So, this year I’m 19 years old which to me feels daunting. Up until now I’ve done some pretty exciting things as a teenager, as most of you know I visited Japan last November. Over the 18 day period the memories will be imprinted in me until the day I pass on. Meeting random Japanese people from Daikoku PA and ending up in their cars smashing up the mountains the night after was truly breathtaking. Visiting dozens of tracks, workshops and shops was overwhelming for all of us, as I still sift through the images I find it hard to believe I was there only a few months ago.
The last week of the trip we were settling in at Nihonmatsu, Fukushima for the G1GP and Autumn Ebisu Drift Matsuri held at Ebisu Circuit. Travelling with 9 drifters from Melbourne, Victoria, 7 had purchased cars to compete in both the Gaijin Drifting competition and the Matsuri. The only 2 people that didn’t purchase cars were myself and Nigel Petrie. As we had 8 long days and nights at Ebisu, Nigel and I thought it would be more than ideal to drive the 167km’s back towards Tokyo to a little town by the name of Utsunomiya which is where the ever so famous Nikko Circuit is located.
On the Sunday night we arrived to Nihonmatsu, everyone except Nigel and I had planned to head to Ebisu to pickup their cars and begin work. However our schedule was a little different, we had planned to attend the JZX day at Nikko the next morning. Driving along the highway keeping our eyes peeled for the exit I noticed the humungous power lines sticking up beneath a number of trees on the opposite side of the highway. We literally screamed our lungs out. After getting f*#%d by the GPS we randomly ended up out the front a small workshop with the characters “IKEYA FORMULA” printed. Our days just kept getting better and better, we must have done a few good-deeds to deserve the things that come in our path. After driving in, parking and being introduced to the President of Ikeya Formula we sat down, had a drink and looked over the Presidents hill-climb 350Z and a few customers cars. Shortly after we were Nikko bound.
As we arrived a little later than expected, we only caught about 3 or so hours of the 1 and 2J’s screaming around the tiny circuit. After the day concluded we met up with Alexi Smith and Manabu Mitsumori once again to tea up a feature on his JZX 100. After shooting the car all I wanted to do was to lock up my camera and make sure nothing could happen to it to loose the data I had stored on that little SanDisk Extreme III 8GB memory card. As I was finished shooting both the JZX and Manabu-san I sat back, had a talk to Nigel and Alexi and watched everyone pack up their belongings and head home for the day. This time of the day is truly spectacular, I say it so often and I’ll say it again, I really wish it lasted longer than it does. The light is even, the air is crisp and the atmosphere is silent, at the specific time at Nikko I honestly couldn’t think of anywhere else I would of rather been.
I’m not sure if these images give the same impression as they do to me but I’ve tried giving you a detailed description to help. As these are some of my favourite images I’ve come across I’d like each and everyone of you to have the access to widescreen, high resolution wallpapers.
The little fellow behind the office greeted us with these BEE*R fans, exactly like the ones you see in the D1GP rounds. I still have about 3 in my cupboard that I’ll never let go.
The office is covered with photos and trophies from the past. The BEE*R team have always been very successful in the D1 division.
Not speaking much English we still managed to get our messages across. Seeming as we were Gaijin’s we managed to score 50% off anything in the office, stickers, overalls and other accessories.
Despite all the D1-GP cars in the BEE*R workshop I managed to spot a couple of ‘street’ cars tucked away. This little levin was hiding behind the white 180SX which I’m sure would have been either a customers cars or the workers, either way they looked awesome.
Just as we were about to walk into the office I took the time to have a flick through the large magazine collection they had sitting on the tables. On another rack, dozens of magazines such as; Drift Tengoku, CarBoy, VIP and Vanning magazines were there for anyones viewing pleasure. Next post we’ll look inside the BEE*R office.
Day in, day out our days were spent punching in phone numbers to tracks, workshops and shops. Our second day in Tokyo brought us to Bee*R. Walking into the workshop was ever so surreal with the ever so famous Bee*R R34 sitting on jack stands with a mechanic asleep right beside it. It was hard to believe all the D1GP cars are built right in this very garage. More to come.
When cars weren’t drifting, they were racing. The RunFree AE86’s were absolutely amazing to watch scoot around Mobara Twin Circuit at MSC last year. The schedule was planned perfectly, full of entertainment which lead you to never lay eyes off the circuit. The perfect combination of drifting, team battles, triple class and grip I can easily say it’s the best event I’ve attended to, to date. I’m looking forward to going back to Japan in 10 weeks time. Hopefully all my content from Novembers trip will last until then.
