There is one final event of 2011 that I haven’t yet had the time to post. It happened a few days after the Super Battle and the venue was once again Tsukuba Circuit. The opening shot kind of gives it away; with a paddock stuffed full of hachirokus of all colors, it could only be the yearly AE86 Matsuri!
This time round the organizers did their best to pack even more excitement into the event and invited, various Skyline clubs, the Mitsubishi Lancer owner club as well as a few professional drifters to add to the entertainment.
It’s interesting to see how styles evolve and mature over the years and it never fails to surprise me how different each hachiroku looks. For a 25 year old car the little 86 has captivated the minds of quite a few generations, each going for distinct looks.
The day is run around usual soukoukai layout with entries split up into a variety of classes from your more extreme time attack beasts like this Tec Art’s customer car.
Street cars get their own class in order to keep an even playing field…
…although you never really know what kind of modifications most are running under their hoods.
One thing is certain, times are constantly getting faster every year as shops and owners continue to perfect and fine-tune their rides.
The kari-namba or “slash plates” as most foreigners in Japan call them are issued so you can move unregistered cars around for a couple of days. They are only supposed to be used to bring cars to local shaken test centers but car guys have been using them for decades to get track or drift cars to circuits. It’s cheaper than hiring a transporter for a day that’s for sure! Gotta love Japan!
See what I mean when I say there was lot of variation! You really need to look at each car in detail to appreciate the amount of work that these owners put into them.
The paddock was so full some cars hard to be parked in other areas around the track.
Not sure if this was reserved for white cars only!
It seemed for a while that the whole itasha movement was kind of quieting down, but it’s hard to go to an event or meet and not see at least one homage to some kind of Japanese anime.
Custom wraps are very expensive so others prefer a more personal approach.
This first part is only a little insight into the event. I’ll be showing you a lot more details of the AE86s that were at Tsukuba that day, especially engine bays. It’s incredible how extreme some are going on the little 4AG these days!
If there is a gathering of AE86s you know Nojima-san of Nojireal is going to show up in his RWB Levin!
These guys are only interested in lap times!
Here is Kumagura-san of Techno Pro Spirits. He was at Tsukuba for the Super Battle in his MR-S, this time he was behind the wheel of his time attack N2 Levin.
Quick, let’s grab a shot of that big gaijin!
Next up I’ll be taking a closer look at the AE86s that stood out the most at the event, those built for both grip…
…and drift. After that prepare yourselves for some Skyline and Lancer goodness of the vintage variety.
-Dino Dalle Carbonare