JapShow 2010 Report
Sunday 4th July at Santa Pod Raceway

Wall-to-wall sunshine at the JapShow meant that thousands of Japanese car fans made their way to Santa Pod Raceway to soak up the sights and sounds of the JapShow. The event was run in July for the first time, and a super-hot test day on Saturday saw some real summer weather scorch the Santa Pod site.

Hundreds of cars hit the strip on the Saturday and got in some track-time before the Sunday main day. With so many Jap cars on site, and on track it felt like the JapShow had come a day early! But no matter how good the test day was, the scale of the main show day on Sunday put it all into perspective. Thousands of Jap cars flooded the Santa Pod site, and row upon row of gleaming metal made the club display areas a real sight to behold.

As ever, the drag strip was open for Run What Ya Brung, and everything from Micras to Mitsubishi Evos ripped up the strip. With classes to find the quickest car from each Japanese manufacturer, some great times were set, with the following cars rising to the top in each class:

RWYB Winners

Class A - Nissan – Steve Kidell – Skyline R32 GTR 10.7987 @ 124.07

Class B – Toyota – Saqib Chaudhri – Toyota Supra – 12.5053 @ 109.38

Class C – Honda Marc Hadfield – Honda Civic Turbo 12.2584 @ 118.39

Class D – Mitsubishi Darren Haywood – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo1 11.1104 @104.57

Class E – Subaru – Adam Rowe – Subaru Impreza Tp R – 12.0052 @ 110.69

Class F – Mazda Robert Blackshaw – Mazda RX7 11.4146 @ 121.56

Class G – Suzuki/Daihatsu/Isuzu Jeff Whitbrook – Daihatsu GTTi 15.1714 @ 94.26

Class H – Japanese Bikes Robert Field – Kawasaki ZX12 – 9.4529 @ 143.98

Class X – Non Road Legal Kevin Osman – Suzuki Hayabusa 8.9331 @ 160.21

Also on track were the very fastest Japanese cars in Europe, running in the HKS Drag Series. With a decent entry list, something exciting was guaranteed to happen, and sure enough it did! Not only did John Stocker take his first Street Class win in a Nissan 200SX, Leon Green ran the fastest ever pass in the series’ history with a 7.50 at 178 mph! There were also thrills and spills and lots of close racing. The winners were as follows. Full race report coming shortly.

HKS Drag Series

Pro Class Winner: Leon Green, Toyota Supra Runner Up: None

FacMod Class Winner: Mark Moseley, Nissan Skyline R32 GTR Runner Up: Gary Gooding, Mazda RX7

Street Class Winner: John Stocker, Nissan 200 Runner Up: Robert Shadwell, Nissan Skyline R32 GTR

FWD Class Winner: Guy Chamberlain, Honda Civic Runner Up: Paul Cresswell, Honda Civic

For those who like a few corners in their life, there was plenty to please them too: The handling track was busy from start to finish, with all sorts of motors taking to the tight track. Everything from big-power drift cars through to nippy MX5s hit the track, but the top time was set by Matt Carter in his Nissan S14 with a great time of 22.15 seconds.

Handling Track Winner

Winner Matt Carter – Nissan S14 - 22.15 seconds

On the other side of Santa Pod, the Live Action Arena hosted constant rubber-burning action, with drift rides and stunt shows by the inimitable Paul Swift, who gave a fantastic display of precision driving.

For something with a slightly lower pace, there was plenty to see in the Show Car Paddock, with nearly 50 cars registered for the competition. Once again, a huge variety of styles and vehicle ages made this a super-tough competition to judge, with very high quality cars regrettably going home without a trophy. The winners were the best on the day and no previous record of achievement was taken into account during the judging process:

Show & Shine

Best Of Show Craig Mudd – 2004 Nissan 350Z A stunning car from the outside, with perfect paint, loads of carbon bodywork, and absolutely loaded with high-tech ICE and unique features.

Top 5 Rob Mitchell – 1994 Toyota Supra Perfect metallic orange paint and an outstandingly clean engine bay made this really stand out.

Best Retro Steve Cheung – 1989 Toyota Celica GTi 2.0 Just a really nice unrestored, unmolested car in great original condition.

Top 5 Alan Cooke – 2002 Subaru Impreza A bold and showy car, but with quality work all-round and a great finish, even in the engine bay.

Top 5 Paul Cooper – 1994 Toyota Celica Mile-deep paint and an extremely tidy V6 engine conversion made this stand out, but the car was top-quality throughout.

Top 5 Mark Lampard – 2002 Honda S2000 A stunning mix of carbon bodywork and fresh white paintwork, with a tidy interior and perfect engine bay.

We hope everyone had a fantastic day at the Pod, and we look forward to seeing you back for Rotorstock on August 21st, and JapShow Finale on October the 3rd. Thanks to everyone who came along and made the show what it is. Support the scene, attend the shows!

View photos photos from JapShow 2010 on the JapShow 2010 Gallery page.