Automation D - First stage of touge battles! | Final race!

[squidhead]

I’m going to trash talk for a bit, but it’s “in character” or so. I decided not to make Martin Todd a very nice guy

From Martin’s YT chanel.

Too loud, too noisy, too foreign. I can not believe that a few years ago I was just as much of a Gaijin as this lot. Some serious names here, but it is what it is, no time or actual point in concentrating on how serious your competitors are, they are what they are. I am what I am. I’ll just have to push hard and see if I can come out on top.

But seriously, some of these guys! The guy that runs ChipsWorkx, Mr. Mystery for sure! One look at his official company’s founder name in the publicly available resources and you know his full name. Why the mystery act? Is it just PR? I much preferred the “Tune the car properly and ride the wave of fame that comes from a job well done” approach we practiced back in Germany. Then there’s the motoring journalist turned street racer. I googled him, Reina Akikawa he is not. Which is actually sad. Takumi he isn’t aswell. Which I am comfortable with. There’s the spoiled brat who’s here because amphetamines don’t have the kick they used to it seems. The GP2 washout, who’s here on her own because she couldn’t be a team player. Another journalist but this time with actual racing pedigree, rumour has it he’s here because of a coin toss. It’s cringeworthy, all of these people, it’s all a joke to them. They don’t live this life, they don’t live driving. Some of them drive for a living but it’s completely different.

Of all the people who are here and truly understand this life are the Russian, and the girl in the Surge. They are giving everything up in life just to go faster, just to spend more time at the wheel, just to throw themselves at a new challenge of skill. They are the ones that scare me most, and the ones that I respect. Katsumi seems to be the same, but I still don’t know much about that girl, even though I’ve known her for a year, our interactions never went beyond a nod at the mountain meet and an occasional race. Jiro is the team leader, the one arranging our races, so he talks to her, I just drive. I still have no idea how she does what she does and what she sacrifices for it, but I’ve seen the way she does it, and it’s devoted, methodical, it makes her happy. She is one to watch. My team, Apex predators had it in with the LineSixes for some time now, can’t let the team down.

In other news - Tsukuba developed a misfire again last night. Again. That’s the 4th time this week, had to throw another set of sparkplugs away. The team did a good job on the engine, pushing 300 and all, but the mixture is too rich to get there. So far my only solution to this was either de-tuning (Not an option) or doing something creative, which was just re-adjusting the throttle position at idle. My new Idle is 1400 rpm, which seems to have solved my flooding problem, at least for now. Had a visit to Aki’s workshop again, she’s been promising that allignment check for a while now, she’s still too busy, if that keeps up Apex Predators will take their business elsewhere. It would be shame, she knows how to set the car up the way we need, and I really don’t want to have to teach another clueless mechanic on what’s needed and where.

The races are almost upon us, and the tension gets unbearable. All I can do to get my mind off it is either go for a drive or just tinker in the garage. Tinker tinker tinker tinker. That is all I’ve been doing for the past few years, and it worked for me. No need to change what works.

[Radster]

CHAPTER ONE: The gathering.

(My music recommendation to read the chapter).

21:00 PM. Night has fallen over Mount Haruna.

At the moment, some people are drifting their way to the summit, where racers gather and organize races. Races will start in just one hour, explaining why people were in such a rush.

However, tonight is no ordinary night. Quite a bit of expectation has been built up for the Automation D tournament, and people know the races will not dissapoint anyone. Maybe 50 or 60 people spectators would attend tonight’s race, and they all have brought camping tents and food to be able to stay there the whole night, and enjoy the car meets that will flourish before and after the race.

Thirty minutes later, 21:30 PM, a variety of engines is starting to be heard in the distance. The most veteran petrolheads inmediately recognize the unmuffled sounds: there were some growling V6s, followed by galloping crossplane V8s and screaming I4s. Unexpectedly, some I3s were also heard following the group.

A few seconds later the group was visible at last. There were a good variety of cars in it: from traditional FRs to racey MRs and even two compact FFs, and also a RR v8. They started climbing the mount to the summit, where a group of people waited for them to arrive. As soon as they arrived, the drivers started arranging the cars so that they would all be visible. The engines were stopped.

People started cheering the drivers as they got out of the cars. There were some known faces: from Matt Sierra, known rallycross racer, to Yui Takeda, LMP2 driver, and also other people like Gavin Anderson, well known journalist; Madoka Matsusaka, Airborne’s rep; and Martin Todd, ex-KHT employee. There were also two mysterious people: “Mr.Chips” and an anonymous woman, both wearing a racing helmet. There were also many newcomers trying to be the fastest at the mountain pass.

“Here they are, people!” - Yelled a voice from the crowd. A man emerged from there; he looked like a bosozoku or something close to it, at least. “Welcome everyone to this tournament! We’ve come here to see some good racing, enjoy cars and have fun! Now, we will decide who faces who with the randomizer. Do your magic, Tora!” - As the the man said that, another person emerged from the crowd with a laptop. The organizer took a look at it and nodded.

