Rotary Racer - Final Chapter (for now, anyway) added 26/1/10
- Thread starter DK
- 37 comments
- 7,889 views
- 801
- Chance2012
Nice chapter here.
Hopefully, the next chapter Underdog won't come close to the kid's movie.
Hopefully, the next chapter Underdog won't come close to the kid's movie.
- 13,878
- Ireland
- driftking18594
- CiaranGTR94
Chapter 12 - Underdog
-----------------------------------
There it was. The new Fuji. Dad had my RX-7 at the track already. My RX-7 was ready for a fight. So was I. Some tuning had brought the RX-7 to somewhere around 490hp.
There was the grid. I noticed a red light on my dashboard.
- "Dad, what's that flashing red light?"
- "That's to show you have traction control turned on. I don't want valuable seconds lost to wheelspin."
Then, staring me in the face was - Takeshi Suzuki.
Takeshi - "So, I heard about you. I've heard of fathers fighting their kids' battles for them, but this reversal...is laughable."
- "You know what they say...pride goes before the fall."
- "Where did you learn that?"
- "My friend, Marcus."
- "Ah..."
I hopped into my waiting RX-7. My car was ready. I watched the lights go out. Then, it began. The biggest race of my life...yet.
I had passed out one of the Supras easily. But it wasn't Takeshi.
I then passed Midori Suzuki, one of the world's top female racers, as well as being Takeshi's sister.
Then, I passed Takeshi.
Takeshi - "🤬!"
I was chasing down the Skyline.
- "He must be a better driver than these guys."
He was obviously better than my other opponents.
But, at Dunlop, I passed him!
A little kick of the tail at Panasonic...
I had a little issue with braking at First. Well, it was my fault really as I braked too late.
Nothing else happened for a few laps except a brief lapse in concentration before Panasonic, where I ran wide.
But on the final lap...
- "No! I knew he couldn't last 6 laps!"
...Dad's fears were realised.
Some defensive driving was needed. I tried to keep the Skyline behind just long enough to win.
- "Yes!"
Skyline driver - "Well, look who came first."
But then...
- "🤬!"
...a combination of low grip, understeer and just plain lack of concentration sent my car across the gravel.
- "No!"
- "No!"
I had crashed. The engine couldn't deal with the extreme deceleration. My birthday present, a race-ready RX-7, was gone.
----------------------------------------------
Don't miss: Chapter 13 - Replacement!
----------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------
There it was. The new Fuji. Dad had my RX-7 at the track already. My RX-7 was ready for a fight. So was I. Some tuning had brought the RX-7 to somewhere around 490hp.
There was the grid. I noticed a red light on my dashboard.
- "Dad, what's that flashing red light?"
- "That's to show you have traction control turned on. I don't want valuable seconds lost to wheelspin."
Then, staring me in the face was - Takeshi Suzuki.
Takeshi - "So, I heard about you. I've heard of fathers fighting their kids' battles for them, but this reversal...is laughable."
- "You know what they say...pride goes before the fall."
- "Where did you learn that?"
- "My friend, Marcus."
- "Ah..."
I hopped into my waiting RX-7. My car was ready. I watched the lights go out. Then, it began. The biggest race of my life...yet.
I had passed out one of the Supras easily. But it wasn't Takeshi.
I then passed Midori Suzuki, one of the world's top female racers, as well as being Takeshi's sister.
Then, I passed Takeshi.
Takeshi - "🤬!"
I was chasing down the Skyline.
- "He must be a better driver than these guys."
He was obviously better than my other opponents.
But, at Dunlop, I passed him!
A little kick of the tail at Panasonic...
I had a little issue with braking at First. Well, it was my fault really as I braked too late.
Nothing else happened for a few laps except a brief lapse in concentration before Panasonic, where I ran wide.
But on the final lap...
- "No! I knew he couldn't last 6 laps!"
...Dad's fears were realised.
Some defensive driving was needed. I tried to keep the Skyline behind just long enough to win.
- "Yes!"
Skyline driver - "Well, look who came first."
But then...
- "🤬!"
...a combination of low grip, understeer and just plain lack of concentration sent my car across the gravel.
- "No!"
- "No!"
I had crashed. The engine couldn't deal with the extreme deceleration. My birthday present, a race-ready RX-7, was gone.
----------------------------------------------
Don't miss: Chapter 13 - Replacement!
