As PH's resident Mazda bore when an invitation came in to go to Japan to see
the all-newcar
unveiled AND take part in an MX-5 race at Tsukuba circuit it was too good to turn down. So here I am, overlooking Tokyo's Eiffel Tower lookalike and attempting to bully my bodyclock into the local time.
Everything in Japan is a bit mad, my first few hours here setting the tone quite nicely. A diversion to the office en route to the airport was required to pick up my shiny new racesuit, supplied and embroidered by Alpinestars and all looking very pro. Worryingly pro. Along with team mate and Tokyo resident Peter Lyon I'll be the only non-Japanese driver taking part too so even without the smileys I was going to stand out. On arrival Peter showed me photos of the finished car, liveried up according to the above pic. You're not interested in the PH logos though; you're likely thinking WTF is it with the anime babes? Since you ask... The one in the blue outfit, minimal as it is, represents the Mazda Demio while the red one on the left side is the Mazda Axela - respectively the JDM names for the Mazda 2 and 3. And the one on the bonnet is the Roadster, or what the MX-5 is known as in these parts. AutocOne is a Japanese car website, in case you were wondering. And Negroni are the official team footwear.
As I write I haven't actually seen the car though. I have driven Tsukuba though, albeit virtually. Peter took me along to Tokyo Virtual Circuit to get my eye in on a track I've driven millions of times in Gran Turismo but never for real. And we know well enough from a 1001 Nurburgring 'fails' where that can go wrong.
The simulator was pretty snazzy and used a bodyshell of a genuine Porsche Cup car, complete with a brake pedal hooked up to four real calipers under the front hood to simulate and measure the real brake pressure through the pedal. Neat. And Tsukuba? Not much run-off... And there's a very nasty bump right in the braking zone for turn one that Peter assures me of punishing clumsy braking points very harshly indeed. With my AutocOne team mates also in the room there was a fair bit of pressure as I fumbled around in the 1min 10sec region, then broke the minute and then finished up in the 56s. So heading in the right direction. That was in a 'Porsche'; Peter tells me the Mazdas will be lapping in the 1min 10sec with 1min 13sec a realistic race pace. I've got the gear. Have I an idea?
En route to the simulator we nipped by Subaru's new HQ in central Tokyo and nabbed a go with the new WRX S4. More on this in a standalone story but I probably wasn't supposed to be driving this quirky JDM-only model. Ho hum!
Things took a turn for the really surreal after the simulator with a visit to Polyphony's head office, the home of Gran Turismo very hipster indeed with fixie bikes, scale models and bits of real cars knocking about alongside shelves heaving with reference books and other bric a brac. We were there to say hi to Peter's mate Kazunori-san - yes, Mr Gran Turismo - and spectate on a weird live webcast involving Super GT drivers in their racesuits, complete with brolly dollies, taking part in a live action multi-player GT6 race while lots of hangers on talked over each other and giggled excitedly. Maybe it was the jet lag. Maybe it was all lost in translation. But I'm still struggling to make sense of it. One thing's apparent - one wears one's race suit while playing video games in these parts. At least I'm suitably equipped.
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