“Alright, races have been arranged! Katsumi Saito and Matt Sierra will face off in our first race! Racers, get back into your cars and get ready for the downhill!”.

As the man yelled these words, all the racers got their cars out of way to allow Katsumi and Matt to line up in the starting line. The rumble of Matt’s v8 fought a exhaust tone war against the growl of Katsumi’s I6 - both cars were aggresively tuned, giving them a mean idle sound, with the occassional revving that comes from throttle happy drivers.

Both racers opened their doors, got out of the car and walked towards each other. Race wouldn’t take long to start now.

To be continued.

[koolkei]

it’s a bit creepy to me how the length of the music is just perfect and ends when i finished reading the last line…

[titleguy1]

#The night before
######(Ram’s text is italic, Mine/Evan’s is bold)

Yaaaaaaaawn. I am tired as FUCK complained Ram, getting out of a taxi.

It’s the jet lag. You should’ve gotten used to it by now; we’re already a few days into our trip, you know I said reassuring. I wasn’t too far behind. Besides, you’re gonna have to get used to it. The night races are gonna be real late, and it’s only 8:30 now.

Ram rolled his eyes. Whatever you say. His walking pace increased as he walked towards a garage in Shibukawa. A sign plastered above the shop read “GARAGE K-TUNING 20”. I really hope Ricky is here. He’s the only one out of us who can translate, and well at that. I know he said he was going to sightsee, but still.

Are you kidding? I just want to see the car. I haven’t seen it ever since we ripped the engine out two Sundays ago. I heard they’re almost finished with it. I walked to the front door and opened it. The wafting smell of motor oil and burning rubber hit his face. Upon first sight, Ricky was cracking open a cold one with the boys. Ram was heard saying Thank christ… in the background. Noticing the two, Ricky immediately grinned and waved them over. “Hey! Have a drink with us!” He laughed. I’m good, thanks I replied with a chuckle. How’s the car looking? Ricky asked a few Japanese fellows about the car; they all stood up and shot us some mixed hand signals and said some Japanese words. Ricky replied, “Come with us. It’s on the other side of the shop away from the lounge.”

Ram and I followed, being taken outside. I am so excited to see how this turned out. Nobody can be more excited than me Ram replied playfully. One of the kind Japanese men who managed the place opened the big, mechanical garage door. Inside sat the Kimura; a car we had not seen for what seemed like forever. And boy, was it worth it.

Holy moly… I had no words. It was absolutely stunning. Ram leaned whispered in my ear. nut
I rolled my eyes, and Ram began to laugh. Seriously though, that is one gorgeous piece of engineering. I absolutely love those Work wheels…

The kind Japanese man signaled us, and told Ricky something. “He wants you guys to get in it. Drive it, get to know it. If there’s anything you guys want to do, he’ll let you guys use the lift.” Ram looked at me, and I gave him the thumbs up. We approached the car, I on the left and Ram on the right side.

Ram started the engine. Immediately, a bassy note was emitted from the exhaust. I was ecstatic, and I could tell Ram was too. Wait, so can we drive it right now? Ricky nodded. “Go for it.”

And so, we took it out to the mountains. On our way, we saw quite a few spectacles; a KHT of all cars was broken down in a garage, but it sure did look pretty as it was. While racing past, I could’ve sworn I saw the famed reported Gavin Anderson. Ram decided to ignore these and push to the downhill pass. As it was the night before the first stage, we realized we weren’t the only ones practicing. I again saw Gavin at the top of the mountain, now in an Erin Berlose. Soon, he was screaming down the mountain passes. I looked at Ram. He’s not to shabby. But you can totally kick his ass, right?

Ram smirked. I can kick anyone’s ass.

He revved the engine to about 4500 RPM, then dumped the clutch. The Helruna wheelspinned a bit, providing a bit of a show, but quickly hooked up the the road. We were going. At about 7000 RPM, Ram shifted into 2nd, but the car bogged down a bit. Through second, Ram quickly looked worried. Wait… Why isn’t the shift light going on? Just push through it, maybe the redline is high. We hit 8500 RPM, and still nothing. 9000, no sign of light. Ram looked even more worried. Uhhhhhh, it’s still pulling, so… We approached 9500. The light went on. The next shift was perfect. Jesus christ. That engine is AMAZING! I reveled in the noise. Ram looked at me in agreement, but then came the first corner. It was a hairpin right. The car was chucked into it, but it took no prisoners; we immediately spun out. Yeah, this is gonna need some tuning…

Later that night, we returned back to K-Tuning. We’re gonna work on the car now. Is that okay? Ricky asked, then nodded. “Go right ahead.”

