Yamaichi '15 @ Hadashi
These little jump backs in time aren't going to stop anytime soon. I have drives full of media and will eventually dump it all out onto this blog. These shots were taken by Ben Mich at the 2015 Yamaichi competition at Hadashi Tengoku Circuit. If you're not familiar with the even from previous posts, it is basically the year ender at Hadashi to crown the best drivers in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Act-a-Fool is one of the top teams in the prefecture and all their cars are painted bright "blurple" or blue. I really dig the fact that their S15 is bright blue wheels, which I wouldn't have necessarily thought would look good.
These cars have faced a full season of wear and tear and still look pretty damn cool. Drivers fix what they can through the year, but major repairs have to wait until the off-season.
Hirota's awesome S15 running the edge. Not only is he a great fabricator, he is an amazing driver as well and widely considered one of the best at Hadashi.
The JZX90 is going to be legal for import into the USA soon. Hopefully we'll see Mark II like Maruyama's showing up at events. They're big sedans, but with a 1JZ under the hood and Toyota reliability, there's no doubt they are great platforms.
Hit★Man Levin coming into turn one hot. This 86 has a 4AGZE conversion and the owner drives it about as hard as you can drive a Hachi.
Part of Yamaichi is the team competition. These guys have been driving Hadashi together for years and it shows.
Coming into the back section of the track. The focus is definitely the first couple of turns. Drivers will connect the entire course during practice, but not during competition typically.
A good shot of the blue S13s from Act-a-Fool. The S-chassis still rules the roost at drift events in Japan in terms of sheer numbers.
Hadashi's holy trinity? Mellow in his JZX90, Meguro in his JZX100 and Hirota in his S15 Silvia. The skill these guys have is amazing.
Meguro's JZX100 has been around for quite a while and has had the same basic look. He's made minor changes over the years, but it's hands-down my favorite JZX100.
Despite how close these guys stay through the turns, you rarely see them hit. That kind of spatial acuity when going sideways takes years of practice.