Through My Eyes: D1GP Paddock

 

 Life is like a box of chocolates.. once said by a famous Alabaman. I Certainly couldn't agree more. Especially considering the opportunity it presented me this last weekend. If you don't know by now I hope it comes obvious with this post. I am currently in Japan, first to study, and second to take in as much of the Japanese car culture as I can... and lately as can be seen i have taken in a lot of it.

 This last weekend I was presented with the opportunity to attend the Japanese D1GP Round 6 at the Odaiba special course in Tokyo bay. This post will be the first of two covering first the paddock and vendor booths and then the drifting.

 As you can see above, the Paddock and show was no disappointment! I personally had never seen this many Lamborghini's in one place ever, and furthermore had never seen a lamborghini eventador, or hurican or murcialago in the flesh. This weekend was a lot of first for me so bear with me if i seem a little like a four year old at Gozanco Chocholate for the first time. But it is completely called for considerding that analogy fits almost any Motor head that had the honor of attending this event.

 

Yes there is always an opportnity for Purrists to get obnoxious about the purity of a world Famouse supercar company being defecd like so many of the above cars do but I challenge you to look at them as labor and creativity to be apreciated no matter the outcome or product, someone took the time out of their preciouse life to remold and shape a work of art into something that they can now call their own, you'd be hard pressed not to give at least a little credit to anyone bold enough to do that and be willing to take the heat for it.

Dispite the somewhat controversial Super cars there were some other fine examples of how the pumping of air can be glorified and converted into joyious pursuits of thrill. this Potenza ZN6 chassis was looking nice with the flat cherry red paint. I cant get over how fast this chassis was supported by just about every single aftermarket supplier. I'm so happy this chassis was concieved and brought to producting and even more happy with how well its sales seem to be doing.

 After getting more involved in the drifting world after seeing one particular movie that may or may have not helped bring the sport of drifting into the spotlight i head about these different teams named after a color, team yellow (Rockstar energy) and team orange who had a booth in the paddock. i was in sensory overload as i walked by their booth after passing the space ships and the NZ6 that i Didnt even stop in to see what all they had for sale. looking at the above picture now i think i should have bought a shirt or something as a momento of all the rad Drivers and Pumps this team has supported.

 Right next to the ogange booth was this swell looking S-Chassis. Taking a break from the seasons competition. One thing i noticed about this car that was very interesting was the "D1 Ladies League" window sticker. Seeing this was a very cool, I'd love to see more women shredding tires in the states.

the day I showed up to the event was sunday, the last day of the event so there were a few competition cars that were knocked out sitting at a sponsor booth, since i didnt get the opportunity to go to the pits this time around it was great to see some of these monsters up close

Yukio Matsui Had gotten knocked out earlier in the weekend and was one of the drivers displaying his battle scared fd3s rx-7. one thing I really like about D1GP is how a majority of the cars use engines from the same manufacturer that their car is badged with. it brings a form of authenticity to the competition, and even still remains competitive.

I like how in the D1GP there are subtle differences in the machinery, not that you can always put a finger on it but something about these cars sometimes has a different feel to them whether that be the fact that drifting was invented on this little island.

Next to the Fd was this white Tomei crown? car thing that I honestly know little about because it has never been imported into the American market and because the guys I would have talked to about it only spoke Japanese which I currently know very little of.

I do know for a fact that that is a 2jz engine single turbocharged with a blue cam cover and a red air intake, and the bae looked really really clean. Kinda like opening the dishwasher after you do a load of dishes and everything is sparkling an shiny.. that kind of clean. Well you can see the picture so you get the.... picture, I hope. Clean bay made me happy. Looked like a lot of ponies stashed under there.

It was at none other than the Tomei booth with all the other neat tomei stuff like engine stands and blue gift bags being held by extremely muscular men in black tanktops.

After wandering around the booth a bit more I squatted down and took this picture showing the slightly negative camber in the rear and the quite positive camber in the front, or is it the other way around.. I really get this stuff confused. Here's a video on it if you also are confused.

After breathing in all that Tomei had to offer and getting a free sticker sheet from Exedy and their booth I moved on the to car show and saw this gem sitting front and center. the FD rx7.. in my opinion is one of the most stylistic and Interpretive platforms to modify, if I had the chance to modify any car in the world with zero budget the FD rx7 would be in the top three for sure.

