Here’s some on-board video of my R32 Skyline missile from an event on the 29th of December last year at Okegawa Sports Land, as seen in these previous posts.
Unfortunately, this will probably be the last time drifting will ever be seen at Okegawa, as the circuit owners are not too keen on how dirty and chewed-up the track gets after drift days. There are usually consecutive drift events held on the last weekend before New Year’s, so at least we were able to attend that before they ban drifting and return to their usual clientele of motorcycles and karts. This is a right shame because it really is a fun circuit to drive, and is the closest one to where I live.
For everyone else out there, look after your local drift track! Take all your used tyres and garbage home with you, even little things like used zip-ties and cigarette butts, avoid dirt-drops, clean up any fluid leaks and help keep your track clean!
If you’d like to see some more action from Okegawa, click here to view Noriyaro Raw Video #3 cued up to the right part.
Can I officially take credit for making the word “missile” so popular in western drifting circles? I know that the term itself has been around for a long time in Japan, but a quick dated search shows it becoming popular a couple of months after I first used it back in this post.
It’s been a double-edged sword though, because some people think “missile” means “smash into things”.
“I hate missiles. They don’t have any meaning. It’s just playing. You can’t hit people in competitions.” thinks one D1 driver who shall remain nameless.
That said though, drifting is all about fun, and the funnest thing to do is drive as close as possible to other people. I’m a firm believer that smashing a car’s panels should only be done against another car. For example, take a look at Koguchi’s Laurel missile when he first took it out, now take a look at it a year and a half later. Lots and lots of light hits.
I received a call the other morning from Yuusuke Kitaoka asking if I’d like to go and watch some of his friends driving at Okegawa Sports Land.
Since his car has no rear seat, and his girlfriend Yuki was coming along too, I had to drive there as well. This wasn’t too much of a problem as far as I’m concerned, and Yuki actually ended up riding in my car anyway because I still have a comfortable factory seat on the passenger’s side.
Yes, his car does actually have registration, if you were wondering.
The 2010 Tokyo Auto Salon week is over. I’ve spent the last week with the Autosalon magazine guys from Australia, as well as the tour group they brought with them. To see a bit of what we got up to, have a look at Charles Kha’s blog and photographer Mark Pakula’s blog.
So why am I posting pics of a mashed-up Cresta instead of some pics I took? A couple of days ago, there was an Ikaten competition at Okegawa Sports Land held by Drift Tengoku video. Okegawa is actually the closest circuit to my house, so of course I sent in an entry to appear in the segment. Unfortunately, there are a hell of a lot of drivers and teams in my local area, and I would have had to work anyway. Never mind.
Skidmarks that long usually mean you’ve had enough time to think about what you did wrong, what you should do next time, and to size up the dirt wall in front of you to see if there will be a next time or not.
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