Tag Archive: Tsukuba Circuit

HIGH SPEED SANPATSU VIDEO: Okajima at Tsukuba Circuit

By in 25-03-2013 9:55 am

This week, we have some video from Team FOOL’s lead driver Okajima in his 530hp 2JZ-converted Verossa. They might not be all that well known in the broader car community, but Team FOOL is one of the longest still-running street drift teams in Japan. They have been active since over twenty years ago, and gained a lot of infamy for their high-speed drifting in the docks around Minato and Ota in Tokyo. This culminated in a mass-arrest against the group a few years ago, with video of their cars in a police impound lot appearing on the evening news.

It’s not uncommon to see them at the somewhat more legal venue of Tsukuba Circuit these days, which happens to have a long high-speed sweeping corner on to a straight. By a nice coincidence, this is a fairly similar layout to the street venue they used to always drift. This video was taken in the “bancho” or “gang boss” drift class at a recent event. To drive in this group, you can’t just pay for your entry and get in. You need to have the explicit approval of Okajima, since the speeds are high and everybody needs to trust everyone else enough to drift nice and close. I reckon the Mark II could cut it in there, so I might try and convince him to let me drive next time.

For those wondering, “sanpatsu” means “three motion” or linking a straight between two corners using three drift motions.

チームFOOL岡島さんの筑波サーキット三発オンリーです。ヴェロッサカッコイイ~!私も番町クラスやってみたいな~!

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CLICK DRAG RACE: Virtual Japanese track tours with Google maps

By in 25-05-2012 6:50 pm

Now here’s a good waste of time! While they’ve already done Street View maps of a few other racing tracks around the world, such as Laguna Seca and Mt Panorama, Google Maps now has Street View of some of the major circuits in Japan. What’s even better is that they haven’t just lapped around the circuit itself (or at all, in the case of Fuji Speedway), but also driven through the pits and interesting surrounding parts of the track.

Link to: Tsukuba Circuit

Link to: Fuji Speedway

Link to: Suzuka Circuit

Link to: Autopolis

Google マップのストリートビューで日本のサーキットをチェックして見て!

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BETTER THAN VIDEO GAMES: Drifting at Tsukuba Circuit 2000 Course

By in 08-02-2012 8:23 pm

Photo via Aaron Mai Photography. Thanks Aaron!

If you liked the helmet-cam video from Sports Land Yamanashi, you’re going to find this one rather enjoyable too.

Early last December, I took the Mark II out to Tsukuba Circuit at the AE86 Matsuri (this crash video on the first corner was from that event too). There were three drifting sessions scheduled during the day in-between races, an NA-class, which was basically an AE86 class, and a turbo class. Since I had to take photos for one of my sessions, I only managed to get in about nine laps for the whole day, but I still managed to get in a couple of decent runs.

私の筑波本コースのへたくそドリフトを見てください。HDもあるよ!

The first half of the video is drifting. The second half is the drive back through the pits. For bonus points, see if you can spot Keiichi Tsuchiya’s striped N2 coupe and his personal Trueno somewhere in the pits.

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ORANGE SIDE UP: 2011 AE86 Matsuri N2 crash video

By in 14-12-2011 2:44 pm

For those who follow the Noriyaro Facebook page, you would have noticed a few pics live-posted from the AE86 Matsuri last weekend, an event organised by Ken Satoh from Mercury and Shino from Shinokouba.

After attending and drifting in this event in 2009 (part one here, part two here, me drifting here), I was surprised to see how massive it has become recently.

For now, enjoy this video of the first few laps and an interesting red-flag incident of the N2-class race.

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