----------------------------------------------
- 13,878
- Ireland
- driftking18594
- CiaranGTR94
Chapter 13 - Replacement
I was depressed. My dream car, a race-prepped FC3S, was gone. Sold as scrap for 3 million yen, to some guy who planned to repair it and use it for drifting. The hours crawled by, slowly. Hours became days, and my school called my mom about it. I knew I had really 🤬 up. Besides, my mom was told that I was missing "important lessons". Well, come on, you're not going to need algebra to be a race driver...are you? I was living off a 24-pack of Coke and two 225g bags of Doritos that I had under my bed. I was staring into space for hours. Finally, my parents offered me an ultimatum. Get out, or never race again. Well, I had a third option - jump out my window and hope someone threw out an old mattress at the very spot where I would land. Well, come on, I'm not suicidal. I got out of my room. Dad said,
- "Son, my friend...he has a replacement car for you."
- "No! Please, no more racing! Settle down! Get a normal job! You don't have to do this!"
- "Do what, Mom? Chase my dream?!"
- "Talk to him, Ryo. Talk him out of it!"
- "I don't want a desk job! I don't want to be Mr. No Fun!"
- "Keiko, this is what he wants. To race."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The following Saturday...
--------------------------------------------------------------------
- "Here we are, Grand Valley Speedway, owned by Nissan."
I saw the car I was meant to drive. A Nissan Skyline GT-R R32, in its Calsonic paint-job glory.
- "How's the car?"
- "Meh...haven't seen what it can do."
- "Argh...terrible understeer!"
- "Dad...I don't think it will work!"
Dad was holding out for some success from the GT-R. It was as obvious as someone writing "This is graffiti" on a wall.
The car was in its teens. For crying out loud, it was nearly my age!
- "Give it another lap!"
Then, at turn 2, I drifted!
At the Sato S (named after Dad, obviously), it was starting to get out of hand.
Great if your name was Keichii Tsuchiya, not great against JGTC cars...
- "🤬!"
I barely rescued it from the wall. In fact, I think I actually came into contact with it for a few fractions of a second.
Sure, as this photo taken at the Hunasuke S will prove, it was fun, but completely useless against modern JGTC cars.
I came in bitterly disappointed.
- "I thought...it could win."
Dad, despite having the patience of a Buddhist monk, was angry.
- "Jun'itsu! Anata wa watashi no kotei sa re ta burēki to itsu ta daro u!"(Junichi! You told me the brakes were fixed!)
I had a brainwave.
- "Dad, what about the RX-7?!"
- "Fain, jun'itsu no baai wa, RX-7no rēsu yō ni setto appu suru koto ga deki masu, anata no shigoto wo tsuzukeru."(Fine, Junichi, if you can set up the RX-7 for a race, you keep your job.)
Dad sent me out in the RX-7 the following morning.
- "Holy crap! No wheelspin!"
Sure, at the Hunasuke S, it went crazy, but that's because I braked too hard.
- "Wow, what a nice view."
This was no time to get distracted.
2nd time around the Hunasuke S, and no incidents.
- "I love this car!"
- "Such grip..."
The car was perfectly balanced. Well, to be honest, RX-7s are known to have a very even weight distribution.
But I almost hit the pit wall on my way back to the pits.
- "So, how's the car?"
- "Perfect!"
-------------------------------------------------
Don't miss Chapter 14 - A New Challenger
-------------------------------------------------
P.S. - I don't mean the muscle car.
I was depressed. My dream car, a race-prepped FC3S, was gone. Sold as scrap for 3 million yen, to some guy who planned to repair it and use it for drifting. The hours crawled by, slowly. Hours became days, and my school called my mom about it. I knew I had really 🤬 up. Besides, my mom was told that I was missing "important lessons". Well, come on, you're not going to need algebra to be a race driver...are you? I was living off a 24-pack of Coke and two 225g bags of Doritos that I had under my bed. I was staring into space for hours. Finally, my parents offered me an ultimatum. Get out, or never race again. Well, I had a third option - jump out my window and hope someone threw out an old mattress at the very spot where I would land. Well, come on, I'm not suicidal. I got out of my room. Dad said,
- "Son, my friend...he has a replacement car for you."
- "No! Please, no more racing! Settle down! Get a normal job! You don't have to do this!"
- "Do what, Mom? Chase my dream?!"
- "Talk to him, Ryo. Talk him out of it!"
- "I don't want a desk job! I don't want to be Mr. No Fun!"
- "Keiko, this is what he wants. To race."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The following Saturday...
