VIDEO> Riding the Wall at Ebisu Circuit
So last night on Facebook, I was talking to Luke Huxham, an Aussie-living-in-Japan who is producing a documentary film about drifting in Japan called “We Are Drift.” Undaunted by hard work and a shoestring budget, Luke spends most of his waking hours either shooting drifting footage or urging others to support his new documentary film. In my experience, I’ve come to learn that relentless persistence like this can only mean one thing – EVERYONE is going to know about this film in the drifting scene.
As Luke showed me the newest teaser video clip he shot at “The Holy Land of Drifting,” Ebisu Circuit just this past weekend, I was pleasantly surprised to see some familiar faces in it! Namely, Formula D driver Calvin Wan (and his RHD zenki S14 Silvia) and Naoto Suenaga (and his white RPS13 180SX) from Team Orange. We even see a brief cameo from Team Orange’s hilarious crew chief, Igusa, driving his girl’s black R32 Skyline 4-door.
Look at how close Calvin gets to the WALL at Ebisu’s School Course! Awesome! And look how close these guys lead and follow! Since this is just a small sampling of the action we can expect in Luke’s video, I can’t wait to see the whole documentary film!
:: Antonio Alvendia
PS: Bonus Points>> Can anyone spot other D1 drivers in the video? And can anyone recognize the shirt Naoto is wearing?
We Are Drift Documentary Film Website
VIDEO> Honeymoon at Ebisu Circuit
Exactly one year ago, my good friends Jody and Chris Manacop (you might recognize the covers he’s shot for Performance Auto Sound Magazine, but you probably wouldn’t know his name cause PASmag effed up more than once and put someone else’s name under the photo credit! LOL) got married… on the day before Toshiki Yoshioka won first place at Formula D Las Vegas.
So today, on the 1-year anniversary of our good friends getting hitched, I decided to post up a video from their honeymoon. (No, no, you won’t see any night-vision camera stuff here… Google Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian for that.) I’m posting up a pretty cool video from their honeymoon in Japan; these two decided to go to the Summer Drift Festival at Ebisu Circuit for their honeymoon!
As luck would have it, I had just finished a photo mission in Germany, Belgium and the UK, so I met up with them in Japan during their “Honeymoon at Ebisu.” So there we were… Chris, Jody, Kumakubo, Naoto and the rest of our Ebisu Family in Fukushima Japan… just chillin out, looking for delicious Japanese drinks and snacks at the kombini (7-Eleven)… when Kumakubo asked Chris and Jody if they wanted to check out Ebisu’s Touge course.
In the words of Tokyo socialite Kenta Ogawara, Chris responded “well, OBVIOUSRYYYY!” and hopped into Kumakubo’s yellow Autech PS13 Silvia Convertible with his Canon SD 800IS point and shoot camera and an old school drifting helmet, which looked more like a baseball helmet.
So here’s the video that Chris shot with his SD 800IS, on his first ride up and down Ebisu’s touge with the King of the Hill himself, Kumakubo at the wheel… and the white RPS13 180SX in the background is being driven by Team Orange’s Naoto Suenaga with Chris’s wife Jody sitting shotgun.
So HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Chris and Jody! And thanks for the funny ass video! See you in Vegas tomorrow night! I’m gonna stop name dropping and get on the road now!
:: Antonio Alvendia
(PS: Excuse Chris’s high pitched laughter, LOL)
