On December 9th and 10th, we held the Yokomo Drift Meeting Special Round at Yatabe Arena.
With 161 entries on the first day and 188 on the second, totaling 349, this was the highest number of entries for a special round in recent years. This year saw a significant number of international participants, with nearly 40 people joining from 10 different countries—Hong Kong, Malaysia, Spain, Brunei, the USA, Singapore, Indonesia, Switzerland, Turkey, and South Korea—making it a truly world-class field of competitors.
Considering the participants traveling from afar, the course layout is changed the day before the Special Round only. This time, the layout featured a shallow hairpin followed by a straight shot towards the judging stand, requiring drivers to master their throttle control for cornering. Given the straight-line course layout, it was predicted that Japanese drivers would have an advantage. However, in the RWD World Class qualifying—which had many international participants—the Japanese drivers struggled to increase their scores while the international drivers consistently posted high scores, leading to a turbulent outcome where only three Japanese drivers remained at the end.
Our guests this time were (from left): Daigo Saito, Head Judge Hisashi Kamimoto, Yoichi Imamura, and Takahiro Ueno. Head Judge Kamimoto and drivers Imamura and Ueno judged the D1 and World Classes, while Saito entered the Sports Class.
And of course, our main MC was none other than Manabu Suzuki. He has been providing live commentary for every class since the early days of the Special Round and once again did a fantastic job energizing the venue. One of the highlights of the Special Round is getting to hear behind-the-scenes D1 stories, as well as comparisons between full-scale cars and RC cars and their respective charms, that you can't hear anywhere else.
The vehicle on display was Daigo Saito's "Monster Corvette," which attracted the most attention and speed at the 2017 D1 Grand Prix. The craftsmanship of the full-carbon body and engine room is truly world-class. It was a rare opportunity to see such a machine up close, and people never stopped gathering around it over the two days.
Team YOKOMO’s Hayato-選手 was in charge of the demo runs over the two days. Despite hardly having any practice, he showed off a performance with such perfection that he scored over 100 points in the YDS+ judging.
Because there were so many entries this time, participants had less driving time compared to typical Yokomo Drift Meetings. To keep everyone entertained while they waited, we hosted the RCDC-organized "Technique Matrix" on the temporary carpet course and our regular 2nd-floor P-tile course. The temporary carpet course replicated the layout from the RCDC All-Japan RC Drift Championship 2017 held at Chubu Centrair International Airport, and it was very well received as a place for interaction.
The flea market, a staple of the Special Round, was held again this year. With great deals on bodies and kits, there was a constant line. In the exhibition area, we also had booths from FUTABA, SANWA, and TN RACING.
