As I touched on during yesterday’s post , being at an MSC event is an many ways like stepping into a time machine and traveling back to the era when drifting was defined by what happened on the streets and small circuits of Japan. A lot has changed since then, even here in Japan, but [...]
Tsukuba Circuit. The modest race track located in the countryside of Ibaraki Perfecture outside of Tokyo is a place of legend. All across the world Tsukuba is known as the proving ground for Japan’s tuners and as the birthplace of Time Attack. Besides all of the history that’s been made at the track, Tsukuba has [...]
Happy New Year everyone! I’d like to kick things off with a guest blog from Speedhunters readers Jonathan Bowen, who is lead engineer of Georgia Tech’s “Wreck Racing” team. If you enjoy low budget race cars and grassroots engineering, I think you will enjoy this. Take it away, Jonathan! -Mike Hidden away in Georgia Tech’s [...]
The Mazda Miata is a car that’s many things to many people. For some it’s a daily driver – an open aired way to enjoy the daily commute. Others keep their Miatas locked in the garage awaiting the weekend and a scenic backroad journey. Some people don’t even drive their cars on the street, using [...]
As I’m sure you guys are aware, the life of a Speedhunter is like that of a pinball. We spend our time bouncing back and forth between different automotive subcultures, never staying in one area for too long. A typical month for any one of us will include pointing our cameras at everything from rusty Hot Rods to jumping rally cars. Rarely though, do two events so different fall so close together.
You’ve already some of Larry and I’s exploits at the California Hot Rod Reunion, but that eardrum blasting insanity was just half of our Speedhunting adventures last weekend. On the opposite end of Kern County from Famoso , All Star Bash was also going down at Willow Springs. Larry will be contributing his own take on the event, but for my end I’d like to focus on one of the best parts of ASB – the cars.
It’s Saturday afternoon at Irwindale Speedway. The gates have just opened and drift fans are lining up to get inside the track. An endless procession of cars pulls into the parking lot under traffic direction for the Irwindale Police Department. At this moment I’m walking away from the track and toward the parking lot with my camera in hand, glancing down the rows of vehicles. I must have looked pretty strange.
Sometimes you just want watch some grassroots drifting. No artistic soundtrack or camera trickery – just crazy people in crazy cars doing crazy things.
This video from the 2012 Drift Survival event in Hokkaido, Japan has it all – huge tandem trains, fearless entries, screaming AE86s, and even a pickup truck.
Enjoy!
-Mike
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The other day we spotlighted a Fox Body Mustang that was powered not by a 5.0V8 but by a Toyota 2JZ. Today we have a vehicle that is powered by a Ford 5.0, but as the photo suggests it’s certainly not a Mustang.
This Mazda pickup was sent in by Speedhunters reader Gorka Arrieta from Alexandria, Virginia. While many people out there learned to drift in an S13 or maybe an AE86, Gorka has been honing his skills behind the wheel of this minitruck for the last three years.
Right let’s finish up checking out the awesome selection of cars that were present last Sunday at Honjo circuit. As you can see from the opening image most people take these events quite seriously, all there trying to improve their best lap times. This means carrying the least amount of weight as possible, taking out [...]
So we have been noticing that a lot of you are requesting to see more grassroots event coverage from Japan, and to tell you the truth this couldn’t make me happier. It is without a doubt the essence of the Japanese tuning scene, where enthusiasts do what they love doing, where new styles and new [...]
When I visited the GTCC race at Tsukuba Circuit earlier this month, I encountered everything that makes Japan's grassroots motorsport scene great. There was the close wheel to wheel racing, the great cars, and most importantly the fun-loving and passionate weekend racers that define this series. Among the folks I met at GTCC was "Freedom-san", [...]
As I write this, I'm busy packing for a short weekend trip to Osaka to have a look at the 2012 Osaka Auto Messe. I'm really looking forward to checking out Kansai's car scene, but before I hop on that bullet train, I thought you guys might enjoy some desktops from last weekend's GTCC event [...]
I had a fantastic time shooting the GTCC event at Tsukuba Circuit the other day, and based on your comments it seems you guys have been enjoying the coverage from this brilliant grassroots race meet. Regardless of what sort of you cars you like, I think everyone can appreciate both the passion and the fun-loving [...]
Now that we've had an intro to the atmosphere from Sunday's GTCC race at Tsukuba Circuit, I wanted to spend some time showcasing more of the cars from this event, as well as the day's on-track action. Not only was this Garage FK-supported EF9 Civic fast around the circuit, it was also extremely clean. At [...]
