Date: Sunday 1st June 2008
Location: Silverstone Circuit
Report Author: James aka tegboy

So it was time again for another Japanese show of 2008 and this was one of the big ones. One that a few of us went to last year and were looking forward too again. The show has it all: clubs, show cars, trade stands and best of all the EDC drift championship and the TIME ATTACK - all at Silverstone.

The day started with a group of us meeting up early in the morning for a small convoy to the show, but this didnt last long as Odders had a battery issue and Paul had to make a speedy dash back to U9 for a spare one. An hour later we arrived along with many other Japanese vehicles of all shapes and sizes ready for the days action. One thing we noticed was the quality of cars in the car park as we walked through the hundreds on the way in, always a good sign.

With the TIME ATTACK practice in full flow when we arrived we took the opportunity to sit on one of the bridge banks over the straight between Becketts and Brooklands to get some pics. As the TIME ATTACK use the national circuit the cars were flying past at around 140mph every couple of seconds! Although I did get shouted at for standing right up against the barrior next to the track I did get some good shots. Was a great place to watch the action too!

Next we moved on to the club area to look at some of the public's cars. Most were of very high standards as usual and of great variety. Eveything from Civics and Glanzas to Skylines and NSXs were out in force. Just next to one of these stands was the EDC area, people were buzzing around and mingling with some of the best drifters in the UK and their chariots. At the end were two of the best drifters in the world, Nobushige Kumakubo (2006 D1GP champion) and Kazuhiro Tanaka of TEAM ORANGE all the way over from the land of the rising sun to compete.

Finding somewhere to watch the drifting was not as easy as the privious year as people were being charged an extra £5 to sit in the BRDC stand and the Luffield seating area witch was a bit of a shame as the tickets were not the cheapest of the shows. So we stood at the standing area for the entrance to Luffield to watch the action. Some of the highlights were of course Daniel Eyles in his Skyline again doing well but seemed to be having initiation problems into the first corner, then he put it deep into the gravel which was a shame. Another was seeing Phil Morrison for the first time in his 2JZ powered DRIFTWORKS S15. The car sounded and looked amazing and produced huge amounts of smoke! The final came down to the top two men of the day, Brett Castle and Nobushige Kumakubo. The win going to a well deserved Brett Castle who seemed to show a massive improvment by the Europeans in skill and speed since the last time the D1GP roster came over two years ago.

Next up for the day was the Time Attack. Always my favourite part of the day and something I'd love to get involved in one day. All the cars were looking amazing as usual and super fast. Still cant believe how immaculate Roger Clarks Impreza is for a competition car, it puts most show cars in the country to shame! The ZEN PERORMANCE Scooby was also looking amazing with its rear mounted radiators and crazy front splitter. MY function over form award went to the DCY Evo with its crazy high mounted rear spoiler! My favorite of the day though had to be the BUDDYCLUB DC5. Although it wasnt suited to the high speed track its cornering speeds looked so fast and flat. Another good points of the day had to be the pit lane action unlike at the first round at Donny, access seemed to be open to anyone. Was a great opportunity to get some close up pics and was glad I followed Steve to the pit wall to get some more good pics! Winners of the day in the pro class were Rodger Clark Motorsport, club class forced induction was Kev Horsley in another Impreza and in the club class NA was Jeff Mileham in a TVR Tuscan.

The trade area didn't seem to be as good this year but as none of us had any money burning holes in our pocket so that wasn't such a bad thing. The track action was entertaining as ever and most seemed to get round in one peice even if there were a few spins here and there. My EK9 will be there next year to destroy some tyres and brakes for sure. One of the highlights of the day was watching a Mitsubishi Colt drive like a pro round the track overtaking many cars! Think it was Banzai mags 200hp staff car but none the less a great spectical! Stealth point of the day go to Steve, Andy, Holly and Lee for sneaking up into a V.I.P area for a great view of the track.

All in all was a great show and no doubt I will look back at it as one of the best this year, roll on next year when the EK9 will be ready.