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.
Tajima Hirotsugu embodies the traditional spirit of a motoring enthusiast. With his first venture to the circuit taking place back in the late 1990’s, he’s been driving in time attack for the better part of 20 years.
Years ago I had the good fortune of befriending a couple of Garage Mak customers who have close relationships with the Miyagawa brothers; owners of the Nagano based tuning powerhouse, Garage Mak. Amemiya, Tsubaki, Seki, and others, have become good friends of mine, and have also given me the opportunity to meet, and work with, the two men behind one of Japan’s most comprehensive tuning shops. This last week I made the drive out to Nagano again to talk to Tatsuhiro and Kazunori Miyagawa about the upcoming Attack season, and get a better look at their new line of R35 GTR aero.
I almost didn’t recognize the Step-Up Z33 without it’s massive rear diffuser and front splitter attached to it’s exterior. The car in this state takes on an almost street car look, aside from the chassis mounted GT wing. It wasn’t running in the Attack event, but was there supporting other drivers. I would have liked to see how it performed around Suzuka in the wet compared to some of the other similarly powered RWD cars. I included a video of a hot lap around Suzuka below.
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?
While it’s true that Japan has quite the heritage in the automotive world, few models have a more prestigious lineage as the Fairlady Z. Starting all the way back in the late 60’s […]
Last weekend at Fuji Speedway during Skyline Owners Battle, the Mercury Racing Project built Z33 demo car made an appearance at the Wakos booth. The livery on this car is great; I really like the […]
Beautiful shot of the Revolfe S.A./Do-Luck built 350Z Challenge car at Fuji Speedway, where just yesterday the circuit played host to the annual Skyline Owner’s Battle event. More coverage coming soon…
We pick up about 30 minutes before the general admission gates were opened, and the flood of people in line started to pour into the grounds. As Yuta and I left the […]
This weekend I took part in a car show that, over the past years, has been growing tremendously. Not just in size, but in organization as well. Putting on an event of this size isn’t […]
High Power & Save Energy. The words that make up the entire mission statement of Revolfe S.A.; a tuning shop most famous for it’s high power, wangan inspired builds. Earlier in the week, Sekinei […]
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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!
. These guys were racing…seriously. The bus was pulling on him. Ha, I like how laid back both drivers look. Taken somewhere in Yokohama. Anyone know what front bumper that is?! .
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I literally just went through another 100 photos from TAS, and I’m sick of editing. I’ll break up the coverage a little with a look at this Final Konnexion Z33. Of all the Fairlady’s at the show, this one just floored me. I can’t really find much info on it though. It’s flow is so tasty… Click past the break to see another shot.