Okay, so I think we should reduce the spring rate on the rear…
Maybe stiffen the rear anti-roll bar, it’s rolling a bit too much… could cause oversteer problems…
We fiddled and adjusted through the night. It was almost too late, but we did eventually retreat back to our hotel in hopes that our modifications worked…

[abg7]

Loving the writeups and introductions for each entrant… No shortage of funny and/or intriguing stories here!

[Rk38]

Spirit Guru

スピリットグル

___

The night crawls over Mount Haruna. A stillness comes over the sky as forest quietly watches on as the mountain road screams into life. It’s a motley crew of vehicles. From across the globe, through the ages and from all walks of life. But one thing brings them together…

Amongst this collect of tuner heaven, awesome drift machines sits a tiny front wheel drive sedan that you’d almost mistake for a kei car. This being Japan after all.

But you’d be badly mistaken.

Because under that heavily modified, wacky bosozoku paint work. Many many sticker bombs, an alarming itasha collect. Is a people’s car from the dearly departed socialist republic of Anikatia.

---

Yes, it’s the imaginatively named 1983 AAU M2083LX. Long gone is its woefully simple 892cc 3 cylinder engine transplanted with a punch V6. From a vehicle of unknown origin, the owner said it was taken out of a wrecked Mitsubishi Galant. But it has been modified so much that you can barely see any resemblance left.

Who would create such a sacrilegious car and then dare to drive it on the streets of Japan?

No one person could create such madness. It required the combined effort of the unlikely team.

Driver and lead creator Jürgen Pfeifer a strange young German hipster who as a student was actually a transfer student to Japan. Despite or perhaps because of his bizarre sense of style managed to rather like it here. So he learnt the language and came back as an English teacher.

---

Jürgen Pfeifer - A strange young German who as a student was actually a transfer student to Japan. Despite or perhaps because of his bizarre sense of style managed to rather like it here. So he learnt the language and after much Soul-searching in Tibet and short trips to India…he ended up working in Berlin and London as a barrister. But he found his true calling in Japan working as an English teacher.

---

On one of his many trips or holidays so less enlightened people might say. He was lucky enough to be one of first ‘western’ travellers to the newly formed Republic of Anikatia in 2001. Y’know before it was cool. He saw it’s unique culture before it was ruined by trashy hipsters and westernisation. Lucky he wasn’t a part of that destruction of local culture…

It was around that time He fell in love the so-called forgotten cars of Anikatia. While high-quality models were exported from the late 1980s onwards. A whole range of Soviet-style basic car remained in production in the mostly closed market.

High in the Yekkwae mountain ranges above the capital. A local Yeosindo priest or at least he assumed so seem to guide them towards a token of presumably of great value. Unwittingly his cosmic fate left him with the keys to a rather forlorn looking 1983 AAU M2083LX. Which oddly enough appeared to a Chinese export edition.

Once given this vehicle of such great celestial potential he paid any cost no matter how outrageous it seemed to bring it back to his true home…Japan. There he began crafting it into the beast you see today.

---

Suzette L’Angelier - she is of French heritage and the true soulmate of Jürgen of since 2011. They met in a coffee shop somewhere in downtown Osaka. Ever since sharing a healing spiritual coffee in a hostel. They’ve felt a shared kinetic spiritual energy that binds them together never to be separated. No matter how far away they are from each other…or at least, that’s what she said. All the while the car was being worked on, she was in Tibet, also to ‘discover herself’ due to Jürgen’s influence on her.

---

Suzette arrived back in time to survey the impressive handy work of Jürgen’s wallet. Many hours of painstaking work creating a vehicle that is unique, strange and oddly endearing in its own way. If nothing else it’s his car. Suzette fresh with a clarity of mind although perhaps not of senses. She gave a lot of ‘input’ and ‘feedback’ on the car that she also felt strongly attracted to because of its supposed comic energy.

She already has a vision for the car, while also following the JDM modding scene trend. The vision being “Pastiche of all the infamous icons that has brought people together in the last few decades in Japan.” After a few weeks of discussion, and spiritual enlightenment trip to a few Japanese onsen to reaffirm their life choices. They have finalised their design choices.

In the end, they felt the car transcended mere metal. Now it was a moving piece of postmodern art. Not only offered homages to car culture but a powerful force for spiritual healing and innovative protest art.

While explaining these concepts to the local Japanese population they are usually met with bewildering looks. Followed by a confused nod of agreement and acknowledgement. Confirming the minds of its creators the general effectiveness of their creation.

A true stand out it. As it certainly caught the attention of the field. The bright purple and neon teal colours and anime figures couldn’t help but draw the eyes in. The confounded looks of other drivers seem egg them on.

They were ready to race…but was the car?

“Jürgen, I can feel the stars are align for this race,” Suzette announced brushing her hand across the roof.

“Yesh, Suzette Look there is no car anything like ours,” Jürgen replied with an extremely self-satisfied grin.

“They cannot help but stare” Suzette glanced across at the waves of eyes all fixed on their creation.

