Episode 07: The Race Had Not Begun Yet

At that time, my goal was not drifting. First, I wanted to become fast through grip driving. More than anything, I wanted to learn how to drive properly. I ran the same corners again and again, memorized braking points, searched for the right lines. Little by little, I began to feel the car responding to my hands and feet. Eventually, I started going not only at dawn, but also during the hours when street racers gathered. I was still slow. Still clumsy. But at least, I could now line up and run together with the others. Around that time, my high school friends also bought cars and began coming to the pass. All of us admired Initial D. We simply loved mountain roads and cars. T drove a black Alto Works HA11S. F drove a red-and-black AE86 Trueno GTV (late model). U drove a black Primera HP10. Before we knew it, more friends joined us. And naturally, we formed a small team of mountain racers. Driving was fun beyond words. I practiced obsessively, desperate to become faster. To pay for fuel and tires, I worked part-time jobs as hard as I could. But once I reached a certain level, reality became impossible to ignore. On uphill sections, the AE86 was simply too underpowered. Under the hood was the legendary 4A-GEU engine. It revved beautifully to high RPM and felt wonderful to drive. But no matter how good it was, it lacked power. On climbs, stronger cars tailgated me and disappeared one after another. One night, while I was pushing hard uphill with full grip driving… An 180SX suddenly came up behind me. And not just that— It was drifting uphill while closing in on me. Normally, grip driving should be faster than drifting. Yet there it was, drifting and gaining on me. That was how powerless the AE86 was.

Frustrated, I moved aside and let it pass. At the U-turn point near the summit, we crossed paths. That was when I realized the driver was a young woman. Today, female street racers are not so rare. But back then, it was truly unusual. To be honest, it hurt my pride badly. I thought many times about tuning the engine. But even working multiple jobs, all my money disappeared into fuel and tires. There was no way I could afford engine tuning. So instead, I chose the downhill. I devoted myself to mastering downhill speed.

At that time, the fastest car on this mountain was said to be a Civic EG6. I heard the name again and again. Fast. Incredibly fast. Both uphill and downhill—on another level entirely. But back then, I wasn’t even standing in a position where I could see his taillights. Before chasing him, I first had to become someone who could properly run this mountain. While desperately clinging on downhill, I kept thinking— “Someday, I want to drive on the same stage as that EG6.” At that time, he was nothing more than a distant presence. Back then, I still didn’t know. That one day— that EG6 would become my true rival.