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Japan vs USA | 2023 RS-R DRIFT FESTIVAL
this is rsr drift Festival 2023 celebrating 20 years of rsr celebrating drifting and Team USA against some Japanese Legends and some iconic Vehicles here so four drivers representing formal drift USA four drivers representing Japan and we have kind of a a really unique format we'll start with a backy competition we'll get to head-to-head USA versus Japan and then we even have a team drift competition um all killer no filler thank you so much for joining us and are you ready to meet our drivers our Pilots representing Japan all right well we kick things off with the Japanese driver he is piloting the rsr S15 this gentleman he gets a lot of respect from the drifting community so let's make some noise for our first driver that is tetsuya [Applause] habito we got a packed house here super excited and this gentlem oh my gosh this guy has so much flare Make Some Noise piling that Mark for rsr Toyota Supra you know him you love him make some noise for Max [Applause] Aro running down that rsr car lineup they call this the fusion of vehicles you got the American TRD motor under the hood of the 86 with the Norwegian driver behind the wheel three-time Formula Drift Champion it is Frederick the Norwegian Hammer [Applause] HBO next to him driver representing for USA second overall of the championship and he is excited to be here piloting a tried and true LS powered s13 field suspension pedal Commander Mak some noise for OD [Applause] boxies now we go to that back row the iconic Livery of HKS with the Yokohama tires this gentleman is a weapon behind the wheel Make some noise for n o noo tanaguchi [Applause] [Music] another Japanese driver moving down the line but again this vehicle I know kind of blows up the internet one of the most iconic vehicles in Japan the fdrx7 running the apexi Apex integration Make some noise for yuichi imura moving down the line representing USA you'll see in running the black hole the Royal Purple BMW wagon it is Dylan the Dozer Hughes last but definitely not least he runs a black and red unfortunately lost a cylinder in his engine so he went from all americ to all JDM representing the USA Triple 7 the beast from the bay it is Matt fi thank you to wato masama for loaning that vehicle overall some amazing drivers some amazing vehicles and the stages Set uh the battle brackets will be set because we're going to have the biggest backy for qualifying order well it's such a unique thing that we're about to embark on here instead of in a traditional qualifying we've got the biggest backy and so line is kind of out the window and we've got four criteria basically it is a huckit contest and the top four qualified Japanese drivers will go against the top four qualified American drivers after those two non-consecutive runs so there will be a winner of the biggest backy but the way that we get our great eight bracket placed is by this competition here yeah and talk about the criteria here this is what we're looking at biggest possible angle longest period of Time how how long can you hold it most consistent momentum and least amount of front wheel input right so minimal Corrections you don't want to see those front wheels flopping around and trying to adjust to to get it in scores zero to 100 per run you got two runs uh non-consecutive so the best runs count so it's going to be a little expression session here as we're about to fire up the engines you might be wondering how did we decide inside the order and the the starting positioning of the drivers well we actually had them draw numbers yesterday at random and so the way that they will be going from the first driver to the eighth driver was essentially by a matter of luck this is how we did it yesterday there we are so Dylan Hugh is going second OD bxi is getting that number one look at matfield he's got six so somewhere near the back and that might benefit him with this new vehicle Frederick osbo Drew number three number three uh what do we got here for imamura and he got looks like can't see it there exactly up number four for Max okay imamura got fifth ah there we go Hino with number seven so that meant noo tanaguchi without being present gets number eight so he'll be the last one in that HKS 86 gentlemen are you ready to send it all right so OD boxes originally from Lithuania now residing in rightwood California two non consecutive runs backy aan says send it let's go come on OD just like yesterday bud what's OD got again we're looking for consistency length gangster come [Music] on what a way toop in there he saw a little bit of a little bit of slaping The Wheels on the front but I like the commitment he he he has angle he has a duration the only thing that he could have done a little bit better but it was a smart move so he didn't