Drift Tengoku — October 2013

This is the Silvia that placed seventh in last year’s East Japan Gakudori. The idea was “win without spending money,” so it ran a basic setup with just the Bancho knuckles. The rest was a mix of everyday odds and ends, plus mountain-road scars—maximum silliness and character. The trophy and flag were passed to Ito, another S14 driver, who entered Gakudori this year.

Ryo Kato was born April 5, 1991, and lives in Nagoya, Aichi. This April, current students and alumni of Chubu Nippon formed a team called “RIBERTY,” and he seems to be its leader. He first entered Gakudori in 2011 and went all out to pursue the spirit of the event with his S14—complete with a homemade aero body kit and a flag mount. Next year, he aims to enter regional competitions in his Gakudori-style car and win. He also holds beginner-friendly track days twice a year at YZ East under the name “Kato-ryo Run,” with another planned for winter.

I have to say, there were some unbelievable juniors: Esaki Yoshiya came to Nikko with a torn transmission mount and a gearbox wobbling around; Ito Daiki tried to take a car onto the circuit without properly securing the intercooler; and Junya Kamiya, who had driven with us all along, ended up becoming a better driver than me. They were a completely unpredictable bunch, but they delivered right at the end! Chubu Nippon finally made the podium. Maybe now we can become a school people recognize by name, like Daido University.

BLACKMARK

The story of a life devoted to drifting

Congratulations to everyone in the Chubu Nippon Racing Club on your team championship! I hope more “crazy fools” show up for Gakudori! —Ryo Kato, alumnus of the Chubu Nippon Automotive College Racing Club

I came to this year’s Gakudori to cheer on my juniors. When one of them won, I congratulated him as a fellow Gakudori 2012 competitor.

A lot of people do not put their foot down and give up right away. They are so focused on not damaging their cars that it really stood out to me—it did not feel like Gakudori.

So I told my juniors, “It is okay to make mistakes—just…

I told them, “Go flat-out!” but only two of the five made it through qualifying. I wondered if the ones who did not qualify had failed because of me, but I would rather see that than timid driving…

At Gakudori 2012, I was showing off my red-and-black S14 with its flag…

Instead of spending money on a full repaint, I would rather spend it going to the mountains or the circuit…

…that is what I thought!

If it were a contest for roughness and beat-up cars, Kato-ryo should have won! I was seventh in the East Japan event, so I hope someone remembers me.

Use that enthusiasm as fuel to drive and help everyone make the drift scene bigger! Am I the only one who wants to see more student drifters, with lots of ridiculous cars—cardboard aero and all—showing up?

Tire marks left on the doors would make it feel like a real team-drift event!

You can win Gakudori even with a rough, stock car!

What I thought when I went to watch Gakudori as an alumnus was…

I just want to be a student again! I wanted to drive so badly; I was restless and irritated watching everyone else on track, getting excited all by myself—and then it was over.

…and prove it to everyone. Last year I lost easily to him…

The Chubu Nippon Racing Club also makes occasional appearances in the Suzuka Clubman races with an EG6.

High-school students who really want to drift,

If you are enrolled at Chubu Nippon, come drive with us! There are so few people who drive that next year we may not even have enough to enter a team. We really need you!

The racing club is not officially recognized by the school, I think. Since the team won Gakudori this year, I hope drifting can also receive full official recognition.

From my point of view, the cars are cleaned up and making plenty of power, but they are hardly accelerating…

Even though the car made impressive power, it barely accelerated…

…you know!

Wow, winning the team championship is something to celebrate!

Team competition

When I heard there would be a team competition at Gakudori…

…I wondered how many cars would be written off. I was sure someone from Chubu Nippon would total a car, but somehow they drove cleanly. Honestly, I was glad, though it felt like something was missing. If you enter a team event, you have to make contact and crash a little…

Drift Tengoku — October 2013

About this issue

Page 17 — English draft translation