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The annual pilgrimage to Tsukuba Circuit for Hachiroku Pageant is a should for any AE86 fanatic. Final 12 months’s occasion, held on Christmas Day, was proof of that with one of many largest turnouts ever seen for the event.
Greater than 300 AE86s from throughout Japan descended on Tsukuba, with some followers coming from as distant as Kyushu – essentially the most southerly of the nation’s 4 largest islands – to be part of it.
With one-make occasions like these, there isn’t a scarcity of selection in fashion and builds. On the Hachiroku Pageant, that meant every little thing from purpose-built drift and time assault vehicles to low-kilometre, factory-spec panda Truenos that not often see the solar.
Certainly one of my favorite issues about Tsukuba Circuit is the placement of its pits. Positioned proper within the centre of the principle course, you’re surrounded by motion, which makes for an ideal ambiance.
With no storage doorways, taped-off areas or unique zones, the Tsukuba paddock is ideal for capturing every little thing that goes on all through the day. And there was a lot to see on the Hachiroku Pageant.
A lot of Japan’s best-known Hachiroku speciality outlets have sturdy presence on the competition. Tec-Artwork’s introduced out a fleet of AE86s, together with their well-known drift vehicles in addition to certainly one of my favourites – their metallic inexperienced time assault Trueno.
The day was cut up into a number of monitor periods, with a mixture of drift and time assault. The drifting is in fact a spotlight, and among the finest do it in AE86s they’ve owned for 25+ years.
Nevertheless, there’s something significantly particular about among the N2 time assault vehicles, a handful of which run sub-one-minute laps. For these not conversant in Tsukuba TC2000 lap occasions, that’s sooner than a McLaren Senna across the 2.0km course.
Seeing Tetsuya Hibino out in his unique D1 Grand Prix automobile was one other large point of interest of the day. Watching Hibino-san get on the doorways of different drift Hachis by T1 at Tsukuba confirmed simply how good this ’80s chassis may be.
Hiroshi Takahashi, AKA Kaicho, returned together with his now-repaired Working Free AE86, a powerful turnaround since his disagreement with a guard rail again in November. In typical Kaicho style, he was utilizing the whole lot of the tarmac, showering spectators with filth on the hairpin.
In a really related inexperienced to Tec-Artwork’s N2 AE86, Kojima-san’s 20V Trueno was additionally out for the day. This was simply one of many tidiest drift vehicles on the competition.
It’s unattainable to play favourites at an occasion like this, nevertheless, there’s something so timeless about this street-inspired Hachiroku. 13-inch wheels generally is a controversial matter within the AE86 world, however this automobile does the look justice.
Regardless of the numerous variety of AE86s which have been exported the world over, occasions like the Hachiroku Pageant are a reminder that the eight-six scene continues to be very a lot alive in Japan.
As an proprietor of an AE86 again in Australia, I couldn’t assist however be impressed to empty my pockets and spend eye-watering quantities of cash on my automobile. I’m positive I wasn’t the one one, both.
The countdown is now on for the 2023 Hachiroku Pageant, however till then you may test a lot extra images under, plus a video I shot on the day above.
Alex Pender
Instagram: noplansco
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