go into the tires is he had to make the front wheel adjustment y that was good so here we go OD 9533 out of the gate they went big right out of the gate not a lot of room for Maring there Mary Lett four stars there we go all right next up Dylan Hughes the Dozer diesel Dozer competes in a 2JZ BMW wind it up look the stamp send it got the Japanese version of Matt SOA on the line out there let's go here we go rolling that black Cole uhoh here we go what do we got for us Dylan Hugh was throws it in big Swagger Wagon oh he comes out of it grips in he goes rally oh looks like the car gripped up a little bit too much maybe a little scared there what what do you think well I mean equally he had the angle he obviously didn't push as deep into the Zone which is not a requirement but as you said he kind of pulled out of it a little bit so just like comparative to the OD I think it'll be a a a lower score but now he kind of knows what he needs to do here you go 86 for D 86 and and what you know what we were really kind of observing because the scores that each get 100 points and then those 100 points are averaged over three judges that's how you're going to get those decimal points Frederick osbo warming up the tires on his Toyota V8 powered rsr 86 you know he he has had a lot of success in this car he's comfortable with it and I saw him throw down some sick runs yesterday okay all right well three-time FD USA champ Frederick the nor Norwegian Hammer osbo ready to see what he can do we go the VA power 86 come on Freddy he got dropped the hammer big [Music] SW that was good I like the fluidity of that one and he seemed really committed he filled all Zone and like you said we're not looking for them but I think that's going to show the Precision of that backy as opposed to just backing it in and here we go 92.6 you call go baby there you go what I'm seeing there is they're really taking the term backy to heart which is I think what the fans want to see now we have our first pilot representing formage of Japan Max Oro he's got the tinsel hanging off the back wing and we are ready to send it the rsr iconic Toyota Supra Max Aro behind the wheel let's see what kind of Vy we can see here from Max arito let's not see minimum arito we want to see Max Aro so very fluid that kind of felt very similar to what Freddy just did and performed in the rsr 86 he filled all that zone but we want to see just more impact right just punch you in the face so 83.6 6 Max Aro sits in fourth and we are now seeing the FD RX7 Yi imamura here we go imamura let's go baby let's see what you got imura with fdrx7 fills all the [Music] Zone more of a fluid run I don't think that's that's the backy we're looking for but safe run safe run pretty clear cut wait wait for I think Cino has got a couple in him though I saw him do probably the best one I I've seen so far this weekend yeah making big claims and the judges speak unfortunately he is the lowest score we've seen so far 79.6 6 so the judg is making it clear up next we got Matt Field so Matt Field again wato masama loaning his vehicle to Matt Field unfortunately he dropped the valve it bounced around and uh that's not what you need so uh lost a cylinder and then in doing that it's just not even turning over so he was going to potentially run it on seven cylinders but uh he said nah let's just uh let's uh let's make some call balls and uh that was really solid of masuyama so let's see uh how quickly Matt Field adapts to you know a loan vehicle I'm sure he'd risk it a little bit more if he was behind the wheel of his of his car you know but watan to send it here we go Matt Field piloted this S15 come on Matt let's go let's get it Matt little flick of the wrist throws it in okay okay again quickly ad [Music] abs for goes that outside Zone but got aggressive but again the car hooked up seems like it gripped and uh did not give him the backy he was looking for oh he's still Fair as well an 87.3 three so I think the commitment really fared well for him the smoothness of it maybe the momentum but all that as uh we progress on and we will see our next driver here which is tatuya Hino in this uh I believe it's a twin turbo VQ 15 here we go hanino threw down it bre and there we go Hino flicks it in aggressively he Smooths out got that that was aggressive it was good momentum want to rewind it and see uh the the wheels it's going to be in the mix it's going to be in the mix could that supersede OD box she's 95335 33 that is the same score that OD B box she has got so it's a tie it's going to come down I I would assume we defect to who is the best two yeah it's going to be that if there if there is a tie the tiebreaker would be that uh that whatever the second score is one more driver left to go and uh his name Stakes a claim and that's no o no one better noo tanaguchi in that HKS 86 here we