“Now they vill know why we’re called the Demon from the Yellow Sea.” Jürgen declared to the mystified look from Suzette. Who quite sensibly had never heard it called that.

But she knew it was bad karma to correct your bonded kinetic partner. Instead, she reached for her healing beads and focused on aligning her chakras. Thoughtfully she had at great expense had an installed a Feng shui kettle that brewed healing herbal teas for the team.

---

[koolkei]

i did something too…

i’ve been learning photoshop. starting with the basic.

edit: why does this post have more likes than my team’s actual story related post?

[Radster]

CHAPTER TWO: Rally vs track!

Both racers approached each other, and shook their hands. Even though there was a clear sense of sportsmanship between the two, they stared at each other for a second, as if they were trying to analyze their opponent.

“Name’s Katsumi Saito.” - Said the young woman. She waited for his rival to reply, which he did after a few seconds trying to comprehend how touge racing worked. “Name’s Matt Sierra”. - Replied the man.

“Alright, you two get back to the car. We’re gonna start the countdown!”. As the organizer yelled this, both racers got into their cars and prepared to launch.

“Nine, eight…!” - As the organizer counted down to zero, the racers that were not going to take part in this race looked closely at both drivers, and their cars. Their machines looked like they were ready to battle in the downhill. Both engines growled and rumbled as their drivers revved the engines to launch as hard as possible. “Five, four…!” - Both racers took a last glance at each other, as if they were trying to intimidate each other. They then put all of their attention to the road. Race was about to start. People claimed they had never seen such an exciting start to a race.

“One…GO!”. As the organizer said this, Matt let off the clutch at the same time Katsumi pressed the upshift paddle.

- YouTube

(Race’s theme!)

Both cars launched like missiles. However, the double clutch transmission on Katsumi’s 260GT gave her the upper hand. She overtook Matt and started braking to take the first corner. They were neck to neck when they got there, however, and Matt refused to fall behind.

Both of them took the corner fairly fast. Second corner was not different: after the medium speed left, the racers approached a slightly sharper right. Both Katsumi and Matt braked as late as they could without risking getting in too fast or locking the wheels. They took the corner flawlessly, though in a different fashion: Katsumi powerslid her 260GT while Matt gripped the road as much as he could.

Matt then realized he was falling behind in the straights. His lightweight Marciel 124 wasn’t as powerful as the 260GT, and even though the difference is not as noticeable in the downhill, he was definitely struggling to keep up.

They approached the first hairpin. Both knew exactly what to do: Katsumi approached the hairpin, drifting her way through the fastest line. Matt, on the other hand, heel-toed as he approached the corner and decided to pull the handbrake to force the car to slide. He pulled the drift off successfully, meaning he was back in action.

Even though she was doing her best, Katsumi couldn’t get the Marciel out of her rear-view mirrors. She started feeling pressured by the rally driver, but wasn’t going to give up as easily. The next straight was long enough to leave the 124 behind, and she was going in for the kill. As soon as she got out of the corner and stabilized her car, she floored the throttle and started leaving the Marciel behind.

“Dammit” - thought Matt, who was starting to struggle. “She’s too fast in the straights. I won’t be able to keep up like this”. By the time they had approached the second hairpin, the gap between the two was noticeably larger.

Katsumi started braking to enter the haipin, but then she realized something mid-corner: she hadn’t braked enough. She had to brake again and fight the oversteer her mistake had induced. Matt on the other hand, took the corner handbraking his way through it again.

However, the last part of section 1, after the two hairpins was a really fast part of the track. Katsumi floored the throttle pedal again and pushed her way through the high speed corners until the last hairpin in section 1. She had left the Marciel behind again. She could relax for a moment at last, and decided to take the hairpin carefully to avoid wearing her tires more than necessary. As expected, Matt was trying to close the gap again, though not so successfully in the high speed section. He took the hairpin as fast as he could, drifting thanks to his handbrake.

Katsumi was easier on the throttle on the last high speed section of the downhill, in order to preserve her tires. However Matt couldn’t afford to if he wanted to close the gap, which he was starting to do.

They finally got to the five consecutive hairpins. Katsumi knew she had to spend her tire grip there, if she wanted to win. But as she drifted through the first of five hairpins, she saw something horrifying in her rear view mirror: the Marciel had managed to keep up even with how the high powered 260GT had punished it on the long straights.

Matt started handbrake-drifting his way through the hairpins, putting more and more pressure on Katsumi as he closed the gap. Matt threatened to overtake her in the last hairpin, but she drifted to block the 124’s attempt.

On the last short straight, Katsumi floored the throttle again. She braked as late as she could. However, her braking wasn’t perfect due to the pressure on her and braked too soon. Matt didn’t trash this opportunity and closed the gap. They were neck to neck just before the last section, which was a medium speed section.

Both racers pushed their way through all the corners up to the last one. Katsumi only had to resist one more corner. Unfortunately, all the pressure building up took a toll in her concentration: she braked too soon once again. Matt then decided to try to overtake her, and managed to get on the inside of the corner.

