Drift Tengoku — October 2003

About this issue

English draft translations are available throughout this issue. Unclear or unreadable OCR remains flagged; these drafts have not received full image proofreading. The archive retains 310 scan files, including two duplicate captures, representing 308 unique pages.

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Page 10 · English draft

Draft translation. Unclear OCR remains flagged; full image proofreading has not been performed.

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1. Promising Newcomers is one of Drift Tengoku’s most popular columns. Iwai, who attracted attention there with the unusual KP61, entered the student championship. He keenly felt the crowd’s attitude of “Let’s see if he really is that good,” which put him under enormous pressure. He overcame it to win. While others said “Of course” and “Just as expected,” his first thought was simply relief: “Thank goodness.”
2. [Unclear: isolated heading character.]
3. [Unclear: isolated heading character.]
4. …promising new… [heading fragment]
5. …shows his ability. [Heading fragment; OCR partly unclear.]
6. [Unclear: isolated logo fragment.]
7. …Iwai Dojo. [First name/characters unclear.]
8. Above all, I’m relieved that I won!
9. [Unclear: isolated character.]
10. TRD
11. TRD
12. Prize
13. Prize
14. Tire Town … [shop-name suffix unclear]
15. NEOVA
16. Kasama Auto Service — ¥30,000 in gift certificates.
17. Winner: 岩井照宜 (Iwai; given-name reading unverified)
18. Hiroshima Prefectural Hiroshima Advanced Technical School
19. Age 25
20. A newcomer who worked hard to avoid becoming a “hopeless newcomer”: what began as simple fun had turned into pressure! Looking back on the contest, Iwai said, “Once I started thinking everyone would expect me to win, and that if I lost they'd call me useless, I got incredibly nervous.” His friends told him, “A featured newcomer can't drive badly,” and “Go out there and show them the difference in skill.” He had only planned to enter because it looked fun, but the pressure kept growing. At the venue, other competitors told him, “I saw you in the magazine!” That drove his feelings to a peak: “It seemed like everyone was looking at me. I didn't want to drive anymore.” But once judging began, he showed his class: he topped qualifying with 27 out of 30 points, then topped the first round with 25 points. Another 25-point run in round two put him safely through in third place. Iwai recalled, “My lines were tight, and I didn't feel like I was driving that well,” but he also felt confident that this level of driving would take him a reasonable distance through the competition. [Some slang and OCR wording require source review.]
21. Born January 20, 1978; age 25. An aspiring bodywork technician studying welding at a technical training school. He belongs to the prominent Hiroshima team Neo Force and appeared in September’s Promising Newcomers. He has achieved good results at various events, but this was his first major competition in this KP61. His monthly car spending is reportedly just ¥5,000 for fuel.
22. Profile
23. He had worked out what the judges would prioritize. In contests judged by Bihoku experts, the emphasis is on how close you can get to the wall while maintaining angle. When the judges aren't Bihoku experts, they tend to prioritize speed and angle over proximity to the wall. He also thought that, since this was a student championship, judging probably wouldn't be quite so strict. That let him drive somewhat more relaxed. He advanced to the final tournament and kept his driving unchanged, tracing the same line every time. Apart from a spin during the morning's first free practice, he made no major mistakes, which probably helped the judges view him as very consistent. His final opponent was Nakanishi in a Skyline with a naturally aspirated RB25, one of the drivers he'd been watching since qualifying. The first tandem run began with Iwai leading. Down the straight… [Continues on the next page.]
24. Western Japan event
25. 8
26. The promising newcomer shows what he is really capable of!