It’s the Friday practice session before rounds 5 and 6 of the D1 Championship here in Japan so we thought we would take the chance to check out some of the cars that regularly compete but don’t necessarily make it though to the finals each time, as well as get a closer look at some of our favourite driver’s cars.  As ever, the places remaining for the dual finals on Saturday and Sunday were closely fought for. 55 cars entered, all trying to grab one of the few remaining finals places, along with the big-name seeded drivers.  Bad luck to those who never made it, they will get another bite of the apple at “last chance qualifying” tomorrow evening after the Saturday’s finals.  Unusually there were very few crashes at the famous Minami circuit here in Ebisu, but there was a few mechanical casualties.  Lets hope they make the necessary repairs in time for tomorrow!

As ever, the pits were brimming with activity.

This was one of 2 Mazda Rotary powered AE86s competing today

This Rx7′s pilot threw it into the first main corner at a speed I had never witnessed before.  Every pass he made caused my heart to jump into my mouth.  His line was off, so never done enough to impress the judges, but I was just amazed to see him get through the day unscathed! CRAZY!

This was a rare sight, a KP61 Starlet.  It went well thanks to its 4AG Turbo setup.

Team Julius’s S15 followed a bad entry with a bad attempt at the corner in front of the judges.  The result was this mess.  No real damage was done.  Although the car looks buried, it was only light cosmetic damage

Team Orange’s Tanaka, doing what he does best.  His team-mate Suenaga had a driveshaft failure ruling him out of qualifying.  Lets hope he’s back tomorrow to attempt qualifying for the Sunday finals

This big power triple rotor FD sounded great as ever.

This car looks much better when compared to last seasons blue graphics.

Okachan was going well in his S15 with GP Sports Aero kit.

Kuroi’s Onevia has been a long time favourite

He swapped from a RB26 to this 2JZ setup a couple of seasons ago.

Hibino was going mad as he usually does here at Ebisu, attacking the “hump” at great speed and flying through the air!

Hibinos NA Droop AE86 has a reputed 320PS with the aid of NOS!

Speaking of engine bays, the HPI Silvia’s looks one of the finest.  The manifold is particularly nice as is the massive T04Z Turbo, not to mention the “Bling” gold rocker cover

The seeded class provided plenty of entertainment as ever…. nothing was held in reserve.

Fellow D1 Drivers applaud as Koguchi flew past them in his practice session.  He was going harder than ever and the other drivers were lapping it up!

Federico Sceriffo flew over from Italy to compete in Team Orange’s GDB Impreza.  This is actually the champion car of Kumakubo from 2006 and the guys from K-Style have even modified the car to LHD for Federico!

This is an unusual looking D1 FC3s from “Sexy with T-get”

St Garage Lexus uses a big power 2JZ setup so sounds great.  Cars also good looking but the driving fell short of good enough to qualify for the finals.

This 180SX caught our eye…

…As did Kin-chans new white coloured JZX110.  Now he’s competing in D1 (Up from D1SL) the car has been blessed with a OS Giken Sequential to help it keep up with the D1 pack. 

More action over the weekend, featuring D1′s BIG GUNS!

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