--------------------------------------------------------------------
- "Here we are, Grand Valley Speedway, owned by Nissan."
I saw the car I was meant to drive. A Nissan Skyline GT-R R32, in its Calsonic paint-job glory.
- "How's the car?"
- "Meh...haven't seen what it can do."
- "Argh...terrible understeer!"
- "Dad...I don't think it will work!"
Dad was holding out for some success from the GT-R. It was as obvious as someone writing "This is graffiti" on a wall.
The car was in its teens. For crying out loud, it was nearly my age!
- "Give it another lap!"
Then, at turn 2, I drifted!
At the Sato S (named after Dad, obviously), it was starting to get out of hand.
Great if your name was Keichii Tsuchiya, not great against JGTC cars...
- "🤬!"
I barely rescued it from the wall. In fact, I think I actually came into contact with it for a few fractions of a second.
Sure, as this photo taken at the Hunasuke S will prove, it was fun, but completely useless against modern JGTC cars.
I came in bitterly disappointed.
- "I thought...it could win."
Dad, despite having the patience of a Buddhist monk, was angry.
- "Jun'itsu! Anata wa watashi no kotei sa re ta burēki to itsu ta daro u!"(Junichi! You told me the brakes were fixed!)
I had a brainwave.
- "Dad, what about the RX-7?!"
- "Fain, jun'itsu no baai wa, RX-7no rēsu yō ni setto appu suru koto ga deki masu, anata no shigoto wo tsuzukeru."(Fine, Junichi, if you can set up the RX-7 for a race, you keep your job.)
Dad sent me out in the RX-7 the following morning.
- "Holy crap! No wheelspin!"
Sure, at the Hunasuke S, it went crazy, but that's because I braked too hard.
- "Wow, what a nice view."
This was no time to get distracted.
2nd time around the Hunasuke S, and no incidents.
- "I love this car!"
- "Such grip..."
The car was perfectly balanced. Well, to be honest, RX-7s are known to have a very even weight distribution.
But I almost hit the pit wall on my way back to the pits.
- "So, how's the car?"
- "Perfect!"
-------------------------------------------------
Don't miss Chapter 14 - A New Challenger
-------------------------------------------------
P.S. - I don't mean the muscle car.
- 13,878
- Ireland
- driftking18594
- CiaranGTR94
Chapter 14 - A New Challenger
- "Oh...my...God..."
Dad was staying up late watching my technique.
- "These lap times..."
- "Dear, it's 11pm! I think the sound of your laptop is keeping Ryo up."
- "His technique...coupled with this car...I don't think JGTC cars would be much trouble."
- "Dear, you can come back to this in the morning."
- "I'm going to call some friends to organise a race, and they aren't JGTC drivers."
---------------------------------
6 days later...
---------------------------------
Driving to the R246...
- "Dad, why are we going to the R246? What's there to race against, it's probably a bunch of Drift King wannabes in Silvias and hachi-rokus.
- "No son, you are facing a much higher calibre of racing driver."
Dad rooted around. We were in some minor traffic, so it was no problem, seeing as we were crawling at around 25-30 km/h.
- "Holy 🤬! The Dream Car Championship!"
- "Yes, there's an exhibition race. 5 laps. 6 drivers. 8 races."
- "Am I in all of them?"
- "No. The 5 drivers you're up against are taking challenges from the public. Well, tuning companies and their test drivers really."
- "Cool."
We arrived at the track. Few independent tuners were there. I saw an HKS booth, a TOM'S booth, a RE Amemiya booth and a Mine's booth. All were showcasing their machines, from the famous Mine's Skyline GT-R R34 V-Spec N1 to the not-so-famous RE Amemiya triple rotary RX-7, and everything in between from the aforementioned tuners.
After watching the first few races, I heard my name being called out on the P.A. system. I drove my RX-7 to my assigned spot on the grid - 6th. Crap.
- "🤬, a Jaguar XJ-220?"
Yes, I knew what was 2nd on the grid. I'm not stupid. What was first worried me. A Nissan 350Z LM racing car. Driven by Keichiiro Watanabe, Nissan's test driver for the Dream Car Championship.
Announcer - "GO!!!"
My car was left in last at the start...
...for a few seconds.
- "Yes! 2 down, 3 to go!"
Subaru driver - "Damn!"
At Mazda curve, I dived down the inside of a racing version of what was the world's fastest car.
XJ220 driver - "What the 🤬!?"
The car's hard springs showed an ugly side, by almost trying to flip me over.
