I got up to Nago Circuit at around 0945, and when I arrived I questioned if I'd got the date wrong for the event. There were no flags up at the entrance and only 3 cars in the parking area. My fears were soon put to bed though when I opened the car door and heard loud engine noise from beyond the circuit wall.
The lack of people watching was matched by a lack of cars taking part. There were only around 20 cars competing which is half of what is usually there. Nobody really knew the reason for it either, and November is usually the best time for the events. Yesterday was no exception, with conditions being ideal. The weather was mild with a bit of a breeze in the air keeping things cool, but the sun made regular appearances to stop people getting too cold. Only two non-Japanese drivers were taking part; a third dropped out 2 days before due to engine block problems which might require a complete engine disassembly.
The lack of entries made the day go by much more quickly than usual, and proceedings ended an hour earlier than usual. The first couple of practice runs were filled with drivers trying to get traction on the launch, and then when braking after the finish line (in the fight between mountainside and car, there is only going to be one winner). There were a couple of pretty hairy moments with some cars locking up the wheels and rear-ends looking a little twitchy, but thankfully no collisions.
Rick, currently holder of the "fastest gaijin in Okinawa" mantle, was looking impressive in his GT-R. His qualifying runs included breaking out of B-class with a time of 5.429s at 164kph for the 150m. To put that in context for the non-racers, that's a 0-100mph time of under 5.4s. In laymans terms that's (insert expletive of your choice) fast! The other driver, Josh, was having a tough time bringing everything together in his Mark II JZX90. Traction issues, red-lighting at the start and other little problems made for a very frustrating day. It was a shame for him, as he had high hopes and was taking part in C-class for the first time. Sad to say, but I think yesterday the Alto might have had a chance against him!
Rick managed to attain the quickest qualifying time in B-class, hitting 5.6s for the 150m, which put him straight into the final. The other cars in that class would be racing for the right to race him. Rick's problem was that he knew if everything went perfectly for him, he had a good chance of breaking out of B-class again which would result in his disqualification from the knockout part of the tournament. The solution was just delaying his launch on the startline a tenth of a second longer or so, to ensure he would remain in his class. And when it came to the final that's what he did. Both drivers had a good launch but Rick's GT-R was pretty much flawless and he finished again in 5.6s, 0.3s quicker than his rival.
The final of A-class was won once again by a car tuned by Goyu, which ran the 150m in 5.1s, crossing the line at 179kph. That is a speed and time about 95% of the drivers here in Okinawa can only dream of, and by Rick's admission is probably out of his league. But something to take into account is the type of cars. The Goyu car that won in A-class is completely gutted, geared for drag racing in Okinawa and even has parts to cut out of the bodywork to save on weight. In contrast, the Gt-R is full-weight with all the sound deadening, stereo air conditioning etc in it. If all of those things were stripped out then he would probably have a chance in the top class here in Okinawa.
So a year of drag racing in Okinawa has ended and the first event of 2010 will be in March. So until then, keep warm in the winter months and take good care of your cars.
Note: Apologies for the lack of quality in the photos this time. I was trying to add a bit of motion blur by taking down the shutter speed on my camera, but I took it down way too much, meaning most of my shots were good for nothing except throwing away. Will try harder next time.
