A Day at Hadashi

Hadashi Tengoku (Barefoot Heaven) is the local circuit for my friends in Iwakuni and what they would consider their home circuit. It's not very big, but it's fun and the laid back atmosphere can't be beat. Eric took his R32 out last weekend for some practice and sent me over some pictures. Unfortunately, a couple months ago the main building burned down. Despite the fire the staff had the track back open the next day. The cars above are actually parked where the building used to stand.

Being so close to the Marine Corps Air Station you'd think that there were tons of US service members out at the track drifting. However, because of some strict vehicle ownership rules there were basically no US drifters. Once Eric got stationed in Iwakuni though that quickly changed and he revived an interesting in drifting within the base community. The red 180SX belongs to Jayson Cross, one of the other top drifters from the base.

Having been witness to every inch of Eric's R32 build I'd have to say it's one of the best on the planet. His attention to detail and drive to do everything himself has blown me away.

Lots of Hachis at the track that day. Despite their absence at the professional levels the AE86 is still super-popular in Japan.

The faster they go they harder they break. Eric had a Kazama tie rod end die on him that day. Luckily Jayson had a spare to get him back on the track.