At Meiji Kinekan I went for it. I dived down the inside of Watanabe.
Watanabe - "What the...how the...can...that happen?"
He was stuck for words.
- "Bah! Cheat!"
As for speed, that extra power gave Watanabe an advantage. I knew that the corners would be my territory.
Watanabe - "How is he so fast in the corners?"
My lead allowed me to take a quick glance in my rear-view mirror.
Let's fast forward a few laps. My tires were degrading ever so slightly. But I still have a lead.
- "Wait...he's catching me! 🤬!"
At Memorial Corner, my car decided it belonged to a certain Mr. Tsuchiya for a few seconds.
Another quick glance in the mirror...
- "He can't catch me! No way!"
But by the finish line, I was told I had won by 0.6 seconds. I still won, though.
Watanabe was the complete opposite of a bad loser.
Watanabe - "What can I say...you win some, you lose some. It's an important lesson for any driver. Even the best don't win all their races."
The prize for beating these guys? 3 million. No, not in dollars, but in yen. But I'm probably going to get a contract worth 3 million dollars anyway.
Then I heard someone call my name.
??? - "Ryosuke Sato, can we talk to you?"
------------------------------------------------
Don't miss: Chapter 15 - We Have A Job For You...
------------------------------------------------
- "Oh...my...God..."
Dad was staying up late watching my technique.
- "These lap times..."
- "Dear, it's 11pm! I think the sound of your laptop is keeping Ryo up."
- "His technique...coupled with this car...I don't think JGTC cars would be much trouble."
- "Dear, you can come back to this in the morning."
- "I'm going to call some friends to organise a race, and they aren't JGTC drivers."
---------------------------------
6 days later...
---------------------------------
Driving to the R246...
- "Dad, why are we going to the R246? What's there to race against, it's probably a bunch of Drift King wannabes in Silvias and hachi-rokus.
- "No son, you are facing a much higher calibre of racing driver."
Dad rooted around. We were in some minor traffic, so it was no problem, seeing as we were crawling at around 25-30 km/h.
- "Holy 🤬! The Dream Car Championship!"
- "Yes, there's an exhibition race. 5 laps. 6 drivers. 8 races."
- "Am I in all of them?"
- "No. The 5 drivers you're up against are taking challenges from the public. Well, tuning companies and their test drivers really."
- "Cool."
We arrived at the track. Few independent tuners were there. I saw an HKS booth, a TOM'S booth, a RE Amemiya booth and a Mine's booth. All were showcasing their machines, from the famous Mine's Skyline GT-R R34 V-Spec N1 to the not-so-famous RE Amemiya triple rotary RX-7, and everything in between from the aforementioned tuners.
After watching the first few races, I heard my name being called out on the P.A. system. I drove my RX-7 to my assigned spot on the grid - 6th. Crap.
- "🤬, a Jaguar XJ-220?"
Yes, I knew what was 2nd on the grid. I'm not stupid. What was first worried me. A Nissan 350Z LM racing car. Driven by Keichiiro Watanabe, Nissan's test driver for the Dream Car Championship.
Announcer - "GO!!!"
My car was left in last at the start...
...for a few seconds.
- "Yes! 2 down, 3 to go!"
Subaru driver - "Damn!"
At Mazda curve, I dived down the inside of a racing version of what was the world's fastest car.
XJ220 driver - "What the 🤬!?"
The car's hard springs showed an ugly side, by almost trying to flip me over.
At Meiji Kinekan I went for it. I dived down the inside of Watanabe.
Watanabe - "What the...how the...can...that happen?"
He was stuck for words.
- "Bah! Cheat!"
As for speed, that extra power gave Watanabe an advantage. I knew that the corners would be my territory.
Watanabe - "How is he so fast in the corners?"
My lead allowed me to take a quick glance in my rear-view mirror.
Let's fast forward a few laps. My tires were degrading ever so slightly. But I still have a lead.
- "Wait...he's catching me! 🤬!"
At Memorial Corner, my car decided it belonged to a certain Mr. Tsuchiya for a few seconds.
Another quick glance in the mirror...
- "He can't catch me! No way!"
But by the finish line, I was told I had won by 0.6 seconds. I still won, though.
Watanabe was the complete opposite of a bad loser.
Watanabe - "What can I say...you win some, you lose some. It's an important lesson for any driver. Even the best don't win all their races."
The prize for beating these guys? 3 million. No, not in dollars, but in yen. But I'm probably going to get a contract worth 3 million dollars anyway.