As they exited the last corner, Matt could start accelerating sooner. They both floored it and crossed the line at almost the same time.

A later photo finish revealed that Matt crossed the finish line slightly sooner. He won.

Back at the summit, people were celebrating the race. Both Matt and Katsumi had enjoyed the race, and shook hands once again.

“Okay, people, time to calm down! Moving on…race 2, last race tonight. Tora!” - As he said this, the same man as before brought the laptop to the bosozoku guy. He took a look at it and announced: “Mike Conelly will go against…Gavin Anderson! Racers, get ready!”.

To be continued.

---

Times spreadsheet:

[DeusExMackia]

Liking this format. This is gonna be fun!

[Riso]

Good show. That’s some very quick times.
Without gutter driving Mike’s toast!

But it’s about having fun, innit?

[Dorifto_Dorito]

#Race 1:
After winning the first race by a slim margin, Matt continues his report to see what the fuss is all about with the ‘Touge’

Well, I was not expecting that. That was one close race. Looking at the competition Ive got here, I doubt that I’ll be lucky next time. Well, I certainly see the fun in this. In fact Im starting to enjoy this, l might do this again if I ever get the chance. But I should point out that this is definitely not for the fainthearted. One wrong move, and you might end up seriously hurt. Anyways, looks like the next race is starting. Should probably talk to Gavin before he goes hurtling down the hill in his car. Looking at the team of technicians with him, he certainly looks like hes taking this seriously. Maybe he’s actually here for a good reason.

So just before the second race was about to begin I went up to Gavin’s Erin Berlose. His car seemed certainly more competitive than mine, but it also looked a lot heavier. Greeting Gavin, I decided not to tell him that SAM already figured out what he was doing, although turns out that Timo already told him. He didnt seem to happy about it, but he said that it was already worth it…it didnt take me long to figure out why. Anyway, I wished him luck on the track and went off to see what else I could see.

[Nomade0013]

“Wow! What a race! That’s what I was looking for!”
Yasmin was pumped up by the race, the adrenaline rushing through her veins.
But she wasn’t just enjoying this amazing race, she was also taking notes of possible opponents.
“…save tyres for the final hairpins against Matt’s 124…”

She then looked to the other contestants, who would she battle against? So many interesting and fun options!

“Sad thing I won’t race today, but the next battle sounds promising!”

[EnryGT5]

##Yui Takeda

21 years old, born on the 9th of April, 1996. From Yokohama, in the Kanagawa Prefecture. She has always had a passion for cars, which took her from assembling car model kits, all the way to becoming an official test driver for Seishido EGT Racing.This has given her the opportunity to drive cars such as their new LMP2 racecar, the S-017R . In 2015, she had decided that her brother’s old Kei car wasn’t quite enough for a daily driver. You know, a race driver needs something a little more… familiar feeling. There was one car that had her interest for quite a while, the YJ100 Seishido Yajiri. The reason for this? One day,while she was buying some books at a local shop, a YJ100 with the 3.5L V8 passed by, the thunderous roar of the racing-derived engine resonated in the shop, which immediately caused her to turn around, and see the sleek sports car, Seishido’s cutting edge flagship back in 1987.

##The Car

She had found a 1987 model year Yajiri on sale at an auction, sadly it wasn’t a V8, but was fitted with the 215hp 3.0L Inline 6 engine and a 5-speed manual transmission. It was a mid spec trim, with cloth seating, a cassette player and 16" alloy rims. It also lacked an LSD, which came standard in the S version. Over the course of time it was vastly upgraded. The I6 was pulled out, and most of the drivetrain was swapped in from a 1998 Seishido Antares 4.3 AX-AWD, which was powered by the LR43D2 V8, which is similar to the one in the V8 Yajiris but more modern, with the addition of VVT. The engine was upgraded up to an estimated 450PS, and redlines at a screaming 8900RPM. The 6-speed manual from the Antares was then fitted with a Sequential conversion kit. The modifications weren’t limited to the drivetrain though, an adjustable sports suspension was installed, and to top it all off, the car had bolt-on fenders, an EGT front bumper and roof wing, and a carbon fibre rear wing fitted. This process was very expensive, and lots of fabrication was needed, so it had to be done at a specialized workshop in Maebashi, near Mount Akagi.
The end result was tuned on Mount Haruna’s downhill pass, despite its impressive weight.
During a test run she ran into a Hashiriya on a tuned 2005 Yajiri, and for some reason they flashed their headlights at her, she figured out it was an invitation for a race only after a few awkward seconds. Yui won the heated battle on the last straight, because of the blistering acceleration. She wanted to experience this again, as this kind of racing was new to her, so she searched for touge communities online, and found a site called automationd-off.forum.jp…
http://imgur.com/jxzjxs5
http://imgur.com/xSam3QI

#Prelude

Yui goes on a trip to Haruna, driving her Yajiri all the way from Yokohama. This is what she wrote on a notepad acting as a travel diary of sorts:

##Before the Trip

I’ve never seen a real touge race, let alone raced in one. This should be exciting, and a nice opportunity to fine tune my Yajiri in a real life situation. There are a lot of experienced racers on the grid, according to what’s written in the site. (Kinda sketchy site, as well.) Even a professional Rallycross driver is going to be there, that is rather impressive. We also have that journalist from SAM, a KHT ex-employee, an Airborne rep, and the guy from ChipsWorx. Let’s see how this goes.

