[Asphalt Jet]

The weather sucks right now, supposed to be partly cloudy and no rain at Fuji, fingers crossed. Me and Alex are gonna meet Aki at the Ebina P.A. and then its a quick blast to Fuji for track day with the Skyline Sports Club of Tokyo. This will be my first track experience, can't wait, Just hope its not raining.

 

[Asphalt Jet]

Well, that was fun, the weather was forgiving and the rain stayed away. Miguel showed up just to take a quick looky, since he literally lives down the street per say, he dispenced some advise and I listened as I was not going to F*CK my car up! I learned a lot about my car yesterday, have my work cut out for me, suspension is coming up first. The car is plenty fast for now, although like everyone else I can always use 200 more thoroughbreds galloping under the hood. So with that I am going to become a suspension expert here shortly, gotta actually Zero in on a brand, and figure out what it is I want from my car. I ended the track session 5 minutes early by throwing my power steering belt, there was enough of it left to put back on and get me home. So today is a day of reflection as I plot a new direction for the ride, instead of blindly doing what I thought it needed I can now do what is really needed. Alex had his own adventure there towards the end, Aki, well being that he is a Veteran I dont know what he expected from his ride, but in all it was a good day.

Leo is my wifes Five year old grandson, and he is an absolute GTR junkie, he was with me when I went to find and buy this GTR. I kicked the tires so he kicked the tires, I looked underneath the car so did he, we both inspected the engine and the interior. So it was only fitting that he ride in the car the first time I put it on the track( just during the 2 warm up laps, speeds were less than Highway speeds), and now he is on his way to becoming a full blown motorhead. He calls a race (Ready Go) and I was instructed by him that next time I go to the track I am suppose to pick him up, as he absolutely needs to be there, he was telling his grandma that next time he was going to ride in the front seat during the warm up laps, and she would ride in the back. We'll see how he handles the agony of defeat when she says NOT!

Thanks to Miguel for coming out and having a look, and giving away knowledge, thanks to Aki for putting me on the path to track addiction, and thanks to Alex for hanging out and always finding the deal (he's an Up Garage Junkie).

 

[Miguel - Newera]

After I met with you guys I went off to Kawasaki to spend the afternoon working on upgrading a customer's GT-R. Went to meet Aki at about 5 to go do some shopping for tools, then to Tsukiji for Sushi and over dinner was told how you guys did.... We already knew this would be addictive for you & Alex, but what Aki wanted most of all was for you to have fun! .......Because if you did, then you'd probably want to do more and that could only be a good thing!

Being your first time on a race circuit, I told your wife you'd probably have an unforgettable experience at Fuji yesterday. You did good - Well done! Alex seemed to do well also since he already knew the lines to take, despite never having been on the circuit before - and this being only his second event at a track (He joined us for the first 12 hour endurance race back in August).

Now you'll better understand why suspension and brake improvements are a good thing - but suspension's an art in itself. Take your time to read and understand what may be best for your needs and maybe we can give you a helping hand in choosing some good but inexpensive improvements. Also, see if you can play on Alex's Gran Turismo and spend some time learning the racing lines , as this will improve your times (& fun ) considerably.

Fuji's a place to really learn the limits of your car (& your's) and work on improving them both - and have huge fun doing it! You can get cheap track access by taking a Fuji licence, which entitles you to track use at only 6,000 - 8,000 Yen a pop (30 or 60 minutes) on most days.

Anyways. Glad you guys had fun. Was saying to Aki - if I get some new tyres on the RX-7, I'll join you guys for the next SSCT day at Fuji's short course. The more of us out there, the better.

 

[NickM]

Miguel - If I was in your position I'd sell the car collection (very, very nice though it is) and buy a Radical. You can't live next to a circuit and not have a dedicated track car

 

[Miguel - Newera]

Nick, why do you think I keep hankering after an HPC Caterham (Cheapish in UK), or even an R500 Caterham... (Expensive)!

I do have something in the pipeline, which will become available in the future... But as we plan to live here for the foreseeable future and probably build a home here there's plenty of time to do this.

As for selling my cars, that's just not an option at all for me, .. I need a bigger drive and a 4+ car garage lol.

 

[akasakaR33]

Guys - back on topic for a moment, then.

Glad to see that Thomas (AsphaltJet) and Alex (PoundPuppy) had a good time at the track on Thursday. Also very glad there were no accidents, and that we were all able to learn abit more about our cars. I'll leave the discussions on getting your cars (and yourself) ready for Fuji for offline conversations though.

Miguel, thanks for stopping by and dispensing advice to the guys. I had too much going on, so it was nice to have another experienced driver around.

Ok - so here are some pictures that Alex's wife took during the event (thanks!)

This yellow monster R33, capable of 1000ps, was "de-tuned" to 650ps for the event. And yet still posted the fastest time of the day, at a 1'56"!!!!

A REAL 400R. Note carbon trunk deck.

Several Spec V R35s ran with us, too. This white example - Alex pretends it's his.

View from the back. Strangely, I don't remember any SpecVs passing me though...

And here's a red one.

But actually, most of the time Thomas and Alex were getting their cars ready - numbers taped, junk unloaded...

Views from the upstairs conference room, looking down into the parking lot

Alex at speed - what, about 250kph?

Nice! Thomas eating this R34 for lunch! (was it just me, or were the R34s slow?)

Most R35s were really fast on the straight - but not this one I'm passing. That custom full tuned R32 was really, really impressive though!

Victorious! Or just relieved after experiencing his first spin? No damage at all though...

Well done guys!

 

[Thrust]

Fabntastic stuff. Thanks for the write-up and the photos. Very jealous-making. I have not yet had an opportunity to drive Fuji Speedway, but it is a dream for this lifetime...

 

[REXtreme]

Looks great...

Aki showed me some upside down video... looked fun....

Nice spin Alex... oversteer then bite... It's called a highside on a bike, but not sure about car spin terminology.

 

[matty32]

looks ace

that 400R was at Fuji last time wasnt it

 

[akasakaR33]

yep, he's a SSCT regular.

 

[Asphalt Jet]

Can you become a Track junkie after 1 Session

Absolutely, plans are already being formulated for the next session, and a Fuji Licence is on the horizon. A place to legally speed, my face hurts from smiling so much, yep can't wait for my next fix.:thumbsup:

 

[akasakaR33]

Thomas, just tweak/fix/improve one thing at a time, and at the same time, your track driving will get better and better - I'm gonna hold you to that commitment you just made to get the Fuji license!!