Event>>hpi Tsukuba Meeting Pt.1

It's time for more coverage from last Friday's HPI drift and grip meeting at Tsukba Circuit. Let's jump right into it here.

Here we have an S15 Silvia and an R32 Skyline GT-S doing a tandem run through Tsukuba's first hairpin. Both of these cars are D1 Street Legal regulars and this shot is actually a perfect preview to to the D1SL season finale which will be held at Tsukuba next month. There were a handful of D1SL drivers that came to the event to get some in some valuable practice before the D1SL event. It's been a while since there has been a drifting comp at Tsukuba Circuit.

This red BNR34 Skyline GT-R was out on the track during the morning's grip session. When I saw this car I was thinking that you don't really see too many red R34's around, which is a shame because I think they look pretty good in red. It kind of reminds me of the MCR-tuned GT-R's. The car was entering the high speed Dunlop Corner when I took this shot from the top of the grandstand. There is something so pure about a GT-R lapping Tsukuba…

This AA63 Toyota Carina was part of the drifting group. These cars are fairly unknown as far vintage rear-drive Japanese cars go. I'd love to own one someday. This particular car is a great example of the no-nonsense privateer approach to drifting. The Carina was ripping it up all afternoon, and seeing the little sedan sliding the final sweeping corner was so awesome. I'll post some action shots in the next post.

Mayhem (in a good way) is the only word that can properly describe what it was like when the advanced drifters took to the track. Here's some four-car tandem with a Koguchi-equipped 180SX, the Sexy Knights FD3S, the HPI S15 D1GP car, and Hideo Hiraoka in his Team Orange Impreza from D1. Seeing this stuff reminded me of how great the Ziptied ASB events are with their "tandem trains" of cars sliding around Horse Thief Mile at Willow Springs.

Back to grip for a moment. This car was built by Sorch and is one of the most radical MR-S's this side of a Super GT car. The flat black paint actually makes it look kind of like a Super GT test car or some other sort of race car prototype. I'd keep an eye on this car as it's likely to be one of the fastest MR-S tuner cars out there.

Tec-Arts brought out their panda AE86 Trueno out to play. This is the same car used in the Initial D demo runs at the D1 event in Tokyo earlier this year. Not only does the car have the right look, but the music made by its individual throttle bodies is unbelievable…

And now a quick demonstration of why the HPI event was so cool. In the morning you could see cars like this R31 Skyline taking to the track for some old fashioned grip racing…

…and in the the afternoon you could watch the endless string of drift machines turning Japan's most famous time attack course into a giant smoke pit.

Here's a DC2 Integra Type R doing just what it was built for – attacking corners. It's pretty rare to go to a soukoukai at Tsukuba Circuit and NOT see several Championship White Type R's engaged in the action. The blur in the background of this photo is a GC8 Subaru Impreza.

A view of the Sexy Knights FD3S being unloaded from its transporter in the morning. This car pops up quite often at Tsukuba Circuit doing both drift and grip duty. Actually, the HPI D1 S15 was also running some grip laps in the morning before the drifting began. Pro drift cars can make for very capbable grip racers when properly set up.

This FD3S is an old RE Amemiya demo car and it still sees plenty of circuit action. I'd have to dig through some of my old Option magazines to find out exactly when this car debuted, but it looks to be from the early 00's? Although not really "classics", the tuner cars from this era seem to have a simple style to them that I think is aging well.

Hmmm. This is something you don't see every day. More about this one in the next post…

HPI

-Mike Garrett

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1

Feature of the black Carina would be nice!





Any chance of seeing more pics of the Carina, and that drifting NSX?

2

i bet origin equipped cars were rollin pretty deep, wouldn't mind seeing some of that

3

more on the carina and the mr-s please =]

4

and wasn't that Carina at the D1 show or RS*R drift event here in Cali? i remember being at the first D1 or RS*R drift events here and there was a little black privateer drift car that was tearing it up. i've always wondered what that car was.

5

Awesome stuff as always!

6

i like what i see so far of the NSX's livery!

7

More picture of the NSX!

8

Totally RAD!!!!!

10

I thought when we were going to see a drifting NSX? That thing looks so dope...Cant wait for the next post with it!

11

Drift NSX, So cool! :D

12

DRIFT NSX WOW! Please for the love of god as a favor to a fellow owner who has never heard a whisper of NSX drifting and has always wanted to see it, find more info on it!

13

The fella in the "Carina" (it was a Diahatsu Charmant, same car, different name) that came to the USA was Ryoji Takada. A great talent and a great loss, he died not long after in a tragic accident. RIP Ryoji.



14

Tandem Train Wallpaper?! PLEASE?

15

Is that the NSX from the Drift Bible??

16

Carina FTW! d:)b



@Mike: Are you still after buying a Carina then? I know a very nice example for sale in the Tochigi region:

http://www.banpei.net/content/fast-leathercovered-wolf-sheep-part-2

Can't wait to read the follow up on the black Carina! :)



@Paz: AFAIK the Charmant was not based upon the A6 Carina/Celica platform, but upon the E7 Corolla platform. The Carina has a slightly larger wheelbase than the Corolla/Charmant.

17

4th and 6th pic MUST be wallpapers

18

4th and 6th pic MUST be wallpapers

19

nsx desktop please!

20

that last pic of the NSX deserves a wallpaper size.

21

Paz thanks for the clear up on the Charmant from D1 its too bad the owner has passed. RIP. I was pretty excited to see that car sticking it to the 500+hp Silvia's.

22

Hey Banpei,



Man I'd love to pick up a Carina or another old car right now, but I was thinking of sometime later when I would actually have the space to store on work on one. Someday...



More photos on the way and I'll be sure to make some desktops out of these pics this week.

-Mike

23

daaamnnnnn that NSX rocks sooo harrd!! the MR-S looks like a little carrera GT

24

More of that black MR-S please!!

25

The cars in the last two pics are dope!!!!

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