In this final installment from the Roadster and Rotary Meeting I will be focusing on some of the action from the most anticipated part of the day, the races. With most drivers having had plenty of practice throughout the various sessions…

…it was great to see them all go up against each other in a tightly contested battle, which included a proper grid start.

After the Roadster Class was done it was the turn of the Rotary guys, in a mix that included 11 FDs, 3 FCs and 2 RX8s. Like I mentioned in Part 1 this is a very small event but the sheer quality of cars present is what makes it so special.

Here is a shot of the Rotary Class on the grid patiently waiting for that green flat to be dropped.

Go RX-8! The best this particular SE3P managed was a 2’09″571.

The top three spots were all taken up by FDs, all posting 1’59” laps, the black Feed-tuned car taking the win.

As the Rotary Class continued on with the podium celebrations I took once final look through the pits when the afternoon light was softer and allowed the cars in the pits to be shot properly. The Pan Speed Street King is quite an imposing car seen from the rear. Unlike most of the other demo cars in the pits it proudly wore a license plate.

The 13B powering it develops close to 450 HP thanks to the GCG single turbo conversion and all necessary supporting modifications. Pan Speed always takes care to supply the turbos in their cars with the coolest possible stream of air using custom built air boxes shielding the blowers from the intense heat of the engine bay.

The same is done in their RX-8…

…except here the massive air guide and box direct air to the two velocity stacks hiding inside the airbox.

Before I knew it, engines were fired up and the demo cars began to quickly head out for their warm up lap…

…prior to the beginning of the race. This was going to be interesting.

Sasaki-san was pushing the RX-7 to the limit, I’ve never seen the car move around so much as he edged on the accelerator pedal earlier when coming out of corners and hit the brakes later and harder.

The other Pan Speed demo cars soon followed behind with Hattori in the RX-8…

…and Bamba-san getting his FD all crossed up through the infield chicane.

Suzuki-san in the Suzuki Jikou FD was right behind the top cars…

…managing to record a top time of 1’56″991 and finishing the race in 4th place.

In the meantime the battle for the top spot was being fought between the Pan Speed RX7…

…and the Screen demo car. Both drivers were pushing hard but…

…with Kouta Sasaki lapping a good second faster per lap he easily took the win.

He looked very pleased with his result on the podium as did Masahiro Sasaki of Screen and Bamba-san, who despite being over six seconds off the pace of the unlimited time attack cars managed to grab third spot.

It was the weather that contributed to make this year’s event such a great success and a pleasure to be part of. Everyone had a big smile on their face and started to already talk about next year, hoping that the weather would once again be kind!

Pan Speed

Sendai Hi Land

Roadster and Rotary Meeting 2011 coverage on Speedhunters

-Dino Dalle Carbonare