Then I heard someone call my name.
??? - "Ryosuke Sato, can we talk to you?"
------------------------------------------------
Don't miss: Chapter 15 - We Have A Job For You...
------------------------------------------------
- 13,878
- Ireland
- driftking18594
- CiaranGTR94
Chapter 15 - We Have A Job For You...
??? - "Sato-san, we saw you race. You definitely have the skills of your father."
- "Well, domo origato for the compliment."
??? - "My name is..."
Ryosuke Sr. - "Takeshi!"
Takeshi - "Well, your father has given my name away."
Dad and Takeshi hugged like two men who hadn't seen each other for a long time.
Ryosuke Sr. - "So, where have you been?"
Takeshi - "Capri. I live there, in case you haven't noticed. Hey, whatever happened to Edospeed?"
Ryosuke Sr. - "Meh...it sort of fell apart. I left, and the team came back once at the Nurburgring. After that...we quit. But everybody in the team now leads a successful career."
Takeshi - "Yes, apparently one of them is a rally driver. That would be..."
Ryosuke Sr. - "Ronnie. Ronnie Thompson."
Takeshi - "Yes, he went past my house at something like, what, 120km/h?! Crazy man. Yelled "Dorifto!" when he went sideways at the turn near my house, despite the locals hating any people making connections between the circuit and touge courses."
- "Yes, this is all great, but why did you kall me out, Hunasuke-san?"
Takeshi - "Some friends of mine would consider it a great honour if you raced for them."
- "And who exactly are these friends?"
Takeshi - "They make Japan's greatest ever car..."
Ryosuke Sr. - "...in your opinion, anyway, Takeshi."
Takeshi - "Yes, NISMO have expressed an interest in you, young Ryosuke."
- "And the terms of the contract are..."
Takeshi - "Just finish high school and you'll be a test driver for NISMO's Gran Turismo World Championship team. You'll earn 100 million yen next year, and 250 million the year after."
- "Holy crap!"
And to believe this all stemmed from a 650,000 yen RX-7 FC3S. So, how lucky am I? Is the fact that I am the son of a 4-time Formula GT champion a factor? Well, I've been told that driving skill is not inherited. Is the fact that I have lots of connections thanks to my father's fame a factor? Well, I'm going to make a hell of a lot of money. I have to be grateful for that.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Please comment and tell me what you think of a possible second volume!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
??? - "Sato-san, we saw you race. You definitely have the skills of your father."
- "Well, domo origato for the compliment."
??? - "My name is..."
Ryosuke Sr. - "Takeshi!"
Takeshi - "Well, your father has given my name away."
Dad and Takeshi hugged like two men who hadn't seen each other for a long time.
Ryosuke Sr. - "So, where have you been?"
Takeshi - "Capri. I live there, in case you haven't noticed. Hey, whatever happened to Edospeed?"
Ryosuke Sr. - "Meh...it sort of fell apart. I left, and the team came back once at the Nurburgring. After that...we quit. But everybody in the team now leads a successful career."
Takeshi - "Yes, apparently one of them is a rally driver. That would be..."
Ryosuke Sr. - "Ronnie. Ronnie Thompson."
Takeshi - "Yes, he went past my house at something like, what, 120km/h?! Crazy man. Yelled "Dorifto!" when he went sideways at the turn near my house, despite the locals hating any people making connections between the circuit and touge courses."
- "Yes, this is all great, but why did you kall me out, Hunasuke-san?"
Takeshi - "Some friends of mine would consider it a great honour if you raced for them."
- "And who exactly are these friends?"
Takeshi - "They make Japan's greatest ever car..."
Ryosuke Sr. - "...in your opinion, anyway, Takeshi."
Takeshi - "Yes, NISMO have expressed an interest in you, young Ryosuke."
- "And the terms of the contract are..."
Takeshi - "Just finish high school and you'll be a test driver for NISMO's Gran Turismo World Championship team. You'll earn 100 million yen next year, and 250 million the year after."
- "Holy crap!"
And to believe this all stemmed from a 650,000 yen RX-7 FC3S. So, how lucky am I? Is the fact that I am the son of a 4-time Formula GT champion a factor? Well, I've been told that driving skill is not inherited. Is the fact that I have lots of connections thanks to my father's fame a factor? Well, I'm going to make a hell of a lot of money. I have to be grateful for that.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Please comment and tell me what you think of a possible second volume!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