go noero tanaguchi what he got for straight line straight line appr roozen a little bit of a hand bre I feel like this ghost against his fundamental kind of mental he's like what am I doing he's going for the L yeah just nice clean fluid want to see that impact dude that punch you in the face you know it's like it's like eating hot sauce he was like oh God yeah I don't know why I like it but I like it scores coming in boom an 88 puts him into that number four position so uh there we can see our biggest back results after run one right now a tie for first fabino Bachi osbo tanaguchi matfield Dylan Hughes orito and IMA MOA don't go anywhere Suzuka twin circuit playing host to rsr drift Festival 20th anniversary don't go anywhere we'll be right back how we doing out there Japan thank you so much for joining us out here absolutely beautiful day this is the second round of qualifying in the biggest backy competition let's get things kicked off at the top of the order so right now a tie for the first OD bosi is 95.3 tatsuya habo Frederick oo T Gucci matfield Dylan Hughes Oro [Music] andur Here Comes OD B come on OD give us a give us a 100 just back it up just back it with a backy youfan mother Drifter wants you back hit up here we go y slid impressive flick that one was better that was that that looked good man that one was better because the front wheels are more consistent I think I think he stepped it up okay he's Ryan's got the power I'm making claims yeah you are absolutely and it was a slightly different approach he didn't really use as much uh of the entirety of the track second score is 94.3 three so the better of the two 95.3 so now now it's making me think even more that they're putting a ton of importance on the overall angle hit cuz I think the angle was a little bit lower there but the momentum was better as Dylan Hughes a lot of diverse driving for Dylan Hughes both four-wheels and two wheels he rides dirt bikes I do too and here we go Dylan Hughes wants to get that he says it's running full Boost Roland Cole with a the big Swagger Wagon oh he shoots in on the inside again good commitment and now looks wrapping out the rest of the course I think that was better than his first one I think so too uh it was deeper angle for a longer period of time he still kind of pulled up on the inner part of the course there but I think he improved there that was great job by Dylan he does better it yeah so he had an 86 on his first run an 8833 so he does better it does not want to be outdone no yep risk it for the biscuit keep it off the wall but let's get gangster 9533 the score to beat here Frederick osbo lfg let's see what you got big whip into a nasty flick back minimal correction from those front wheels man I mean those front wheels I felt like he [Music] just take a look take a look as we run it back line when he when he flicked it into that first out outside Zone the wheels hardly moved that was the perfect marriage between the balance of the biggest angle that you can get and keeping those front wheels consistent and smooth and also really focusing on that forward momentum that was a great effort there by Frederick Oso yeah all right so here we go Frederick osbo and just slightly less on that second run so the 92.6 the angle is reigning Supreme go past 90 well uh as Freddy finishes his run let's throw it down to Robin asida down in the pits who's with our current leader all right I am right here with OD baches he is currently leading the pack with the the backy contest so how is how does it feel to do a backy contest at a competition it feels great man this is what we like to do outside of competition when we go and jam with our friends we just try to Huck it more backwards the more backwards until we almost SP so it's great to actually be able to do this for competition do you think somebody's going to beat your score as of of now I think there's a lot that you can do on this track and um I pushed it really hard in practice pulled my bumper off so I know you could get crazier you know I tone it down a little bit for just right now but you know it's a balance of massively backwards and then you're going to have to have a little correction to be online or you throw it in less and um have less correction but less backwards so all right great job here comes Max Oro with a little Japanese flare mullet rolling off the backat there currently has an 83.6 six I'm expecting big things here from Max this ain't no minimum Roo we need see Max Oro Maximum Overdrive Max Oro throws it in smooth buttery fills all the zones he wanted to he wanted to yeah oh and he spins out so you know it's all good I think Max is going to have to live in the 83.6 six as the scores are coming in 80. 