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Well,
it's been 6 only months since Ken Maeda first visited the Drift
Session back in February of 2004, but he couldn't wait to come back.
The Sportscraft Drift Team brought Maeda back to Hawaii to help tune
their competitive drift vehicle, the FC3S2K.
Kell
Komatsubara and Chad Lau have been working around the clock for he
past several weeks, putting together their 1988 Mazda RX7. Unlike
any other FC in the United States, this car is sporting a Honda
S2000 motor and transmission as well as a host of custom crafted
modifications to aid in drifting.
With
any luck, Maeda Ken will be driving this FC in the 2005 D1 Grand
Prix round 1 in the United States. For those of you who are not
Familiar with Maeda Ken, he drives the Yellow turbo AE86 for Up
Garage in the D1 Grand Prix and has been a D1 Grand Prix event
champion. In recent events, Maeda reports doing well in the D1,
and has even moved up in the 2004 ranking to 10th place in the
overall points standings.
Maeda
arrived early in the morning at the Honolulu International Airport
and was picked up by Kell Komatsubara, Roy Uno, and myself.
Included in his baggage were a pair of Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R
tires and a pair of Kei Office front coilovers.
After
pickup, we headed to the Farmer's Market for breakfast with Colin
Lau. At breakfast, Maeda distributed a bunch of Omiyage that he had
brought in from Japan, including the newest Drift Tengoku Magazine
which did a 6 page spread on him and his D1 vehicle. The other
omiyage, the tires and the coilovers, were for the FC which was
waiting in the Kahala area.
Maeda
brought in his own set of coilovers so that he could se the
suspension to his own specifications. His tire sponsor, Bridestone,
gave him the RE-01R tires for use on the FC. Maeda explained that
the RE-01R's are race tires developed by Bridestone for roadracing.
Pro drifters in Japan, like Maeda, prefer to use high-grip, racing
tires because of the control they allow when drifting at high
speeds. To save on time, Maeda had already broken these tires in for
use in Hawaii. He reported that new front tires need at least 200
miles of street driving or 10 minutes of track use to get rid of the
heat coating on the tires.
Once
breakfast was finished it was off to set up the FC. The Kei Office
coilovers were quickly installed and the tires were mounted shortly
thereafter. Due to the lower ride height from the coilovers, the
front wheels were now having clearance issues. A few loud minutes
with the mallet and air hammer and the front fender wells were
banged out for proper fitment. After setting up the vehicle, it was
off for yakiniku in celebration of the tentative completion of the
car.
The
following day the vehicle was taken to the track for testing. Media
crews from Racesauce and Green Bottle Productions were on hand for
interviews with Maeda and to get a sneak peak of the FC in action.
Most of the morning was reserved for tuning issues as the car was
run again and again in the Skid Pad.
After
2 days of testing, the vehicle was performing well on the track as
Maeda was able to drift down the front straightaway (into Short
Course Turn 1) in 4th gear. The FC was able to clear the top section
of the track from the chicane through the off camber as well.
Once
testing and tuning was done, it was time to enjoy Hawaii once again.
Maeda was able to catch up to friends that he had made earlier in
the year as he went sightseeing, bbq-ing, R/C drifting, and to watch
the Sportcraft Top Alcohol car at Pro Gas.
Hopefully,
the Sportcraft FC will make its competitive debut at the 2005
D1 Grand Prix in California with Maeda at the wheel. Until then,
keep posted for updates on the vehicle.
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