#Mount Haruna

Once the Yajiri was finally at Mount Haruna, the sight was amazing, there were loads of interesting cars, and a breathtaking orchestra of exhaust tones. This felt alien, yet fantastic. She parked the trusty Seishido, and watched the first race of the event unfold. It was the rallycross driver, Matt Sierra, in the Group B-esque Merciel, against a blue CAC 260GT with a quite eye-catching bodykit. The cars took off, and this seemed to be a quite intense night.

"That was one hell of a close race! I’m so excited, i wonder when my turn will be…

Wait, is that an Erin Berlose?! Oh my, it’s Gavin Anderson, from Splendid Auto Monthly. Now this will be interesting, i’ve heard that car is almost as heavy as mine, and that’s saying something. It’s going against a RM SHX 86, with an absolutely brutal sounding turbo 4-pot."

[anon14927014]

After Haruna

Katsumi: Damn it, I can’t believe I messed up. The car was perfect!

Karumi: Don’t worry about it kiddo, you did great. I’ve never seen such impressive drifts in my life!

Katsumi: well they weren’t bad.

Karumi: weren’t bad? I’d need two protractors to find those angles, they were insane!

Katsumi: really wish we had won though, we really could have if I had saved my tyres a bit longer.

Karumi: but we’ll get them next time!

[Oskiinus]

This conversation is to fill the actual story flow in the challenge. This wasn’t recorded in any way and story-wise only Luka and Madoka knew about this conversation.

Lake Haruna Hotel, 20/06/2017 7:30 AM

Luka Bogdanov, after events of yesterday night felt pretty excited, but couldn’t believe how Merciel had won with so much different driving to the one he knew. He only noticed that Madoka Matsusaka was watching the race without any emotions and thought he would ask her about actual results. So, after waking up and doing his morning gym (MANY pushups) he went immediately to the Valentia and drove all the way up where Madoka was supposed to be. At 7:30 he was exactly in front of door to her little apartment and he knocked. He had to wait for a reaction, but in meantime also heard yawning, slow steps and, in final, he heard behind the door:

• Sore ga konkai wa daredesu ka? (Who’s there at this time of the day?)
• Me is of Luka Bogdanov namings. - Luka answered in very poor english, then he said – Watashi wa yoriyoi nihongo o hanashimasu. (I speak japanese better)
• Anata wa watashi no bun o ataeru koto wa dekimasu ka? (Can you give me a while?) - Madoka answered behind the doors and Luka agreed.

After 15 minutes, Luka got invited into Madoka’s apartment. He was amazed how well styled the living room is and he noticed a replay of yesterday’s race on YouTube on Madoka’s TV and some calculations on her laptop, as well as some hacking devices, but he has ignored them and mistook as some programs to regulate electronically Madoka’s car components. But, as Luka is straight, Russian man who needs solid info, he sat and eventual dialogue begun as he watched the replay in slow motion.

(this actual dialogue is japanese, but the lines are translated to english for sake of possibility to read)

