Sunset at Meihan, 2011 x

Naoki Nakamura, winner of Meister Cup 2011 at Meihan Sports Land x

Nakamura doing what he does best, Meihan 2011 x

I thought it would be a little different to put up a sequence photo of the one and only Jesse Streeter throwing down a perfect lap @ Meihan Sports Land back in 2011. Here he is, 3rd gear, just braking traction in order to link from the first left hand corner, along the straight…

…directly into the wall of Meihan, on lock, spot on.

Around the hairpin, continuing his way around the circuit. I could watch drifting all day, everyday at Meihan or any track in Japan for that matter x

Out of all the photos I’ve uploaded on here that I shot at Meihan Sports Land during my trip to Osaka they’ve all got something to do with running along the wall. Before this shot was taken I think I was scouting around the pits shooting some static shots of the higher-class cars before they went out on the track. Unfortunately I only had my 24mm on my camera at the time Nakamura-san and Mitsuyoshi-san started having some fun – two of the best from Team Burst. This photo wasn’t anything really planned just a slow pan through the pit poles, tyres and cement wall but turned out kind of groovy. Hope you enjoy x

One of the most entertaining parts of the Wreck `Em drift day at Meihan Sports Land was of course the men in the two S15s, who of course were Kuroi-san from M-Bros and Nakamura-san from Team Burst & DMAX.

Consistency is an understatement. The level of proximity these guys maintained lap after lap in their 400+PS cars was absolutely mindblowing, there is no other way to put it. Check out Nakamura-sans wing gliding along the top of the wall.

It was great seeing Kuroi-san lead too just to watch how close Nakamura really got! Enjoy x

At the Wreck Em Meihan Day we held, some of the best drivers in the country showed up. Of course, local boy Naoki Nakamura wouldn’t miss it for the world, however he didn’t roll in in his pink and purple PS13, it was his D1 S15. What made the day even more exciting were passenger runs, it was rotating between a few guys such as Jesse Streeter, Bai-san from Origin and Kuroi-san from M-Bros. Shane Bingham and his wife spoke to Nakamura for me which landed me riding shotgun in his passenger seat.

Arriving quite late he looked desperately eager to get out onto the track, the car looked so gorgeous when it arrived, but I’m not sure I can say it stayed like that for very long. Once again I was completely blown away that I had the privilege to shoot such a well known car for the next 6 hours.

Here is the inside of the car, fitted with a couple of Bride seats, aftermarket boss kit a few gauges and some personal touches by the man who loves pink bits. I have to say it was one hell of an experience riding with Nakamura with no seatbelts, both of my hands were holding my camera filming onboard footage with Kuroi from M-Bros. Be sure to check out Wreck Em and stay tuned for the 2011 DVD which will feature some of my footage.

The power plant is very tidy, still running an SR20 with a high-mount GReddy turbo all processed through a Power FC. From what I can remember this engine pushes out over 500whp.

Not long after a few runs of wall scraping this is what the car looked like, in saying that it only got worse. Even though it’s battered I think it makes it look even tougher, only the best challenge themselves by getting closer and closer and that’s what makes them the drivers they are.

On the third lap in the morning Nakamura busted out a manly entry alongside the wall which not only destroyed his carbon fibre spoiler, rear tailight and rear bumper…

…oh and not to forget his exhaust. At least the D-MAX template is still pop riveted on right? I can’t wait for you guys to see the footage from inside it was one experience I will never forget until the day I pass on. What a driver and what a car, this makes me excited about heading back to Japan very soon!

It’s sad to say this D-MAX S15 didn’t leave the track looking as straight as it is in these above photos. Throwing down manly entries all morning lead him to push a little too far and clip the wall going straight into the foam blocks down towards the grand stand. I might be able to put a little video up of the car getting towed away.

Witnessing this car for the first time when I was 18 back in November 2010 at the final round of D1-SL at Tsukuba 1000 was mind blowing. The amount of media that travels around the internet of this one specific fellow and his car is incredible so here I am giving my 2 cents. These photos were taken at the first Meihan day we attended which was held by Kazuya Bai from B-West / Origin. The day consisted of many famous drivers including the D1-SL division so it was awesome to see them go as hard as they possibly could on such a small and tight circuit. Seeing Nakamura blaze around the left-hander onto the straight in the top of 3rd maintaining loss of traction whilst steering into the cement wall and transitioning the complete opposite way causing his moulded wing to sit flush on the wall was absolutely incredible.

Here you can see not only the rear spoiler but the exhaust both have evidence of riding along the wall of Meihan. One thing that gets me about this car is the colour combination, pink and purple with the touch of fluorescent yellow 57d’s. It’s just so Nakamura and has definitely had a big impact on drifters all over the globe. I’d also like to bring up another point, a little off subject of Nakamura but more towards my images in general. As you know I don’t watermark my photos, this doesn’t mean they aren’t copyright, because they are. If you’d like to use any of my images for any use whatsoever please don’t hesitate to drop me an email at: Casey@shirtstuckedin.com and I’m sure we can sort something out.

If there was an image to sum up Meihan Sportsland, this would be it. At the `Wreck Em Meihan day I shot around 30gb’s of images, and I’m so glad I did, I actually wish I shot more. Days like these don’t come around very often especially for us foreigners. Seeing cars such as Supermade, D-MAX, Team Burst, Streeter all roll into Meihan was so surreal and it will definitely be a day I’ll never forget. I can’t wait to show you guys loads of photos from this day, including heaps from my 35mm SLR. For now, enjoy this capture of Team Burst riding the wall at Meihan.