Tag: Twin Ring

Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Encounter: Spoon Sports Endurance S2000

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I’m sure you’re familiar with the saying, “Some of the best things in life are free”.  A saying most likely referring to memories or moments in time.  For the most part I’d agree, as it’s happened to me several times.  The things in life that are the most special often happen unexpectedly and in the most obscure places – take this encounter for example.  If you want to get technical with it, this moment wasn’t technically free, but I can say that it was both unexpected and obscure; crazy any way you want to look at it.  On our way back to Tokyo from Motegi, my friend and I had decided to pull over at a rest stop for a bite to eat and a little refill of caffeine (in the form of some Emerald Mountain Blend).  The long drive back on the expressway had started taking it’s toll on us and after spending an entire day shooting an endurance race, the last thing you want to do is drive for 2 hours back home.  As we pulled into the parking area, and drove towards the back to park, we noticed a trailer with a pair of Nissan’s resting atop.  As we got closer we realized it was the two Okabe Jidosha Taikyu team’s cars.  I suppose they had the same idea as us and stopped for a little break.  Not one to miss a photo-op, I grabbed my camera and tripod and snapped a few shots before we went into the restaurant (You can see one of the shots here – I’ll post more later).  As we were eating our curry and whatever the hell else I had ordered, we kept trying to pick out who was involved in the racing team.  I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to tell just by looking at someone, but we tried anyway.  We finished up, grabbed some coffee from vending, and made our way back to the car when we saw this.  Click past the break for more – I promise you won’t see stuff like this anywhere else.

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Event: Super Taikyu – A Pit Walk In Japan

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Here’s a post I’ve been waiting to share with you for awhile now.  Let me preface this by saying that the pictures won’t really do this experience much justice.  In Japan, a pit walk is something you can pay a little extra for to take an actual walk on the pit road to view the cars and team.  Well, I thought you could view the cars and team anyway.  In reality, it turns out it’s a mad rush for the thousands of spectators that are there solely for the race queens.  I literally had to fight my way through the crowd and sneak my way past the stanchions to get a glimpse at the race cars.  I was even told a few times that I couldn’t be past a certain point I had snuck by.  Seriously though, I paid for a pit walk to see the cars!  My friend and I were probably part of the 5% of people there to view the actual vehicles.  They should really look in to separating the girls from the garages a little; throw them out on the straight or something.   With that said, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.  I find it extremely amusing being the only foreigner in a crowd of crazed motor sport (read ‘race queen’) fans, and getting caught up in the moment.  You know the saying “If you can’t beat them, join them”?  Well, about halfway through I gave up trying to get car shots and ended up joining everyone else in snapping some girlies.  They were all about it too!  Perks of having blue eyes I suppose.  Click past the break to see the experience of my first pit walk.

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Event: Super Taikyu Round 2 – Twin Ring Motegi v.2

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I think I’ll break up the Wekfest coverage with the second post of Super Taikyu from Twin Ring.  I have a few fans that are awaiting the continuation of this and it just so happens I initially started posting it right before Wekfest hit town; which was not my intention.  Plus, seeing a couple of race cars fight it out on track will be a nice contrast to the show coverage.  We left off on the last post somewhere near the start of the race, after the practice laps.  By now you have a good impression of the diversity of this series; I’m pretty sure I’ve said that a million times now, but it’s part of why this is such a cool race.  Part of the appeal of Group-N racing series’ is that it has the ability to make any regular person feel like they can be a race car driver behind the wheel of there normal, every day car.  That’s not to say that they should…but it’s nice to have that feeling.  A popular car among the Super Taikyu contenders is the Sturm Motul STi.  You can see it here propped up on the air jacks in the team garage; the crew going through a few final tests before it’s unleashed on the track for the 4 hour stint.  Check the continued coverage past the break.

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Event: Super Taikyu Round 2 – Twin Ring Motegi V.1

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耐久 [Taikyu] – Translate the word to English and it becomes ‘Endurance’, or ‘Persistence’.  Both of which are needed in a series like Super Taikyu; where the most average of cars are transformed into octane devouring, tire burning, track monsters for their drivers to tame around the circuit.  A series that pushes both man and machine to the brink of exhaustion; endurance racing at it’s finest.  Now don’t get me wrong – this is no 24 Hours of Nürburgring.  It is, however, grueling in it’s own right – I barely survived photographing it, let alone driving it.  It’s possible that some readers are not familiar with the series, although, they may be familiar with the term ‘Group-N’ racing.  A particular type of motor sport, governed by the FIA, where standard production vehicles are allowed to be slightly modified for competition;  I use the term ‘slightly’ very loosely.  No doubt about it that each and every one of these cars is fully built to be race metal.  The main reason I fell in love with this series is the amount of classes involved and on track at the same time, all racing to be number one in their own right.  In this sense it’s a bit like Le Mans racing, except Super Taikyu has 5 classes.  I’m really excited to share this series with you and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  Click past the break for more Twin Ring action.

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Close-Up: Type One Toyota FT-86….?

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Yeah, that’s right – another FT-86 post.  So I posted on the NDF Facebook page a few weeks back picture of a FT-86 wheel with Spoon calipers attached.  Needless to say it baffled many people – including me when I saw it.  I still don’t have much information on the car, other than whoever owns it is affiliated with Spoon and Type One.  I’m pretty sure it’s not too difficult to fit certain brake systems onto other cars, as it can be universal in some regards; requiring little retro-fitting.  This may be the case, but it’s still wild to see a Spoon product on anything other than a Honda.  Right?  I first spotted this at Twin Ring behind the Spoon garage area at the 2nd round of Super Taikyu.  Click past the break for a few more encounters!

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Event: 2010 Super GT Test Day at Twin Ring Motegi

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Ah, Monday.  Hope you all had a good race weekend; congrats to Sebastian Vettel for his second 2011 season win!  As promised, I’m posting up some shots of  a Super GT Test Day at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit.  While these shots may be dated a bit, they are still awesome.  This post will be followed up with some race day shots as well.  Unfortunately, the Super GT series has been delayed due to the tragic events in Japan.  I know we’ve heard it a lot, but let’s hope Japan can bounce back and things can return to normal soon.  Thanks again to JDM Clips.  Check out the NSX GT-R FR – looks so mean.

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