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| Best 8 [Tanaka vs. M.Suenaga] |
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Semi-Finals [Tanaka vs. Kumakubo] |
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Tanaka’s opponent in the best 8 round was Suenaga. Although Suenaga had closed in on Tanaka on the first run, his machine did not perform up to par in the rain. Swerving straight on the second run at the embankment, Suenaga performed numerous mistakes on the infield as well, handing the win to Tanaka. |
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Tanaka was matched up against his team mate Kumakubo in the semi-finals. Since Kumakubo’s championship title had been determined at this point due to Nomuken’s defeat in the race, the two Team Orange contenders battled it out with tears in their eyes. This emotional battle ended up with Tanaka taking the win for advancement. |
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| Nomuken is defeated at the semi-finals, breaching his championship title |
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Darren McNamara advances to the best 8 |
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Nomuken battles Kazama in the semi-finals. With a tie for the first run, Nomuken loses this match by lacking intensity and vehicle speed in the infield. This result determined Kumakubo’s championship title. |
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Piloting a turbo AE86, Darren McNamara from the D1 UK series battles Daigo Saito in the best 16 round. Darren drove flawlessly, taking down Saito to advance to the best 8. |
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| Best 8 [Nomuken vs. Darren McNamara] |
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Semi-Finals [Nomuken vs. Ueo] |
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Nomuken faced Darren McNamara in the best 8. Nomuken revealed that he found a line that increased his speed at the exit of the embankment, closing the gap between him and Darren at the hairpin. The second run was a tie, handing the win to Nomuken. |
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Nomura was matched up against Ueo in the AE86 in the semi-finals. Nomuken gets washed outwards after displaying an intense smoky drift at the embankment. Although Ueo slides outward of the line on the second run, Nomuken still took the win. |
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| Gittin defeated by the Malaysian AE86 |
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Rhys Millen’s new machine! |
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Tengku Djan, a Malaysian contender was matched up against last year’s exhibition winner Vaughn Gittin Jr at the best 16. Djan took advantage of the lightness of his AE86 to make up for the handicap at the embankment, closing in on Gittin at the hairpin turn. Djan advances to the best 8. |
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The US’s top drifter Rhys Millen premiered his new machine, the Pontiac Solstice. The machine was only 70% complete, putting up a great fright against Imamura. The machine proved to be smooth and nimble, warning the rest of the contenders what they will be up against next season. |
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| BEST 8 [Kawabata vs. Komoro] |
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Semi Finals [Kawabata vs. Yoshioka] |
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The best 8 match was against Komoro in the AE86. Komoro kept up well and even managed to close in on Kawabata. However, his machine became off track during the chase, giving the advantage to his opponent. The second run ends up in a tie, and Kawabata receives the win as the advantage gained on the first run. |
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The track conditions had shifted from dry to wet at this stage. Kawabata and Yoshioka both end up spinning out on the first run. Yoshioka spins out again on the second run, handing the win to Kawabata. |
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| A spin decides the battle of the orange |
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Tezuka overpowers some of the best contenders! |
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Kumakubo managed to be matched up against his team mate Tanaka in the best 16 match. Although they displayed some spectacular tsuiso racing, Tanaka ends up nudging Kumakubo sending both of the cars into a spin. Therefore the judges were in favor for Kumakubo advancing to the next stage. |
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Tezuka remained to be on fire in both the solo and tsuiso runs. Defeating Nomuken, Kazama in the best 8, and Kumakubo in the semi finals, he resulted in defeating the top ranked contenders consecutively. He moves on to the finals for the first time this year. |
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In the Best 8 round, Hiraoka faces Kawabata. The first run, Hiraoka leads and Kawabata veers in too forward, forcing his machine to swerve back. Kawabata had won the next run, but his mistake earlier costs him the match. |
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Hiraoka faced Hibino in the semi-finals. On the first shot, Hibino swerves back straight at the S turn after the judging stands. Hiraoka takes the advantage into the second run and wins this battle since Hibino’s first run mistake was too obvious. |
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| Kumakubo forfeits early? |
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Kazama defeated by a spinout |
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Kumakubo claimed that he was struggling to grasp the techniques of this track, as he failed to make it past the solo round. He had grasped the techniques of this track however, lacked speed. Kumakubo drops down in the overall point ranking. |
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Kazama had faced Hiraoka in the best 16 match where he exhibited great velocity at times leaving Hiraoka behind. Kazama chased Hiraoka right behind the S15’s tail. However mistaken by Hiraoka’s moves, Kazama ends up spinning. Nomuken now ranks above the mighty Kazama in the point series. |
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Mizuhata, who scored a perfect 100 points during his solo run was matched up against Kumakubo in the best 16. Kumakubo claimed that he has been carefully studying Mizuhata's moves and won the battle by moving in on his opponent. The rest was history after he managed to follow the lead car very closely, pushing him up to best 8. |
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The best 8 match was against his team
mate Tanaka. On the first run, Tanaka stuck to Kumakubo's side sliding their
way across the track. However, Tanaka could not keep his steering countered at
the 3rd turn. The second run being a tie, Kumakubo won this battle. |
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| Hiraoka shows his strength at Ebisu |
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The winner emerges after 10 runs |
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With smoothness and perfection, Hiraoka proceeded to the semi finals after defeating M. Suenaga. At the end, Hiraoka ended up understeering while experiencing engine difficulties being defeated by Nomuken. However, he managed to place 3rd. |
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Kawabata vs. Tezuka match during the best 8 tournament consisted of both contenders crashing and spinning. Unable to determine the victor after 4 sudden death rounds, Tezuka made a mistake handing the win to Kawabata. |
