Drift Tengoku — September 2004 · Page 167

Tochigi's mountain-pass boss…

…in America, above 3,000 meters!

…laid down black tire marks…

A difficult day with plenty of trouble

A cracked exhaust manifold creates a rush. Maybe it caught on something in transport? It had cracked and was leaking, so we hurried to remove and repair it. We hadn't brought a welder, but another team kindly lent one. Welding beside the gasoline tank on the truck worried me, so I moved away. They called me ‘chicken,’ but that's only sensible!

The emperor collapses… Maybe I got too carried away driving, because breathing became difficult. Afterward I rested with bottled oxygen. The altitude is apparently fine for ordinary activity, so there wasn't much oxygen equipment prepared. That was really rough. Was I getting that excited?!

1:30

Sudden hail causes panic! People say mountain weather changes quickly, and it really does. The weather had been good, then hail appeared suddenly. The stones were small, but we put up a tent to protect the cars from damage…

A9:00

…we did [fragment].

…the world's top hill-climb machinery!

Emperor Koguchi checks…

Seeing a truck like this racing is fun, but its enormous GT wing made me laugh. It's a serious time-attack truck, so surely the wing isn't just for appearance. How effective is it?

This truck had a turbo this huge. The engine is big too, so perhaps it's proportionate, but will it spool properly? The engine was beautifully polished and wore a Mercedes emblem!

BCLA

SIRIU

n

This huge…

GT wing

Seriously [fragment]

The tips of these stands fit into holes in the body to secure them. That should make lifting the car for underbody work quick and stable. I might copy the idea…

Does it work?

…right? [fragment]

This one…

I'd like to copy it

…sometime.

ABM

Something like this…

Let me drive one too!

TRI

RLT

This is a pure racing car! Driving a purpose-built machine like this looks incredibly fun. It seems able to take some hard treatment. On dirt, you naturally drive sideways, don't you? It would be a different kind of drifting from a 180SX.

CORP.com

The day after the hill climb, Falken Tire held Drift Showoff at nearby Pikes Peak Raceway. This touring US event combines a car show, drift competition and drift lessons. Koguchi and Seigo regularly attend as guests and have become heroes to American drift fans. Besides autographs and photos, they were busy with demonstrations and lessons.

PILKEN

The three exhibition drivers were Seigo, American Calvin Wan and me. We inspected the course but had no practice time, so we drove straight into the show. The cars weren't at their best, and going off could be disastrous, so none of us was driving at 100%…

The next day, June 27…

…Falken Drift Showoff…

…apparently [fragment].

…was held!

…some even ran into the trees when my car approached, apparently thinking it was dangerous. Everyone's reactions were exaggerated! That made me enjoy it more, and perhaps I got too excited. The thin air made breathing difficult, and afterward I lay in the tent using an oxygen bottle…

Drinking the previous night probably made things worse too! Still, Pikes Peak is fascinating. The demanding course is one reason, but the race also has proper classes for everything from highly tuned cars to trucks. A drift exhibition is great, but now I want to build a car and enter the hill climb myself.

Seigo and I did demonstration runs again that day, but perhaps because the car had stayed in America without proper maintenance, a fuel-system problem suddenly stopped the engine. Spectators rushed out to push the car when it couldn't move. They were really kind!

…Normally you apparently stay several days to acclimatize, but we arrived the day before…

We taught drift lessons at Drift Showoff too. Detailed explanations are hard to communicate, so I started with ‘Drifting is driving while making smoke!’ After all, the desire to make the car look spectacular matters. [Historical driver's quotation]

Emperor pose!?

When we took photos with spectators, they asked me to raise my hands like this. Is it popular in America? A pose I do all the time?

Huh, me? [fragment]

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