|
Thanks to another overwhelming turnout, Round-9 of the Yokomo Drift Meeting series was a great success. For this report we'll focus out coverage on the participants, including those that competed as teams. Photographs provided by: RC World & Pit-In
227 participants gathered for Round-9. Participants came not only from the local Kanto region, but from as far as Fukuoka, Ishikawa, Gifu, Fukushima, Yamanashi, Nagano, and Shizuoka prefectures.
Team Private Works R-Style & R-Style 2-Gun
Team Bakusho Ohashi Brothers
Team STEEL Drunken Master Family
Team S.S.S
Team ST Works
Team Atekomi Bancho-Kai
Ladies were grouped together for certain heats. Yes, there were a few men in the heat as well.
Team Kiwame Racing
Team Shino-P Gundan
Team Oshida-Juku
Open to anyone who has never driven on a track, the Welc class had 22 entries.
Service booth for participants
Chopsticks glued to were glued to Bomber Yamamoto's chassis. Check out Bomber's blog as to why. For an even closer look into why, check out the DVD to be released from Yokomo.
Mr.Iizuka of TN Racing(pictured in front) provided commentary during the event.
Technical Inspection
Bomber Yamamoto(left) and JDM OPTION"s Chief Editor Miyata(right).
Hot selling box lunches.
The King of RC Drifting, Custom Kondo put a Teruterubozu(a kind of weather doll charm that the Japanese hang to make the rain go away) on his radio. Perhaps thanks to this, we had intense sun throughout the day. And as Custom Kondo left the building, a huge downpour fell upon Yatabe Arena...
Even at the Drift Meetings the Dads seem get more excited than the kids.
Although the indoor carpet track readied in case of rain, on this day it was left unused.
The Drift Package was recently featured on the cover of Goo, an automotive information magazine with over 1,000 pages. 5 members of the Goo staff participated in the fun.
The king of full-size drifting, Yoshinori Koguchi has moved up to the competitive D1 class. We are always amazed by how quickly D1 drivers advance in skill.
Weld's Yubo Takahashi has also moved up to the D1 class, and is now in contention for the top spot. Pictured here with another Drift Meeting regular, Haruki Uetake of Team WILDKING.
Kazuhiro Tanaka competes alongside Nobushige Kumakubo on Team Orange in the D1 Grand Prix. This was his first attempt at R/C drifting.
Picture time with the kids.
A familiar sight at Drift Meetings is the waiting line for frequencies. Practice sessions are held for 2 hours in the morning and 1 1/2 hours around noon. With 20 cars running on the track at the same time, it's quite a sight.
The tsuiso battle between Custom Kondo and Okayama event winner Satomaru Fujino was a close one, with Custom Kondo taking the win.
The semi-finals featured a tsuiso battle between Custom Kondo and elementary school driver Masaki Koshi. Things went Koshi's way this day, as Custom Kondo made an uncharacteristic mistake against Koshi's consistent drifting, awarding Koshi the win.
Koshi being lifted up by Fujino, his Twin-Drift teammate at the Okayama event. Congratulations were abound as he claimed the long-awaited win.
Starting with the Beginner class in Drift Meeting Round-1, he has attended every event. But on his 9th try, Masaki Koshi claimed the top spot. He was teary-eyed during the winner's interview.
Koshi's car is the yellow FC in front.
Tetsuto Ofuji (right) from Fukuoka traveled the furthest to participate in this event.
Concours d'Elegance Awards pdf 133KB
Yoshihiko Yaguchi Judge: D1 Driver Yoshinori Koguchi
Yukio Iida Judge: D1 Driver Kazuhiro Tanaka
Yoshinobu Monma Judge: D1 Driver Tomokazu Hirota
It's finally here! Full interior, engine bay, and superbly crafted opening/closing doors! Crafted by D1 class participant Kenji Imazeki. Judge: Drift Tengoku Chief Editor Kawasaki
Tyuji Kurabayashi Judge: Welc Manager Ishiguro
Hidemi Uetake Judge: JDM OPTION Chief Editor Miyata
Kyosuke Okawa Judge: Bomber Yamamoto
Drivers in the D1 class are able to apply countersteer and drive this close to each other. Custom Kondo in front, followed by Futoshi Nishino.
Posing in front of the Dori-Ten Chaser is D1 driver Tomokazu Hirota(right) and Drift Tengoku Chief Editor Kawasaki.
Drift Samurai fired up the engine so kids could step on the gas to let onlookers hear the roar of the exhaust. Drift Samurai now has a plastic model of his car on sale!
Blitz was kind enough to bring Ken Nomura's Yokomo-sponsored Blitz ER34 Skyline 2006 for display.
Bomber Yamamoto is a real life emcee.
Winner Masaki Koshi's drift.
Kondo and Koshi took their tsuiso battle in the finals to the next level.
Welc class winner Seiya Sakai (8 yrs old).
The Welc class top 3. Winner: Seiya Sakai (center), 2nd: Takayuki Kigami (left), 3rd: Norio Masujima (right)
The Beginner class top 3. Winner: Masayoshi Yamasaki (center), 2nd: Daisuke Oriental (left), 3rd: Keiichi Terada (right)
The Expert class top 3. Winner: Yuuki Shiina (center), 2nd: Yuichi Aota (left), 3rd: Satoshi Iizumi (right) pdf 56KB
The D1 class top 3. Winner: Masaki Koshi (center), Runner-up: Tadayoshi Kondo (left), 3rd: Peta Peta (right) pdf 38KB
Emcee Bomber Yamamoto taking to the stage.
Information regarding the date and location for the next Drift Meeting will be posted on our website as soon as they have been finalized.
Selected Photos (Photo by PIT-IN & RC WORLD)
Other sites featuring Drift Meeting reports:
http://blog.goopassport.com/shopping/category_8/
Goo net Store Manager Ayako's Blog
http://www.hobby-one.co.jp/ivent/2006-0618/2006-0618a.html
Pin-In's HP
http://slideimpact.web.fc2.com/photo.html
Slideimpact's HP
http://blog.livedoor.jp/jdm_takahashi/archives/50520329.html#comments
Yubo Takahashi's Blog (JDM OPTION)
http://blog.livedoor.jp/jdm_yamamoto/archives/50477129.html
Bomber Yamamoto's Blog (JDM OPTION)
http://carlife.carview.co.jp/User.asp?UserID=176347&Year=2006&Month=6&day=18
Tomokazu Hirota's Blog (Car view)
http://manamin.cutegirl.jp/
ORC Racing Lady Manami Sumiya's HP (Daily→6/17)
| 
Information for those attending Yokomo Drift Meeting Round-9