Drift Tengoku — September 2004 · Page 101
Page 101 — English translation
She could hardly drift on the first practice run, partly because she was scrubbing in new tires. Even on a familiar course, pressure made it difficult to get the rear sliding; once she did, she repeatedly spun. Reviewing the practice runs: both were filmed and discussed with Mikami. He also advised her over the radio while she drove, but Akemi's mind had gone blank and she could not respond properly…
Captions and page details
The turbo is a T518Z, tuned by 3UP to about 340 PS. To improve response and manage coolant temperature, an A'PEXi intercooler for an A31 Cefiro was mounted inside the fan shroud. A practice-session crash reached the reinforcement bar, but this mounting apparently protected the intercooler core.
900
…ended up [fragment]
Being the first female D1 driver meant that, even before I decided to enter the Ebisu round…
Okazaki talks about the pressure of her first D1 appearance
I felt a lot of pressure even before that. Being asked, ‘When are you going to enter?’ was painful too…
Once I said I would enter at Ebisu, the pressure to actually turn up…
…became stronger. Driving among the other D1 competitors was hard. I had to keep driving while acknowledging the gap between me and them. I also agonized over the fact that I couldn't drive as I normally do…
As for not being able to drive properly in qualifying…
I wasn't satisfied, but once it was over I felt relieved. I didn't have to drive any more…
For a while, until I can calmly… [fragment]
…I think I'll put off driving the green 180SX until I can do that again.
The result was elimination in qualifying. Unable to be satisfied… [fragment]
4
It was a failure.
DICEST
A day in the life: first-time entrant
07:00
07:50
Before driving
Tire pressure
Checking
Because she was nervous, the tire pressure was set to make the rear slide more easily. Before the first run she used a slalom to loosen herself up.
08:10
09:00
To ease her nerves even a little, she spent the waiting time at 3UP's pit with Mikami, who was also competing. While checking the tires, they discussed when to change them…
Planning at the 3UP pit
…and related plans.
09:50
Practice did not go satisfactorily…
…apparently proved useful [fragment]
Qualifying begins: her much-anticipated first D1 run!
To let her concentrate on driving, 3UP's mechanics handled the car during practice and qualifying, including tire changes and taking the car to the pit. In the pit-road queue, Option Video came to interview D1's first female driver.
13:00
12:00
Cheering on Mikami!
13:10
…there was [fragment]
To reduce the pressure, she avoided watching the other entrants and stayed out of sight in 3UP's pit for almost all the time she wasn't driving. She left only for Mikami's runs, cheering him at every corner.
The day ends safely, 13:30: finally free of everything. When Akemi returned after all her runs, Mikami greeted her with ‘Good work!’ It was heartfelt recognition that she was finally released from the burden of driving. As she had expected, the result was elimination in qualifying. That brought the first female D1 driver's day to a close.
Unable to make the most of three qualifying chances. On the first run, she initiated too early and spun. On the second, a mistake spoiled the entry. She made another mistake on the third, but managed to slide into the corner. All three runs were unsuccessful, yet the greatest relief was finishing the driving safely.
…apparently [fragment]
The sole woman bravely pushed on under pressure. Unable to show her ability, she was eliminated in qualifying…
99
About this issue
ドリフト天国 (Drift Tengoku), September 2004, is a Japanese drifting magazine. This archive preserves 316 scanned pages in their original right-to-left reading order, including the covers.
English translations are available through the outlined text areas. Hover over a box on desktop, or tap it on mobile. The original photographs and Japanese lettering remain visible on the scan.
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Use the page buttons or page number to navigate. On mobile, drag with one finger to move the page and pinch with two fingers to zoom. On desktop, drag a corner to turn a page. The zoom controls allow a closer look at the scans.