Ebisu Circuit was an absolute blast !

I left my house at 4pm on saturday and headed out to Hasuda SA on Tohoku expressway to meet up with Tom (Mazda Roadster), Derek (Mitsubishi Evo X) and Derek's mate James (Alfa Romeo). I arrived there a bit early so I took the opportunity to play with my newly acquired Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 which I later on used to record videos of the event both inside and outside of the car.

When the rest of the crew arrived we got back onto the highway and drove some 240kms north towards Nihonmatsu I.C. We arrived there around 9pm and immediately refuelled our cars at a local ENEOS station hoping to save some money from an otherwise much more expensive petrol station at the circuit.

The 4 of us patiently waiting our turns !



We stayed in a very old japanese pension hotel which wasn't too bad for the price we paid and despite a spooky water tap I actually got a good night's sleep! They even made poached eggs for us in the morning which I thought was a bonus in such a remote area !

We left the hotel at 7:30am and drove down to the circuit. The entrance was nothing I had imagined. We had to drive through a ZOO (or Safari park I believe they call it) and I remember hearing lions and wolves on either side of my car as I was trying to find my way to the circuit ! It was a weird experience !

When i finally arrived at the circuit I knew this was going to be a great day !

We quickly grabbed a pit area each and started setting up our cars !

Here is my DC5 all prepped with its race numbers and a GPS receiver.







Shortly after we were called in for a driver's briefing to be reminded of the rules, flags and circuit conditions as it was looking like a rainy and wet day all around !

Here we are in the briefing room (you can see a drawing of the circuit in the background there)



So we had 5 x 25min sessions to look forward to !

The entire track day consisted of 3 classes (A, B and C) each with some 20 cars.
I was enlisted in class C based on my experience level and my car's power/weight ratio.

The 1st session was actually quite ok. It started by all group C cars following a pace car for 2 laps at medium speed learning the track, sussing out the corners and surface conditions. I must say I was very anxious to get going and as soon as the pace car peeled off I was off !

The track was quite technical (at least for me and in comparison to Fuji Speedway). There is a very tricky and fast chicane (which haunted me for 2 sessions actually), 2 nice hairpins (one of which was on a down slope which I quite liked), a very fast (and car unsettling if you don't time it right) right hand flick after the 2nd hairpin and of course the start of the main straight which is on an incline and you have no idea what's beyond it until you hit the top! Add to that pouring rain and slippery conditions and you have a lot on your hands ! But I enjoyed it thoroughly and it showed in my lap times throughout those 5 sessions !

My results were as follows :

Session 1: Running Cars - 15 : Best Lap - 1'17''607 : Position - 3rd
Session 2: Running Cars - 16 : Best Lap - 1'13''806 : Position - 5th
Session 3: Running Cars - 16 : Best Lap - 1'16''583 : Position - 1st
Session 4: Running Cars - 16 : Best Lap - 1'15''816 : Position - 4th
Session 5: Running Cars - 16 : Best Lap - 1'13''139 : Position - 3rd

I was especially happy with those results because besides another Integra DC2 in my class there were also many much faster EVOs which I somehow managed to stay on top of !

Here is a photo of me taking the 2nd hairpin head on !



I like the track and I hope to get back there again ! If only it wasn't so damn far away !!

Here is an High Definition video I created showing bits and pieces of my day !



Oh and before I forget ! Tom took me for a ride in his Roadster in one of his sessions which was an interesting experience ! More so because I could experience his way of driving and picked up a couple of useful pointers. So much so that when it was my turn in my session I was immediately able to shave off a couple of seconds simply by applying what i'd learnt as a passenger in his car !!

When the day was all done I was exhausted ! Tom and I took a few snaps of ours cars in front of the Safari Park (which you can find on his blog) and we drove down to the nearest Denny's to get some food before a loooong drive back to Tokyo !

On our way back it was pouring rain and I guess it must have been those Kiwi Juices I drank at Denny's which almost burst my bladder and resulted in me pulling aside on a busy highway and in a literal downpour taking a leak which seemed to take foreeeever !!

One more thing I want to mention ! I got home, opened my boot and took out some stuff, then without thinking got back in to reverse into my bay and BANG ! I smashed the spoiler against the ceiling of the bay and ripped it right off of the boot. Stupid !

Here is a photo showing my car without its spoiler that same day



So what's next ? Well I hope Derek organises yet another day like that soon ! But in the meantime more Fuji Speedway for me and Tsukuba 2000 awaits !

Till then ! Safe driving !