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Nomuken was matched up against the Kagoshima Kyushu native Suenaga in the best 8. Both displayed a tie game on the first run, with Nomura at chase. During Suenaga's chase run, Nomuken displayed a huge drift angle swinging his tail before Suenaga can even react. Suenaga failed to keep up with his opponent's exuberant style. |
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Ueo jumped up to the semi finalist position against Nomura. When Ueo was in the lead position, his left rear tire fell off course, colliding with Nomura's left side. Ueo retired, unable to proceed to the next run, handing the victory to Nomuken. |
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Kumakubo's tsuiso skill
can outrun any veteran racer |
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The promising hero Yoshioka
defeated by Kazama |
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During the Kazama vs. Kumakubo battle in the semi finals, both contenders displayed some intense drifting action. However, both had small mistakes, taking them into sudden death overtime.On the first sudden death run, Kazama's lines became distorted and on the second run Kumakubo managed to keep up behind Kazama's tail. Kumakubo advances to the next stage. |
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Although Yoshioka remained fully confident at this course, he was thoroughly defeated by his foe. After following Kazama who put on a great angle on the first run, Yoshioka ends up colliding. Losing his posture, Kazama ends up advancing to the next battle. |
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In the semi-finals against Tanaka, both drivers performed no mistakes tying up the game. However in the sudden death match, Tanaka failed to keep up with Yoshioka's quick moves and understeers in the 1st turn. |
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Yoshioka was put up against Saito in the best 8 tournament. Both drivers displayed many flaws during the 1st and 2nd run, pushing them into overtime battle. Yoshioka displayed his quick speed during the sudden death tsuiso battle, leaving his opponent in the dust. |
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| Nomuken eats it! |
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The Hachiroku outruns Vaughn Gittin |
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Ken Nomura suffers a huge crash during the solo run portion of the race. The vehicle was unable to stop at the first turn after attempting to set the fastest entry speed. Nomuken was forced to retire at this point, disabling his involvement in the tsuiso battle. |
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Being the only American contender to make it to the best 8 round, Vaughn Gittin was put up against Komoro. Gittin shoots off course on the second tsuiso run after miscalculating the quick speed of Komoro's hachiroku. |
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The best 8 match consisted of Kazama and Oka-chan of Yashio Factory. Oka-chan suffered transmission trouble and was unable to keep up with his opponent's great speed and angle. Although Kazama had made an error while in pursuit, he advanced to the semi finals. |
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Matsuda, who had defeated two UK locals, had risen up to the semi finals to battle Kazama. Matsuda made a mistake of taking the outer line in the first run chasing Kazama. Kazama was hot on Matsuda's tail on the second run, exhibiting a near perfect run. |
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| Japanese AE86 vs. UK AE86! |
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Ueno loses to the sluggish Vlasblom |
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McNamara, who is labeled UK's top drifter, was matched up against Matsuda. However, Matsuda was evidently quicker on the turns. Although Matsuda had several mistakes, he passes up McNamara to take the victory. |
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The difference of speed between Ueno and Vlasblom was immensely obvious. Ueno left Vlasblom in the dust when in lead, however makes a huge mistake while chasing his opponent. Trying to adjust to the sluggish BMW, Ueno stalls to hand the win to Vlasblom. |
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Kazama chased Kawabata very closely to the last mark in the best 8 match. Kawabata ended up pushing Kazama with both contenders spinning out in the second run. Because of this Kazama was given the win. |
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The semifinal match was against Sakuma. Sakuma had the higher speed but ended up spinning out on the first run. On the second run, Kazama secured his advancement to the next stage with a conservative and stable driving style. |
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| Kumakubo Suffers Machine Trouble |
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Imamura's first tsuiso battle in the Z |
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Kumakubo came to battle intending to take the victory. Matched up against Ueo at the best 8 round, he faced some bad luck. With a cracked manifold during practice, his vehicle was unable to produce any power to the ground. The win was handed to Ueo. |
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Imamura was matched up against the AE86 driver, Komoro in the best 16. Imamura took the inner line when chasing his opponent, lining up parallel coming out of the turn. This was Imamura's first tsuiso win since switching to the Z. |
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Battling Tokita in the quarter finals Nomuken made a slight mistake during the second run. Regardless, he managed to win after Tokita swerved straight. |
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Nomura was put up against Yoshioka in the semi finals. Although Yoshioka's speed was higher at the Irwindale track, this time Nomura was above his opponent. |
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| The Orange Guys Go Head to Head |
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Kuroi Shows Suenaga His Power |
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Naoto Suenaga had joined Team Orange with his new GC Impreza and was matched up against his team mate Kumakubo. Kumakubo won due to Suenaga's mistake during the first run. |
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Despite his engine beginning to lose compression, Suenaga had managed to make it to the semi finals. But there, Kuroi with the powerful Onevia equipped RB sped off to take the win. |
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Although Nomuken closed in on Kazama at the hairpin during the best 8 competition, Kazama stuck with his opponent from the bank all the way to the end to gain this victory. |
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During the semi finals, Tanaka had panicked and entered the turn with too much speed. This resulted in Tanaka sliding outside the line to hand the win over to Kazama. |
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| The Top American This Day was Sam Hubinette |
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The Young Shuichi Yoshioka Crashes! |
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Hubinette in the Dodge Viper was matched up against Gittin in the Ford Mustang for a heavyweight battle. Gittin claimed "Although I believe I had no big mistakes, it was enjoyable to battle Sam in a high speed rough fight". |
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Although S.Yoshioka performed brilliantly on the solo round, he crashes into Sakuma during the chase round. Feeling the pressure, he was disqualified after pushing his opponent. Later he stated ÏI will not make the same mistake next time. |
