First, on Saturday, Team Yokomo's Tetsuhiro Kawakami and Shoichi Saotome held a "Drift School" on the drift course, and all visitors, whether there for drifting or grip racing, were invited to take on the "Yokomo & PRO SPEED Special Quiz."
The quiz featured difficult questions about Yokomo and PRO SPEED, with the participant who answered the most correctly set to receive a Yokomo battery at a later date. We are currently tallying the results, and the winners will be announced on the PRO SPEED blog in the near future.
The Team Yokomo Drift School was primarily an open driving event. We structured it so that even those who had never experienced competitions or similar events could easily participate, featuring activities like driving alongside our team members to foster camaraderie, machine setup seminars by Team Yokomo, and twin drifting. As the Drift School ran throughout the entire day, the drift pit remained lively as participants rotated in and out. Thank you to everyone who joined us.
For the commemorative race held on Sunday, a four-class format was used featuring Tamiya M, Tamiya GT, Touring Master, and Touring Expert, with Team Yokomo members competing in the Touring Expert class. With the pit tables completely filled and a total of 107 entries, it was a major event featuring heated battles against local elite racers.
In the first round of qualifying for the race, Team Yokomo's young ace, Naoki Akiyama, posted the top time, but in the second round, last year's All-Japan Sports Class champion, Takuma Sasaki, overtook him. In the final, Akiyama secured the win after a hard-fought battle with Sasaki. In addition, Team Yokomo's Daisuke Yoshioka, as well as Takeo Kimura, Makoto Oda, and Katsuyuki Hamano—all using Yokomo BD-8s & BD-7s—made it into the A-main, meaning 5 out of the 9 cars in the A-main were Yokomo vehicles. Furthermore, the BD-8 also performed exceptionally in the Touring Master class, where last year's annual champion, Mr. Yamamoto, took the victory, resulting in the BD-8 winning both touring classes.
Touring Expert Final Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKleuBs-m3Y
We would like to thank the entire PRO SPEED staff for their hospitality! We look forward to our continued partnership!