Round 4 of the Federal Tyres King of Nations series and Round 3 of the Federal Tyres King of Asia series took place at quite possibly the most famous drift track in the world - Ebisu Circuit of Fukushima, Japan.
Drivers once again travelled from around the World to participate in the series, coming from France, USA, Kuwait, Brazil and beyond. They would be given the opportunity to not just take on Ebisu, but also to face the legendary drivers Japan has to offer, such as Daigo Saito and Naoki Nakamura.
There’s no doubt that Ebisu is best known for its legendary blind jump, immediately followed by a solid concrete wall which would be ready to deal out the harshest of punishments for those drivers who failed to navigate it correctly.
The area of Fukushima Prefecture in which Ebisu resides is also known for what locals refer to as ‘Ebisu weather’, which regularly features all four seasons in just one day. Luckily, throughout practice and qualifying on the Saturday it was mostly intense summer weather which provided the drivers with consistency to perfect their driving skills on the track.
After qualifying it was clear that the level of talent amongst the drivers was incredibly high, with nobody falling victim to the wall by the end of the day. After taking time to assess his opponents, Naoki Nakamura took the final qualifying run and also the opportunity to stun the crowd with his legendary driving style. After leaving just inches between the car and the wall before nailing the rest of the circuit, it left no doubt that he would deservedly take the top position with 97.12 points.
Also carrying out a stunning run would be Daigo Saito, who had been on incredible form throughout the day. After approaching the wall at 131km/h to win the highest attack speed, his overall total points of 90.00 would hand him 2nd place.
Ebisu regular Andrew Gray would also impress, taking 3rd with 88.01 points. Emmanuel Amandio would make his third appearance in the series, after starting with 300bhp in Malaysia to 1000bhp this time round, achieving 4th place. Series leader Michael Prosenik would take 5th place, earning him valuable points in his quest for the title.
Despite the good weather throughout the Saturday, drivers were immediately confronted by the start of “Ebisu weather” as they left the briefing room. This had left the track extremely wet and completely changing the conditions which they had adapted to during qualifying day.
With no signs of the rain stopping, drivers refused to let it dampen their spirits as they cautiously entered the track to begin the morning practice. Despite proceeding with caution, it wasn’t long before they were back to form and finding their boundaries - and sometimes going beyond, on the new surface.
The weather continued as the battles got underway, Brazilian driver Jonathan Neves would face Shinji Minowa in the Top 32. After an unfortunate zero on both runs for Neves, it would see Shinji progress to the Top 16.
Australian Luke Fink would go up against New Zealander Jodie Verhulst in her first round of the competition. After an initial scoring of 6-4 to Jodie, and a 5-5 tie in the second run, it would mean an early exit for Luke Fink in the competition. He’ll undoubtedly be looking to make amends next weekend at Nikko Circuit where he shall be returning to a car he knows extremely well - the Low Brain PS13.
French driver Nicolas Delorme faced Amirul Nordin, which went to a one-more-time battle. In the one-more-time, Delorme had a 7-3 advantage and in the second run Amirul unfortunately spun which was followed by an unavoidable collision between the drivers.
Naoki Nakamura had his first battle in the Top 16 and despite winning his lead run 6-4, he went in too hard on his chase run which sent him crashing into the wall, followed by a straighten - which allowed Nicolas Wilson to progress to the Top 8.
Jodie Velhulst would face Shinji Minowa in her Top 16 battle and with an unfortunate small mistake she would allow Minowa to advance with a 7-3, 6-4 scoreline.
Series leader Michael Prosenik would face American driver Kenny Siekert - with mistakes from Siekert, it would allow Prosenik to advance to the Top 8.
Andrew Gray would face Nicolas Delorme, but after a broken strut from his earlier collision with Amirul Nordin, Delorme was unable to make it to the start-line.
Yoshitatsu Kaneda faced Benjamin William, but due to excessive distance and contact from William to his opponent, it would be Kaneda who advanced.
Daigo Saito faced New Zealander Drew Donovan - after an initial scoring of 7-3 in Saito’s favour, in the second run Drew Donovan appeared to suffer a gearbox issue which allowed Saito to collect all 10 points.
As the driving got increasingly intense, Nicholas Wilson and Shinji Minowa went up against each other in the first Top 8 battle. With the first run too close to call, a 5-5 scoring was given. In the second run it would be Minowa who would impress the judges the most to edge past with 6-4 to progress to the Top 4.
Next up, two drivers who had been on incredible form throughout the weekend - Emmanuel Amandio against series leader Michael Prosenik. After two runs it was too close to call, with a 5-5, 5-5 scoring it would go to a one-more-time. Amandio eventually edged past with a 6-4 score, followed by another 5-5 in what was undoubtedly the closest battle of the event so far.
As Andrew Gray went up against Yoshitatsu Kaneda, it would be a 6-4, 6-4 score in Andrew Gray’s favour which would allow him to progress to the Top 4.
Saito would go up against Kouji Tokusa, whilst chasing Tokusa hit the wall too hard whilst trying to keep up with Saito’s incredible pace, giving Saito a 10-0 in the initial run. After failing to fix his car within the required time, Tokusa would be forced to retire from the competition.
In the Top 4 battles - which would consist entirely of Toyota JZX’s, Shinji Minowa faced Amandio. Minowa went in as hard as he could in the chase run, which meant that a slight collision left Minowa with steam pouring out of his bonnet. With the scoring at 7-3 in Amandio’s favour, and after failing to repair the car within the required time, Minowa would have to hand the win to Amandio.
After an initial 6-4 scoring in Daigo Saitos’ favour on the first run, Andrew Gray would unfortunately retire from the competition, handing Saito his spot in the final.
With the retirement of Andrew Gray, and with his earlier issue repaired, Shinji Minowa was handed 3rd place on the podium - having showing fantastic consistency and hard driving throughout the weekend.
As we headed to the final, and with the sun making its first appearance of the day, Daigo Saito would face Emmanuel Amandio. After an extremely intense first battle with Saito as the lead driver, the scoring would be 5.5-4.5 in Saito’s favour. On the chase run, Saito pushed as hard as he possibly could, which unfortunately resulted in a slight collision which left Saito in the tyre wall.
It would be Emmanuel Amandio who would take his first win of the 2016 season at an incredible event which had seen drivers push the limits further than ever at the amazing Ebisu Circuit.
Next up this weekend we return to Nikko Circuit, where we have Round 5 of the Federal Tyres King of Nations series, and we also conclude the Federal Tyres King of Asia series. With double points up for grabs in the King of Asia series, it’s undoubtedly going to be an incredible round!
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