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Strong rivals are waiting on stage of Tsukuba.
To win this battle one must stay ahead of Tsuchiya for 5 laps.
But Tsuchiya's machine has a few advantages.
"hot version evolution" nicknamed RX7 has got some goodies under hood from Knight Sports.
Tuning cost approx. 700 thousand yen.
It lapped Tsukuba in 1 minute 7 second range.
With the same FR layout as the RX7, the Supra is driven by Katsura Shinichi.
GTO by Okada Hideki
With great power, torque and acceleration, it's a super performing 4WD machine.
Spoon Integra R is driven by Oi Takeshi.
It's a FF car worthy of lining up with today’s rivals.
The engine has got +15Hp.
The weight is reduced by 10kg thanks to a carbon bonnet.
The next, Orinzu GT-R is driven by Nakaya Akihiko.
The engine is normal.
Though the only weak point is overheating of oil, which was cured by adding auxiliary oil cooler.
Tsuchiya's RX7 is gonna hunt the rivals lined up in front.
I'll get them all.
Start!
Nakaya's GTR with a rocket start goes in the lead, Okada's GTO is second.
The first Tsuchiya's target is Oi's Integra.
I'm gonna be the first turtle.
Driving layout, power, etc. is different with these two
cars, so let's see how is going Tsuchiya's strategy work.
Oi's Integra is blocked by Okada's GTO.
That's a chance!
I'll jump to inside lane.
It's a lane where an FF car can't fully step on the gas.
I'm being stabbed from inside.
Damn!
Oh, Inte R is fast!
He's coming.
I can overtake GTO with braking.
Going out of slip stream and braking lately.
With stolen Inner lane, Okada's GTO is very unstable on outside dirty lane.
He's fast but heavy, I'm going forward with late braking.
Using the chance in first lap, Tsuchiya's RX7 overtakes two cars at once.
The gap to Katsura's Supra is 1.21 second.
I'm fighting for the 4th place.
As an FR sports car, Supra has the same potential as RX7.
But the RX7 advantage is in lighter chassis.
Last moment braking and Dunlop's lane change is the battle changer.
Where do I overtake you?
I can close the gap with late braking and accelerate with full throttle sooner.
The gap is widening now.
Supra is fast too!
Let's challenge it with braking.
Right, he's understeering.
Using the Katsura's mistake, Tsuchiya lines up with Supra.
Such braking causes cars nose to dive too much, thus upsetting the car balance.
In such situations, balance is lost.
Pushing and keeping the inside lane makes the other car prone to mistakes.
I'm closing in on GT-R.
His brakes are probably fading.
Because of that, I'll definitely challenge him with late braking.
So where am I gonna challenge him...
Traction of 4WD car is supposed to be good. I could
suppress him in infield section using traction advantage.
It doesn't mean this car is better though.
Taking the inner lane will avoid any attack from inside.
The gap to Nakaya's GTR is 1.1 second.
GTR is boasting the same quickness as RX7.
Nakaya has extensive knowledge about GTR's potential
and uses skilful blocking techniques. It's
not easy to overtake him. Tsuchiya marks another
fast lap time and tries hunting the GTR down.
But tire wear causes the car oversteer more frequently.
He's driving beautifully, damn!
The gap after braking gets again wider.
It's hard.
It's a final lap. The gap is 0.49 second.
He's at Nakaya's GTR tail at last.
GTR is equipped oil cooler, overheating is not to be expected.
7's quickness comes to shine in infield section. Attacking here is the only winning chance.
I can suppress him easily here.
It's hard.
Infield attack is impossible.
Tsuchiya changes strategy.
He plans to attack at last corner!
He comes inside with braking.
Here he comes.
Staying inside with all 4 wheels will suppress him.
He's getting away,
getting away, away.
I'm not letting him use slip streaming.
How frustrating!
It's the checkered flag!
After all he couldn't overtake Nakaya's GTR, losing with just a little step.