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IGNORE THE MAN IN THE HELMET: Felix in Japan

By in 15-12-2011 12:24 pm

Felix in Japan. from Alexander Kuzmichev on Vimeo.

Back at the last Drift Matsuri, I had the pleasure of meeting Russian drifter Felix Chitipakhovyan and his cameraman for the trip, Alexander Kuzmichev, when they came to Ebisu Circuit to compete in the third round of the foreigner-only G1GP.

On top of managing to win the competition, Felix did the usual sightseeing around Tokyo as well, but with a Stig-like twist!

「ヘルメットどこでもそのままで」ロシア人フェリックスの来日のビデオです。

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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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LET’S GO DRIFTING IN THE MOUNTAINS: A lap of Sports Land Yamanashi

By in 23-11-2011 5:09 am

スポーツランド山梨で走りましたよ！ありがとうございました３９６ＭＯＴＯＲＩＮＧ石合さん！

Last Sunday, I attended a drift day at Sports Land Yamanashi. You can occasionally see it in really old drifting videos, but the owner isn’t really a fan of how drifting tends to tear up the sides of the track, and rarely runs drift days there. Since local drivers quite easily fill up the numbers, events aren’t announced through the usual magazine and website channels, so after seeing 396 Motoring Ishiai, who lives about ten minutes from the track, in a video from a day there earlier last year, I asked if he’d kindly inform me the next time one was on.

Even though it was only a little day, D1 drivers Koguchi, Orido, Tokita and Imamura were there drifting as well, which added to the fun. It’s Imamura’s home course too, so I was able to get a bit of good advice on how to properly tackle the corners.

The circuit owner’s briefing was quite harsh compared to those at other tracks. Purposely doing a dirt-drop was about a $150 fine, damaging a tyre barrier was a $30 fine and doing a burnout u-turn was also a fine. Even though he was quite strict at the briefing, he was actually very nice when I saw him in the office and asked for a photographer’s vest so I could take some photos. I think all the warnings were just to keep people on their toes.

Towards the end of the day, I dodgeyed-up my little Bloggie video camera to my helmet with gaffer tape. Check out 396 Motoring Ishiai’s awesome entry and spin at the end of the video. It’s a bit hard to see, but the rear of his car jumped about a foot up into in the air!

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DRIFTING A PORSCHE IN THE RAIN: That is, drifting a Porsche in the rain and not spinning out

By in 21-11-2011 6:48 pm

To those who commented on the Facebook page and those who thought it couldn’t be done, here’s the video.

At a private Porsche-only drift school run by Ken Satoh from Mercury at Minami Chiba Circuit the other day, D1 driver Tetsuya Hibino took out one of the students’ cars to show how it’s done. I might add that this was only his second lap in this car!

ドライバーはＤ１選手ＳｕｎＲｉｓｅ日比野。

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