D1GP Supermade Onevia
November 8th, 2011
During my time in Japan I have been lucky enough to be faced one on one with a few D1GP cars, I even attended the final round of D1GP Street Legal around this time last year at the Tsukuba 1000 Circuit, if you look back through the pages on the blog you’ll find heaps of snaps. I have to say it’s so awesome seeing a D1GP car nowadays such as the Supermade Onevia still rocking 15″ wheels. The amount of speed and grip this car has is mind blowing.
The car itself is just so photogenic.
To those of you who requested more photos of Naoki Nakamura, this is for you. This particular day was special as it was the first time I had ever been to Meihan, and look what I was blessed with! As you may know I travelled north of Japan late last year, through Tokyo and also up in Fukushima for the Autumn Matsuri. The guys up there have that much guts they don’t really care how close they are to one another as their cars are far from straight chassis. This case is different. Two fantastic drivers side by side on one of the tightest tracks in their D1 cars. I remember Shane Bingham was speaking to Nakamura and he mentioned that they try not to think what will happen if they crash, they just want to get as close as they can and if anything happens they’ll worry about it then.
I can’t believe I haven’t posted any photos of the ever so famous Supermade D1GP Onevia until now. Witnessing the S15 and the Gloria at Meihan was unreal until this guy rolled in, it really put the icing on the cake. The car is so well presented, yeah there are huge fender gaps and the wheels and the guards haven’t been crafted around the wheels but hey the car performs unbelievably well and looks stunning!
A couple of months prior to Japan I was speaking with Alexi Smith on a regular basis trying to sort out our trip, mostly discussing the events we scheduled to attend. He mentioned that during the time of Ebisu Week there would be a couple of grassroots drift days held down south at Nikko Circuit. Alexi said at some of these low key events you may be lucky and see some pretty crazy cars out on the field, possibly a D1GP car? Or maybe D1SL? During the JZX Day on the Monday I was standing on the outside of the ever so famous first corner at Nikko, the 3 wheeled entry. This white on white JZX100 Mark II comes screaming down the front straight, smashing into 3rd. A transition like no other, dropping the rear right wheel off the edge causing the front left to leave the ground.
Downshifting to 2nd gear and smashing the limiter making instant smoke at the rear. What an entry. A 1JZ has never sounded so good. These guys really can drive, it is honestly unbelievable how consistent they are lap after lap, easily the best drivers in the world. I could only imagine a D1GP driver tearing up this tiny little track, but then again I think to myself, it surely couldn’t get much better than this? After all it is Japan…
The entrance to the BEE*R office.
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.
Thats it for BEE*R.
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.