66 so still gets a score Smooths it out but uh currently sits in seventh back to yii imamura in the Apex fdrx7 imamura bottom of the totem pole let's see if im Mo can uh back it up like a drum chick oh okay fills that zone okay [Music] again you're you're you're driving a Smithsonian level vehicle you want to keep it off the wall you know what I mean you you break you by yeah I think yeah you you definitely break you by and you know it's amazing to just see history in front of us here 80.6 6 unfortunately imamura will stay at the bottom of the totem pole so he'll go against what could potentially be OD boxy the number one ranked American driver but mattfield would love to get into his way but borrowing that vehicle from Mama Momo Ford Star GT radio but uh here we go this is uh Matt Field Huck it Huck it Huck yeah whips it off but hey a he tried he tried that was funny it snapped back that's a for effort yeah so M so uh again this this does solidify OD box she says the highest ranked FD us driver and there it is a 80 666666 as uh we move on to our next driver which should be uh that'll be tatsuya habo again habo had some amazing run so this could be for the overall lead right this could be for the overall lead but remember we already going to have it slotted so OD does lock in the top ranked American or driver representing for drift USA um habo right now is uh again top ranked Japanese driver so he needs a [Music] 94.33% Hino backs it up like a dump truck I think all you got to do is gauge your natural reaction I mean look at that it holds it holds it very precise a little bit of unwinding there but super big angle for a long period of time on those two criteria right there and the aggressive approach and how close he got that was sick man unbelievable look at that a no it's a be yes that's right he jumps up the ranks amazing approach sorry Odie [Laughter] 97.66% T yeah not the thing that I want to do with learning lap by laap we got like five laps this morning before attempting to throw it backwards but honestly it's a great car by now Japan and wataru masuyama like they they have a real sick car so I'm thankful that they were able to drive through the night and bring it to me just for me to be able to do a couple laps out there I hope to learn more but literally every single lap I'm getting used to it because it could not be more different than the Corvette the rightand drive thing is one thing but the power the tire how it steers everything is different so it's a learning experience but you're doing good in a very different car so back to you guys thank you so much let's go Matt feeli that habo yeah hino's hyped dude so uh so he's going to win overall looks like oh I mean he still got to noo tanaguchi yeah knobs got one run to seal the fate and here comes noo tanaguchi and the HS 86 let's see if we got straight line approach flicks it in okay okay I might have spoken too soon I like that straight line approach he didn't have that big swing thing but uh straight line but still kept rotating he was kind of trying to do that I think last run and was trying to get you know he just got here right he hasn't been practicing with the rest of the guys so he's really coming in this a lot fresher that was amazing a different approach but he was able to keep angle in it right here see he starts pouring on the angle right there draws a pretty nice line around that last second I don't think it's going to beat hibino but that was I think the second run was definitely better than the first I I'm just going to say it no that's not going to be enough Hino threw down a heater of aaki a 9.66 so he jumps up a considerable amount but uh again so second highest Japanese driver of the Japanese Legends but uh OD bakis and Hino are top ranked respectful drivers in their category so let's throw it down to Robbie asida who is with I I hope hibino all right I am here with hibino uh let me ask him how he feels to be the backy king of Japan and also for the contest today so he had a really good run yesterday and or during practice and he wanted to show that to you guys and out of the two uh runs that he had he was able to do it as he made that run he felt that it was good and it was good enough to show you guys so he's really happy about that let me go and ask him how he feels to be here with the US drivers yeah [Music] he said he's a little nervous and also having a great time because those are the guys that he's only seen on live stream so never met in person but he knows that they're the greatest drivers that they have in the US and he does get nervous but he's going to try not to get nervous and for the tandems he just wants to show off his skills in front of everybody and he wants everybody to enjoy it and he also wants to enjoy it all right well thank you so much and this will this will conclude the biggest backy we'll have our bracket we take a quick break get those guys all dialed in and then boom we're on our [Music] way