• What do you need, Mr. Bogdanov? - Madoka asked the stranger, who was suspiciously carefully watching the replay as she was cooking her breakfast in the kitchen.
• Uhm, well, uuuuhhh… Just call me Luka. And I have a thing to you, Madoka.
• It’s not that I’m rude, or something, but calling me by name meanwhile we barely know ourselves? - Madoka answered with serious and solid face expression, but she smiled shortly after. - Ah, just call me Madoka if you want. You seem like a nice guy. Still, what’s the matter, Luka?
• I’m here to ask you if you could explain me actual results of yesterday’s race, because I think this win is strange because for me this strange rallying, or some sort of that style that Matt Sierra chose seems pretty weird for street racing. Can you explain me that? I’m pretty sure that the person as experienced as you can do the explanation pretty well.
• Well, Luka… - Madoka went to the living room with a plate full of something that she learned to make in Poland – pierogi and she asked – Want some, Luka?
• Right, I’m so hungry! - the Russian answered, brought half of them to his plate and started to it. - But, please explain the race.
• Well, look closely about how those drivers are going. Look at the line of Katsumi’s Cack, or however was this thing called and Matt’s Merciel. They’re going entirely different. Meanwhile Katsumi tuned the car to be most suitable for most common style of racing on the downhill, which is something that I call „the most common driving on touge”, Matt took entirely different way to go: Since he is a professional and has a capable car he could do his own trick and still win. But, the Merciel is also entirely different than every touge car I know. It has a short wheelbase, wide tyres, sends power to rear wheels and that makes it tricky to drive, however excellent for handbrake turns like seen on rally stages. And this is the trick that Matt used. Maybe he was losing on straights to non-arguably better in torque and power Cack, but since his car was much smaller, lighter and nimbler he could shorten the gap easily on turns, and he did. He used tricks like taking 180 degree turns and hairpins on handbrake like rally professionals do, as mentioned earlier. Also, his drifting was short, instant, not smooth, but still more effective than the car being a blockade like Katsumi did. Overall, Matt did some pretty nifty professional tricks known only from rally stages like heel and toe technique, meanwhile Katsumi had much problems to control her own car and she was drifting also for public which was her worst way to go, driving was also predictable and in final the result of 0.03 second gap that they made was done only by fact that the Cack GT had incredible power and the Merciel 124 had incredible driver and handling.
• Okay, thanks for explanation mrs. Takahashi Ryousuke, but I have also one question. - Luka said. - Since Katsumi rules her own team called Line Sixes if I remember correctly, what will happen to them?
• Well, Line Sixes you say… - Madoka answered – They aren’t even a threat. Except for Katsumi they aren’t even real danger to any of the drivers, even for Gavin, and he can’t drive his Berlose for shit. I know what I mean, I met two of these beating their Skyline GT’s. Also, how are those pierogi?
• Delicious! I’m susprised how a japanese person, who has no polish ancestors can cook slav meal that well – Luka answered happily having his face dirty from filling.
  Well, I cook. I work in Poland usually. Also, go clean yourself, Luka. - The girl answered and a little grin had appeared on her face.

This photo had appeared shortly later on Luka’s Facebook profile with caption "The master of driving, racing mechanics and pierogi - meet Madoka! I’m approving that "
Notice how is Luka’s little finger missing.

After then, Luka had gone to the bathroom, cleaned himself, said goodbye and left somewhere at 8:45 meeting also Gavin on the parking, the Brit became a little suspicious but he eventually got to let the Russian guy go.

[Radster]

CHAPTER THREE: Car journalist meets car enthusiast!

As soon as the second race of the night was announced, both Mike and Gavin got into their cars. They drove them to the starting line, stopped them and got out. They then walked towards each other and shook hands.

“Name’s Mike Conelly”. - Said the owner of the SHX 86, as he shook the journalist’s hand. “Gavin Anderson” - replied the journalist.

“Alright racers, let’s get racin’!”. After hearing the organizer’s words, both drivers got into their cars. As soon as they engines were started, the exhaust tone war prior to the race was fought. Mike’s 1.6 inline 4 screamed his way to 9000rpm, while Gavin’s 3.3L V6 growled deeply.

“We’re going to start the countdown! Nine, eight, seven…!”. As they organizer counted down, both pressed their clutches and engaged first gear. “Four, three, two, one…!”. Both drivers started releasing the clutch slowly, and revved their engines.

- YouTube

(As always, race’s theme!)

“GO!”. -As soon as the organizer yelled this, both drivers released their clutch pedals completely, and the cars launched. Both drivers launched pretty hard, but the massive power produced by Gavin’s Berlose gave him the upper hand at the first straight. He couldn’t believe it - was he really leading the race?

However Mike did not fall behind. He lined up his car with Gavin’s and drafted to avoid falling behind. Both drivers braked and entered the first corner. Both cars threatened their drivers to oversteer, but they managed to prevent that from happening and got out of the corner as fast as they could. As they approached the second corner, the same thing happened: it looked like both drivers still had to get the hang of their cars.

They approached the first hairpin. As they did so, the started downshifting. However, when blipping the gas, Gavin underrevved the engine and made his wheels spin, inducing some oversteer he had to fight. Mike took advantage of his rival’s error and closed the gap generated on the long straight. However as Gavin drifted the corner, Mike found himself unable to overtake and forced to drift too.

Both of them got out of the hairpin and accelerated as soon as their cars were stable again. During this first high speed section, Gavin could have left Mike behind, but he didn’t do so, trying to save his tyres; he limited himself to drive fast enough not to be overtaken by the SHX.

They got to the second hairpin. Gavin decided to grip his way through this corner to avoid wearing the tyres, and Mike did the same thing. As soon as they got out of the hairpin, the first fast section started. Gavin floored his throttle, hoping that it would be enough to leave Mike behind; of course, the gap widened, but the race was nowhere near finished. Mike kept up, struggling but finally keeping up before the third hairpin.

During the third and fourth hairpins, Mike didn’t have much of a chance to overtake Gavin: he either had more grip or blocked his attempts by drifting.

