JapShow June 2009 Report - Sunday 21st June 2009

View photos photos from JapShow 2009 on the JapShow 2009 Gallery page.

The JapShow took place on June 21st at a bright and sunny Santa Pod Raceway. The weekend started off with a Run What Ya Brung test day on the Saturday, and although the sun was a little bit shy, the track remained dry and packed with Japanese machinery all day. Run What Ya Brung times were fast from the off, and the JapShow consistently produces some of the fastest Run What Ya Brung competition times of any event at Santa Pod. Some of the times set on Saturday stood up to the mass-assault on the track on Sunday and topped the final tables. The drift track was also in full swing all day Saturday. As the sun set, the Santa Pod site was filled with the aromas of barbeque food and beer, and the tunes started up in Fuelers Bar.

Sunday morning and the JapShow main day and thousands of amazing Jap cars were welcomed in with bright sunshine. As the club pitches and carparks quickly filled up, the Pod was alive to the sounds of screaming 4 and 6 cylinder engines. The track was open again for the second day of Run What Ya Brung competition, and the fastest Japanese cars in Europe were running in the HKS Drag Series.

The cream of the crop from the RWYB competition was as follows:

Class A Robert Shadwell Nissan Skyline R32GTR 10.270 seconds @ 143.84 mph

Class B Amir Noor Mohyuddin Toyota Supra 12.283 seconds @ 121.69 mph

Class C Michael Ridley Honda Civic 12.310 seconds @ 116.48 mph

Class D Darren Haywood Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10.291 seconds @ 134.04

Class E Stewart Taylor Subaru Impreza STI 11.092 seconds @ 131.31 mph

Class F Mark Salem Mazda RX7 10.762 seconds @ 126.11 mph

Class G Matthew Hoskins Suzuki Swift 12.944 seconds @ 109.94

Class X Tim White Mazda RX7 11.377 seconds @ 126.93 mph

The HKS Drag Series had a good entry, but a high rate of attrition amongst the racers meant that races were in many cases won by the most reliable cars rather than the fastest… but that’s racing! And what great racing it was, especially in the FWD class which was turned on its head by exciting incidents. Leaders in the Street and Fac Mod classes stamped their dominance onto the class further, and Pro was also turned on its head with a breakdown from the current leader. There is a full race report at www.japdragseries.co.uk, the winners are as follows:

Pro Class Winner: John Bradshaw, Nissan Skyline Runner Up: Chris Impey, Mazda RX7

Fac Mod Class Winner: Mark Mosely, Nissan Skyline Runner Up: Keith Carr, Toyota Supra

Street Class Winner: Johnny McKeon, Nissan Skyline Runner Up: James Wilday (Broke)

FWD Class Winner: Adam Buckley, Honda Civic Runner Up: Douggie Gemmell, Honda Civic

For those who don’t mind life in the slow lane, there was some excellent metal on display in the Show & Shine area. With loads of new cars out for the first time, and some well-known favourites too, the show area filled up in record time, and gave the judges an extremely tough time picking the winners.
The winners were as follows:

Best of Show Craig Mudd, Nissan 350Z This is yet another superb creation by Mr Mudd. Typically red, packed with high-tech ICE and with immaculate bodywork, this was THE show-stopper.

Top Five Paul Cooper, Toyota Celica Interesting V6 engine conversion and beautiful paint made this stand out.

Top Five Mark Lampard, Honda S2000 1-off custom carbon fibre all over and spotless details.

Top Five Philip Clark, Nissan 200SX Spotless paintwork and lovely clean details all over this car.

Top Five Dean Easto, Toyota Supra Absolutely immaculate bodywork and well-matched mods.

Best Retro Bo, Toyota Starlet A comprehensively restored original racer.

Over in the Live Action Arena, Terry Grant put on three excellent tyre-smoking and 2-wheeling shows, wowing the crowd and exhausting himself in the process.

The Live Action arena was also shared with the Handling Track, which was as popular as ever, hilarious fun, but deceptively difficult. The track was designed to suit skilled drivers rather than big power, and sure enough, it fitted the brief, being won by Gavin Hillman in his Mitsubishi Colt. View the full table of Handling Track times on the Handling page.

Over on the pit side of the track, more cornering fun was being had on the drift track, where shows and passenger rides were a constant draw. Also on the tarmac, the clubs put on a superb display, and they deserve special thanks for the support they give the show. We hope you had a great time.

View photos photos from JapShow 2009 on the JapShow 2009 Gallery page.