The simple but intensive curves of every corner of this car present themselves with the potential to be slightly altered and formed into a subtle and defined collaboration of unspeakable beauty.

This chassis is one of the pretties that japan has created in my opinion and i am happy to have seen so many in this particular weekend presented in ways that only improved my image of them in retrospect.

Another picture of it.

Next on my list of show and tells is this pretty looking s30.. I couldn't help but be reminded of a very similar looking s30 that raced the Wangan in a very difficult to understand movie, which was costarred with a car called the blackbird.

The fitment was right about where it should be for this car almost still functional and formationally gifted by all means,

Gotta like the prime example of Asian squat photography in the background. just google it and you'll know exactly what Im talking about.

Moving on from the car show there was the other show with all the liberty walk vehicles I think that have ever existed in all time... there was indeed a plethora, meaning over abundance.

The gtrs outnumbered any other chassis by far and I took a particular liking to a brown one you can see below.

Now maybe it is the fact that I have had very very good experiences with brown cars in general or that the sun was hitting this paint just right that i chose this one to spend a bit more time with but regardless this was a pretty car

The wheels.. also brown, were nice. Wrapped in some black rubber also aesthetically appealing

The fine lines of the rear end of the R35 is gorgeous and the duck tail on these compliments the lines perfectly and ads that little bit more interest the folks who drive these cars long for but doesn't take away from the main feature of these cars being the body kits and..

quite extraordinary fitment.

The front splitter mage the bumper look like in never ended with how shiny it was, the level of completion and attention to detail on each and every one of these cars was really incredible.

Here is a link to their about page with their mission statement of sorts and a few more examples not at this event.

after spending time with the brown car i said goodbye to the gtr's and headed over to where the super/hypercars were located and spotted some incredible finds.

Now, I feel like I have been to a decent amount of good car shows, ones with a good selection of pretty rare machinery, but this event was on a completely different level.
there was probably tens of millions of dollars on automotive dedicated dollars including labor and media exposure.. I quite literally couldn't take it all in and very much wish I took more photos of all the maad pumps there it was mind boggling.

at some point in the day I stepped aside and thought to myself.. how did i get the chance to come to something like this. It was me Josh Sewell from Podunk town Pullman Washington who was currently at a D1GP event in the paddock looking at million dollar equipment with my $600.00 camera $70.00 sneakers and a cheap white v-neck from the Palouse mall.. I cant get over how blessed I felt to be able to experience this and hope these opportunities present themselves more in the future.

I mean really this Lamborghini alone, just to get a hold of one with the title in your name your looking at $150,000-200,00 let alone the bodywork and other aspect of this car that money was put into like the pristine paint job. This was by far, aside from black with monster energy green.. the color to paint your car at this event, and i have to say it is a great color

The Air Pump powering this beaute looked quite stock from above, but why mess with perfection.

The next car that blew my mind was this Fully carbon Aventador.

Now, I'm not sure if any of this was wrap but i doubt it and considering the two guards that were standing next to it I think its safe to assume it was indeed genuine carbon

For some reason I spent a lot of time at the back corner of the car and didn't shoot much else.. like i said I'm withing I took even more photos.

This gives a pretty good idea of the presence of the car and the two guards standing next to it.

The detail  in the carbon was pretty surreal and the smoked taillights really topped off the section I seemed for some reason to only shoot of this feller.

Next to the Aventador was the booth housing all the different monster sponsored pro stunt riders who put on a little show before the main drifting event.

I have no Idea who this was.

You can see on the stunt bikes there is a seat on the gas tank and an extra set of pecks sticking of the rear seat mount. after seeing what these guys could do on these bikes, I had a whole new respect for them and for anyone with enough guts to do it on the street.

One of the last sponsor cars I got to see was this feller.

It was my favorite color.. and it was a Porsche..

On my way to where I was going to watch the event i got a glimpse through the crowd at a vast array of Ferraris. I know for a fact I couldn't name them all but it was great to see so many in one spot.. and surprisingly not tampered with unlike the Lamborghinis.

After this post I'll get the coverage of the Actual drifting event with neat photos included.. have a nice day Friend.

Joshua Sewell

Instagram: josh_sewell_photo