As soon as they exited the fourth hairpin, Gavin started accelerating again, but didn’t floor it: he wanted to widen the gap without losing too much tire grip. Mike could keep up this time, and tried to use the following corner to overtake Gavin. However, he braked too late, forcing him to use a slower line and losing some valuable time.

The situation remained the same up to the fifth hairpin: the pressure on both drivers started building up: Gavin found himself looking through the rear view mirror often and Mike started attempting more desperate attempts to overtake. When both racers entered the fifth hairpin, Gavin made a big mistake: he braked too soon, allowing Mike to get on the inside of the road. When both racers exited the turn, Gavin floored it, making his wheels spin for a short time; fortunately for him, the car did not spin out and he could recover his first place.

After this last fast section, the road would get a lot more technical. Gavin widened the gap during this section, but not by much: Mike managed to keep up by drafting as much as he could. Both gripped their way through the sixth corner, and pushed their way through the medium speed corners leading up to the five consecutive hairpins.

When they entered the five hairpins, Gavin found himself being constantly harrassed by Mike’s constant overtaking attemps; Mike, on the other hand, knew he would have to overtake him soon or else the race would be over. It did not take long before they left the fifth consecutive hairpin.

In front of them, there was the final hairpin of the course. Both had preserved their tires pretty well. It was time for both to give the race their all. Gavin gripped the corner, whereas Mike decided to drift it to try and push on the outside.

They got out of the last hairpin and entered the last short straight. Both Gavin and Mike floored it this time; however, this time, Mike started struggling to keep up even if he drafted the Berlose. “Am I falling behind? This can’t be happening!” - Thought Mike, whose SHX screamed as it approached the redline. They entered the final corners.

On the finishing line, the engines started to be audible. People heard the tires squealing through the corners, a fight being fought between two drivers taken to their limits. As the engines were heard closer and closer, everybody held their breath: the cars would appear any second now.

The Erin Berlose appeared first, with the SHX following it a couple of seconds behind; Gavin’s car crossed the finishing line first and, a couple of seconds later, the SHX followed it. Race was over.

Back at the summit, all of the racers were starting to pack up and go. The organizer reminded everyone that the following day, races would start at 22:00PM as usual. Mike and Gavin shook hands and went back to their respective accomodation places.

To be continued.

---

Times spreadsheet:

[squidhead]

Who’s running next though?

[Riso]

That was much closer than I thought it would be. Good race, good write up.

[titleguy1]

#End of day 1
######(Ram’s text is italic, Mine/Evan’s is bold)

Did you hear the results of the first race before? I know you were around the middle of the track, but I saw the ending. It looked like a dead heat, but closer inspection showed that Matt in the Marciel beat out Katsumi by 3-hundreths of a second. 3-Hundreths! Isn’t that amazing?

Damn. That really is lucky. I looked back at our creation. Y’know, maybe it doesn’t have to be all serious out here. We are on vacation, after all. Ram smiled. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? There’s a small trackpad that local drifters use in order to slide around. I nodded in agreement. Let’s burn some rubber.

We hooned for a few minutes; there was a few cameras out, and one of the people took this picture and were generous enough to share it with us. The shriek of the RB complemented the smell of shredded tires and the loud thumping of trap music from another car rather well; generally we had a great time.

The night was still young, so we returned back the course soon to watch the second race. The race was between the famed Gavin Anderson, who seemed to have came with a friend for photography. He was driving an Erin Berlose, a car I have personally never seen. I pulled out my phone and had to take a picture. The other driver was in an RM SHX, another car I’ve not seen. The variety of cars here is amazing. I was expecting a lot more JDM stuff like ours, I told Ram. You should remember people like to be weird. We did take a bit of a conventional route with this car. I remained silent for now; he was right, after all, with the huge aftermarket following the Helruna has.

The race was over pretty soon afterwards; we were told Gavin Anderson had won. I’m not surprised to be honest. He drives fast cars for a living, I can’t imagine this being too difficult for him. Agreed. Still, the other guy; I think Mike was his name; held up rather well. Anyways, I just got a text saying the night’s over; we’re meeting up here again tomorrow.

Oh well. We didn’t get to race today.
Maaaaan, I was really ready to rip up the streets. Our last-second tuning really showed during pre-race practice.
I thought. I think there’s still some stuff we can do; us not racing might be a blessing if so. I thought again. Doesn’t mean I’m not ready to kick ass.

Ram chuckled. Anyways, I’m so fucking tired. Let’s go back to the hotel and rest. Yeah, let’s.

Our drive back was fairly uneventful. We drove to some chill tunes. All that was on my mind was winning the next race, but I decided to wipe it from my mind and look at the wide-open road.

I pulled out my phone and plugged in the aux cable.

Jimmy Rabbit (feat. Mammals) by Moog [Full Song Official]

We got back to the hotel, washed up, and conked out on the beds.

[anon14927014]

I have to say, based on these raw times being posted in had no idea my car would be that quick. It’s amazing what a bit of randomization can do. This is pretty cool.