You might remember a few weeks ago some videos going viral from Nakamura Naoki’s newest S15 being tested for the first time. Being there and driving with Keisuke, Jamie and Nishio I decided to have a small break when Naoki and Miki showed up just to get some shots of the car prior being loaded to Australia for this years WTAC drift challenge next week in Sydney Australia in which he will be competing in. The initial plan was to head down to Okayama Prefecture to Bihoku Highland Circuit so the car could get up to speed and under some pressure properly however due to the multiple typhoons that hit Honshu over the last few months it was Motorland Suzuka that managed to stay mostly dry.

The newly painted S15 chassis – a 3 color fade painted by Naoki himself welcoming red up front for his newest and largest sponsor VALINO tires fading into pink and purple for the true N-Style feel. This is the same body that he has previously been driving in such as Kansai All Stars in 2017 etc. A few months prior to this day the SR20DET was removed and a 1000HP T88 2JZ that was purchased straight out of a Toyota Aristo, backed up with a holinger gearbox all tuned and set by Garage REMS.

Enjoy the images

This was the first time Nishio from Otokichi Family in Mie had seen the car also.

Shane Bingham from Stacked Inc always by Naoki’s side helping wherever and whenever he can maintain and prep cars.

A strong combination of grippy Valino tires, soft and forgiving Stance coilovers and Naoki’s insanely aggressive, snappy driving this car  lifting wheels off the ground everywhere.

Apart from a water hose popping off after 3-4 sessions and whatever tires were bought there car was somewhat faultless. I have been shooting and spectating Naoki drive for around 8-9 years now and this was one of the fastest and grippiest cars I have probably seen run, period. I wish him all the best at WTAC! If you didn’t get a glimpse of the videos check them out on the SHIRTSTUCKEDIN instagram x

180SX by D-MAX x

Motorland Suzuka, John Dollison’s PS13, 2011 x

Fumihiko Ogita-san and his Levin Coupe – Motorland Suzuka

As I’ve stated in previous Japanese posts. The moment you set foot on the aircraft there is non stop thoughts about what Japan is going to look like, what cars you’re going to witness, what people you’re going to meet, more so on the first time you go. However, the second trip for me was no different, I was just as excited and will be every time I board a flight to Japan, period. There have been 3 AE86’s in the past that I think everyone are familiar with, the BRIDE AE86’s.

Our first drift day, only 48 hours on Japan soil I met the car in person. I’m unsure if you know but this car was actually purchased off the original owner a few years ago but still gets driven regularly. The current owners name goes by Kuniaki Konishi-san.

The car seems to be in the exact shape it was when the first owner built and drove it. I have to say it was quite a day seeing this little thing running around Motorland Suzuka. To see the full feature on this car, click here.

Here is a photo of Team ISE Works ☆ on the trailer after a full day of drifting at Motorland Suzuka. One thing I was surprised with was the amount of stickers and signs I saw around, especially on cars “PRAY FOR JAPAN”, “HOPE FOR JAPAN” etc. I even bought a few at the Wreck `Em Meihan Drift Day to show my support which is still stuck on my Pelican hard-case. As a matter in fact we managed to raise over $800.00 for the Japanese earlier this year so for those who donated I really appreciate it, well done.

Last Thursday – 7 days ago I sent 10 sheets of negative 35mm film and 1 roll of black and white film to film guru, Christopher S Cain in Northern New Zealand. Day in, day out I have been annoying the hell out of Chris asking if the film has arrived and I’ve gotten the same reply the past 5 days, no. Today he sent over a file which was 0.5gb in size and asked for me to download it. He said he hasn’t exposed thing to anyone so I was eager to see. It turns out it’s one of the very first rolls of film I shot in Japan, in other words, the film has landed in New Zealand and Chris has started scanning and processing my images to the computer. From here on in there will be a lot of misc photos from Japan, still plenty of cars and drifting but also sights. First up we have this gorgeous shot of Fumihiko Ogita-sans Levin Coupe from Team ISE Works  ☆. Have a fun and safe weekend everybody. Casey 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.

Continuing sorting through more photos from Motorland Suzuka I came across this particular one of TJ Waldon in his HotRoad Type X RPS13, this image could almost sum up why I love the Motorland circuit as much as I do, the surroundings and the amount of trees and natural things you have to work with is absolutely awesome. It took a few attempts to get this photo as the camera had a few focus problems with all the trees in the way, but this is pretty close to what I was aiming for.

I couldn’t help myself but to post another photo of John entering the tight, left hairpin down the back of the Motorland circuit. Here he is locking up the fronts managing to create some smoke through the wet bitumen.