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Yokomo was on hand to display their extensive line of R/C drift products at the Tokyo Auto Salon held 1/12 through 1/14.
An annual festival for custom car and tuner car enthusiasts, Tokyo Auto Salon 2007 was held at the Makuhari Messe exhibition hall located in the Chiba prefecture. Attendance over the 3 day event was an astonishing 249,197 people.
The large crowds were treated to R/C drift demonstrations and professional drift driver appearances, including photo and talk sessions.
We would like to express our gratitude to all the tuner companies, professional drift driver guests, the Drift Tengoku crew, and all the people at JDM OPTION and Welc for their tremendous support.
Official website →
http://www.e-autosalon.net/index.html
R/C drift demonstrations were held inside the Yokomo booth.
6 members of the Yokomo Team performed the demonstrations, putting in several hundered packs of running throughout the event.
The event spans 3 main halls, and the Yokomo booth was located near the middle of the center hall. Booths surrounding the Yokomo booth include, Datasystem on the right, Weds on the left, OPTION2 and JDM OPTION in front, and BILSTEIN behind.
Dubbed a 'Kid's Favorite', the booth was hugely popular with both kids and adults.
Newly released at the Tokyo Auto Salon, the Drift Package D1Ver. T&E SOARER JZZ30. This is the latest version driven by Takahiro Ueno.
And another release! The Drift Package D1 Ver. TRUST S15 SILVIA. This is the latest version driven by Masato Kawabata.
Owner of the Ebisu Circuit located in the Fukushima prefecture, Nobushige Kumakubo was crowned the new D1 Grand Prix Series Champion! And stopped by the Yokomo booth for a big announcement!
"We are scheduled to build an indoor R/C drift track inside the Ebisu Circuit facility!"
Nobuteru Taniguchi, driver of the first D1 car for Yokomo to sponsor, the HKS HYPER SILVIA S15. A popular driver who is active in drifting as well as the All-Nippon GT Championship.
Holding the T&E SOARER JZZ30 is aero-parts manufacturer CARMAKE T&E's president, Takahiro Ueno.
Proudly looking over his TRUST S15 SILVIA is Masato Kawabata (right), driver of the full-size version who finished 4th overall in last year's D1 Grand Prix series. Standing next to him is Kuniaki Takahashi (left), driver of the KUNNY'Z CHASER that is immensely popular in the 4dr-drifting community, D1 Grand Prix, and R/C drfting.
2003 D1 Grand Prix Series Champion and record holder for the most D1 Grand Prix wins, Yoichi Imamura (right), and 2005 D1 Grand Prix Series Champion, Yasuyuki Kazama (left).
Masao Suenaga, runner-up in the 2005 D1 Grand Prix Series, and driver of the RE-AMEMIYA RX-7 FD3S.
Drifting superstar and all-around fun guy, Ken 'Nomuken' Nomura (2nd from left) gets everyone going during a talk session with the D1 drivers.
We were amazed by the popularity of the D1 drivers. Cameras were flashing non-stop.
The ORC Racing Ladies provided their assistance during the photo sessions.
MC of the Drift Tengoku event, Bomber Yamamoto (center) entertaining the crowd. Meri Sakikawa (left) also helped MC for Yokomo in conveying the fun of R/C drifting. R/C drifting is a great hobby that girls and ladies can enjoy as well.
Drift Tengoku put on an event at the Yokomo booth, with the theme "The Fun of R/C Drifting!" From right is Drift Tengoku's chief editor Kawasaki, D1 driver Drift Samurai, Full-size and R/C drift driver Meri Sakikawa, and D1 driver Yoshinori 'Emperor Koguchi' Koguchi.
Chief editor Kawasaki provided the audience with a chance to participate and asked "who wants to give R/C a try!" This boy quickly raised his hand, and was handed the chief editor's transmitter for a chance to try out the Dori-Ten Chaser.
The Yokomo staff answering a barage of questions. We were especially surprised by the large number questions from overseas visitors. "Does it only work on carpet?" was the most frequently asked question, and although R/C drifting can of course be done on carpet, it actually works best on asphalt.
The product display that received the most attention was this small tune-up parts display.
Takahiro Ueno's full-size T&E SOARER JZZ30.
Masato Kawabata's full-size TRUST S15 SILVIA. If you look closely you can see the R/C drift car on the dashboard.
Kumakubo's D1 Grand Prix winning YUKE'S CUSCO IMPREZA on display at the Ebisu Circuit booth. Displayed on the roof is the R/C drift version.
Ken Nomura's 2007 version BLITZ SKYLINE ER34 on display at the Sumitomo Rubber Industries (Dunlop) booth.
TOP SECRET's D1 Grand Prix Spec Z33.
The same TOP SECRET Z33 from the front.
Masao Suenaga's 2007 version RE-AMEMIYA RX-7 FD3S on display at the Toyo Rubber Industries (TOYO Tire) booth.
The RE-AMEMIYA ASPARA DRINK RX7, last year's All-Nippon Super GT Series Champion.
The OPTION STREAM Z driven by D1 Grand Prix founder Daijiro Inada, who still competes in the annually held Silver State Classic Challenge.
The TRUST S15 SILVIA R/C drift car on display at the TOYO Tire booth.
The D1 Street Legal version of the RE-AMEMIYA RX-7 FD3S.
Special thanks to our day 1 booth guests, Nobushige Kumakubo, Nobuteru Taniguchi, Takahiro Ueno, Toshiki Yoshioka, Masao Suenaga, and Masato Kawabata.
Special thanks to our day 2 booth guests, Yoichi Imamura, Ken Nomura, Yasuyuki Kazama, and Takahiro Ueno.
Special thanks to our day 3 booth guests, Yoichi Imamura, Yasuyuki Kazama, Nobuteru Taniguchi, Masao Suenaga, Kuniaki Takahashi, Masato Kawabata, Takahiro Ueno, and the ORC Racing Ladies!
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