stake as the fastest in their […]
For as long as I can remember, there has always been one Civic build that I’ve always looked up to. Of course, it was in Japan, and of course I was blessed with seeing […]
One of the Super Lap cars I was most excited to get to see up close was the Reverse R32. Fans of the site will know my affliction with the Auto Gallery Yokohama R32; well, […]
I know that everyone is gearing up for Tokyo Auto Salon in the coming weeks, and while I can’t say I’m not excited about it, there is an event that I’m looking forward to […]
Dream Works | 高橋浩司 | 夢工房 NISMO 180SX | Battle Evome
Without a doubt, there were some star performers present at 2013’s final Battle Evome, but among them one shined (literally) the brightest. The Moty’s/t-one’s FD3S was, for me, one of the coolest cars to see […]
Under Suzuki doing his thing at Tsukuba. Great shot from JDM Clips ~ visit to see this in action.
I took some time out last night from weeding dog stickers to take a stroll down memory lane. I came across this time attack RX-7 from last year’s Hot Version N2 race that JDM […]
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A few years ago, if you were to have asked someone stateside if they knew what Auto Gallery Yokohama was, you’d probably get a blank stare. Or perhaps someone would say that it’s an automotive museum in Yokohama; which, per se, wouldn’t be a bad guess. Bottom line is that no one would know who they were or what they did. Actually, around 3 years ago, even I wouldn’t have known much about them. My first exposure to their now iconic battle-spec R32 was in an Option magazine a few years back. It was a panning shot of the Skyline blazing down the straight of Fuji Speedway. Since then, the just about every part of the car has gone through a massive amount of changes. The bottom line remains the same though; to be the fastest. And in many ways AG-Y has succeeded in doing so. The car constantly breaks records at Fuji and holds respectable times around Tsukuba. For a private company, there is no doubt it holds it’s own in a fight against the big dogs (see what I did there? – NDF!). I recently stopped by Auto Gallery Yokohama’s garage to see for myself the car that I’ve been dreaming about for years and get an up close and personal look at it’s heart. Click past the break for more.
. I gotta say, I’ve been having one hell of a week. With that out of the way, let me apologize for not updating the blog as promised. I’ve been giving you crappy teasers on […]
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To say that we’ve come quite a way in pushing the bounds of modification would be an understatement for most. On occasions where influence and creativity converge over time, amazing results can happen; as is the case with the Miata you see here. Cody’s pursuit of building the perfect Roadster has been a long one, and one where Japanese prominence has prevailed in all areas. From the Super Lap styled exterior, to the adequately tuned engine, he’s transformed this NA from a mild mannered sports car into a battle ready track devil. Honestly I can’t even remember how I got to talking with Cody (I think through NDF Facebook), but as soon as I realized that he was the one responsible for this build, I was itching to get my hands on it. We’re both pretty busy guys, but we managed to met up a few weeks later to knock out a quick photoshoot. If you will, please disregard the obscure title reference to the Paul McCartney song for a few minutes and click past the break to see just what this one of a kind Miata is all about.
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There were many RX-7’s on hand the other week at Tsukuba Circuit; all in a fierce battle to claim the quickest lap around Tsukuba’s 2 mile stretch. The battle of the tuner’s unfolded throughout the day, as various time attack builds shot their way around the 14 corners of the circuit at top speed. Among them was the Arios Okuyama Auto Sports FD3S. This purpose built machine was among those in the dogfight on track, and surprisingly enough, did quite well against the heavy hitters – managing a best time of 58.818. JDM Clips was on hand to get a closer look at this build. Click past the break to see more.
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JDM Clips recently shot these last weekend during the live filming of Hot Version’s N2 and Advan Amateur Race at Tsukuba Circuit. The Hot Version N2 AE86 event takes place every year, and has been going on for quite some time now. This year, the Advan sponsored Fastest Amateur Tournament was combined on the same date and made for one hell of an event. Many of the cars here are the same popular builds we see plastered on the pages of Option and Option2, as well as blogs around the globe. The most popular tuners attend these ‘grassroots’ events to show off what they can do on the track. Check out what Tsukuba has to offer past the break – like more of this RE built ドラえもん FD.
. ‘Under’ Suzuki-san’s Scorch Racing S15 staged up and ready to take on the trial of Tsukuba. As our coverage of Wekfest SF 2012 dies down, I wanted to give you a preview of what […]
