One of the memories I have from my childhood years was sitting in front of a TV, bored out of my mind watching men in spandex run in the Olympics. I then asked my mother a question to which I could never get an answer to: "why is there no Olympics for cars?"
Fast forward to 2014, and it looks like I finally got my wish granted! Thanks to Fatlace, Valenti, MSC, Redbull and many more sponsors and organizers it seems that my childhood dream has come true!
Dear readers, it is my absolute pleasure to present to you this coverage of Motorgames!
Now, I am certain that similar events have been held before, but experiencing this first hand, on one of the worlds most famous race tracks is nothing short of surreal.
So what is Motorgames? I will do my best and summarize it as a mix of competitive and showcase events divided into several genres of car scenes and motorsport disciplines.
Over two days the event featured one of Japan's leg of WTAC (time attack competition for tuned cars),
First ever Formula Drift event in Japan,
First ever Offset Kings to be held in Japan,
As well as Mazda Festa, Nissan Silvia/180SX meets, plus freestyle MTX.
It could therefore be said that there is something for everyone. While the first day of the event was held under a heavy downpour and due to not having any waterproof equipment or desire to get drenched I was not able to cover. However I was happy and excited to spend good 10 hours shooting non-stop on the second day, which was blessed with light overcast weather accompanied by unusual for this time of summer cool breeze. I plan to bring separate coverage for Formula Drift and Offset Kings events later on, but for now, let's check out some of the rides featured at the main stage as well as in the WTAC competition.
Time attack event did not gather the crowd's attention as much as more spectator friendly Formula Drift, it was an amazing sight watching these 1000 horse power monsters being thrown around the track. Unsurprisingly the HKS GTR was able to score the best time of spectacular 1:39! This is 15 seconds quicker than the stock GTR!
Unfortunately the race was over prematurely for Top Secret GTR, which experienced yet another gear box trouble. Regardless, it still managed to go around in impressive 1:41.
Ross Wilson of AVO TurboWorld managed a very impressive 1:55 in his tuned BRZ.
And while there were other very impressive performances from absolutely insane cars,
the sight of this Ferrari F40 being pushed to its limits was one to remember. Even though its time wasn't even close to the tuned cars I have to give it to the owner for putting this million dollar classic though the ultimate test. The owner, of course, being the founder of CarGuy group and avid collector of supercars. Unfortunately his McLaren 650S experienced problems and was forced to withdraw from competition.
Now that we have the taste of variety cars by just looking at WTAC competition, let's walk around and have a check out some the rides scattered the paddocks and parking lots.
Of course the predominant car at any of these events is the Toyota 86, or one of its variants from Subaru or Scion. It is becoming some sort of an endless cycle: just as I begin to think that there is not much to write about,
Something like this shows up. This Toyota 86 on kyusha orientated Watanabe wheels is becoming quite a hit. Apart from being featured in my last Offset Kings pre-meet coverage, it was spotted by several publications and is enjoying its share of fame. It is amazing what a right set of wheels can do, isn't it?!
As usual, once you spot one, there will be others. Like this wide body FRS belonging to Kei Miura himself. It almost seems like every appearance of this car is different as today it was wearing version 2 of the Rocket Bunny kit with more aggressive front bumper and...
...duck-tail spoiler replacing the wing in the back. Deep dish Work Meister M1 Wheels were a nice update to the car as well.
Looking at this monster 86 never gets old. Not a lot has changed since I first saw it being displayed at Tokyo Auto Salon Sporting aggressive camber on Work D9R wheels with fenders and other body work custom made by TRA-Kyoto the car does have it's sense of presence.
But what really sets it apart from the rest of the cars is this massive V8 with individual throttle body setup. I was lucky to be nearby when it was fired up and it sounded magnificent.
Another example from this year's Tokyo Auto Salon was this wide body FRS built by Weld with very delicate fender work and custom cherry red color.
True craftsmanship goes under the hood, as the original FA20 has been given a complete makeover.
86's weren't the only representation of Miura's work as he had a few other cars prepared for this event. This 180SX was one of them,
while this FD was the true highlight. The 6666 wheels gave the car the retro JDM feel while sleek fender flairs really did well transforming the car into one of a kind machine.
While lacking the out of this world aggressiveness of Miura's work this RX-8 was definitely getting plenty of attention. It does seem that this Lambo door thing has really caught on here.
Speaking of aggressive, this is the mother of wide body setups. Based on the Z33 this Porsche looking creation by PanaZ first appeared at SEMA in 2011 and has enjoyed its share of publicity since then. Rumors say that Porsche wanted to sue the owner for copyright. I am not aware of the outcome of this ordeal, but given that the owner cold have bought a real Porsche for the price of modifications, I am certain that he is not heavilly affected.
Just to give you an idea of the proportions, rear tires measured 405/20/R24, where 24 is the diameter. I didn't know they were making them at these sizes.
From style to substance as some of the Formula D cars were rolled out to be displayed.
While this S13 on TE37SL stands for everything that defines perfection.
As does this slammed R32 GTR on R34 wheels.
It was also great to see the full Carbon Fiber R35, which we saw at Nismo Festival last year featured at Rays booth.
There were quite a few Euro cars scattered around. MK Motorsport is fairly new to the scene but they had prepped a very nice M235i for this occasion. This reminds me, I really need to book a test drive of one of these!
While not exactly on display, this Mansory Bentley Continental GT makes a statement on who's boss. but seeing one parked next to JDM drift machines is a bit unique.
Now I wasn't sure whether to include the two supercars into Offset Kings coverage as they were located at the same same space as the event was held. But because they (thank God) did not have any crazy camber or zero road clearance...
...and because they were joined by one of these, I decided to leave them here. This is my second time seeing a Ford GT in Japan, and I must say, this is one phenomenal looking car. It's a shame that only a handful were imported, as any supercar gathering that I've been to could benefit from having one of these in the lineup.
The uniqueness of the Japanese car scene is emphasized even further in this event. The blend of old, new, local, and exotic is present and as I mentioned before gives a bit of something for everyone to enjoy. Now to see this blend taken to next level on this very Ferrari, you will have to check back again soon....
Until then, as usual, many thanks for reading, commenting, sharing and following,!
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