Team MOUSE AE86 throwing down at YZ Circuit x

Carina x Celica meeting in Fujinomiya x

On my last trip our first destination drift orientated was a little circuit known as Motorland Suzuka, which of course is located in Suzuka. You might remember my little post on our late night journey from Osaka to Suzuka, if not check it out here. On arrival we were greeted by the track owner and officials and 3 AE86’s, this one really caught my eye, however we arrived a little late and missed out on seeing it in action.

After the drifting had finished I was lucky enough to get all 3 AE86’s on the track for a feature, you might remember seeing them on Speedhunters. In saying that, I never posted any of this subtle one. Up front were a perfect sized pair of SSR Mark II’s.

Under the bonnet was still the standard 4-AGE 16 valve.

The interior had it’s rear end stripped out and filled with tires, a full roll cage and a deep corne Nardi steering wheel.

On the rear were a pair of 14″ Watanabe’s which I think were still on from drifting earlier that day.

Was very happy I got the opportunity to shoot such a authentic Japanese automobile on a little short and tight circuit in the forest.

There are so many different positives to Japanese drifting however I think this is a major. Picture this. Arriving at a tight, short circuit based in the middle of a forest and hearing the high pitched revving of a carbureted 16V in a little hachi-roku. This was our opening drift day at Motorland Suzuka which is based in Suzuka itself, about 2.5 hours drive from Osaka city. The drivers name is Fumihiko Ogita and is in a team with another two AE86’s which goes by the name of Ise ☆ Works. Check out the feature here.

Now that I have completed my Behind The Scenes articles for Speedhunters, I can spend some time catching up on photos for the blog. Having a look through the MSC images, I found two photos of the Run Free Hachi-Roku’s engine bays. They both sounded unbelievable and gave the 400ps cars a run for there money around Mobara Twin.

My poor camera hasn’t been touched since I’ve been back from Japan. Next week there is a local bash on and I’m really looking forward to shooting again, although I seem to be lacking motivation of course, after Japan. Let’s see how I go!