The Chronicles Vlog #2: Yuta Akaishi/SLB and GTAxSLB ’14 Coverage….


Hopefully you guys enjoyed the first part of Vlog #2 featuring Yuta Akaishi and his Civic. Today, we get to see the second half of the video that documents his day at GTAxSLB at Buttonwillow Raceway. The video speaks for itself so I’ll keep it brief today. After you check out the video, make sure to look below at some of the photos that I captured from the event that day. I don’t often cover race events, but when I do, I try my best to capture some good shots of the cars and happenings from the day. There were a ton of cars participating at the event that day but I spent most of my time covering very specific builds. I got more photos coming after and I captured so much of the Spoon Sports FD2 that I decided to dedicated a separate post to it along with some incredibly rare, raw, in-car footage from driver Dai Yoshihara. Enjoy and thanks for looking!…

Like the video? Well, here are the photos…

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Yuta Akaishi’s Civic waiting at the starting grid for his first session….

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Captured this shot of a R35 GTR in the pits…

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Ken Suen and his “Big Red” Civic getting ready for it’s next run…

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The Fortune Auto EVO getting refueled….

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This Civic featured bright green accents with 949Racing wheels up front and Enkeis in the rear…

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Jared Reyes’ Civic and his custom rear wing, bumper, and diffuser set-up…

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Lazorack Motorsports LS-powered Chrysler Conquest is simply amazing in every way….

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Amir Bentatou and his E36 BMW M3 running the Enthusiasts RWD Class. He ran a 1:58.235 that day and easily won in his class…

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Here’s something you don’t see very often at a track event. This Benz was probably the loudest vehicle of the event bar none…

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Yuta on the go….

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Faiz Rahman’s IS300 was still out here after SEMA so it was displayed at the Fortune Auto booth…

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Here’s a better look at the Lazorack Starquest…

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Custom widened fenders that still flow with the original widebody lines of the 80s classic. Resting underneath are deep-lipped CCW Classic wheels…

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Really dig the custom rear wing and quarters on this car. Everything just flows so well and you can tell that the aero was all very-well thought out….

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The Spoon Sports FD2 Civic Type R getting some “minor adjustments” before its next run….

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You know you’re fast when the windshield banner is holding on for dear life….

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Aaron Wang from Spoon Sports USA re-mounting the black 5Zigen wheel…

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Driver Dai Yoshihara prepares for his next session….

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Yoshihara getting strapped into the Spoon car….

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Some more detailed shots of Ken Suen’s Civic and all the custom aero that’s been fitted to the car….

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Yuta’s Civic cooling down after a few laps on Buttonwillow CW13…

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I don’t think you guys have had a good look at his modest Jackson Racing Supercharged B18C1 set-up….

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His chopped Bomex rear bumper and C-West rear spoiler….

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It was nice to be able to get a rare photo of Yasutaka Shimomukai from Tactical Art and Yuta together. The main reason why I went out there that week was because Yasu was visiting from Japan and really wanted to go to Super Lap Battle. I couldn’t say no and on top of that, I’d also be able to get out there to show Yuta support….

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Kiet Le’s Accord coupe is another rare sight in American time attack. You don’t see these cars used for this particular purpose very often but its good to see people tread on uncommon waters….

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Sportcar Motion’s Rotrex supercharged Integra Type R piloted by Tim Kuo….

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The Evasive Motorsports Voltex S2000 on bronze Volk ZE40….

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A pair of aggressively-sized Volk Racing CE28RT wheels….

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A duo of FR-S builds in the Evasive Motorsports paddock area….

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Some more of Jared Reyes’ circuit-spec Civic hatchback….

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Tony Jackson went out to SLB that weekend and nailed a new personal best time…

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The Spoon Sports Civic Type R sans front splitter since it ripped off earlier in the day…

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A glimpse at the raw interior of the turbocharged Spoon build….

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You guys got to see this car in detail during one of my visits to Spoon Sports earlier in the year and now we get to enjoy it here in the U.S. I have a particular fascination with this car so I am always trying to get good shots of it…

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Yuta adding some water into his water/meth injection set-up, which was installed to help alleviate the high intake air temps from the Jackson S/C….

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Ryan Novak’s Ferrari 360….

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UMS Tuning EVO with some intense custom aerodynamics…

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This widebody EVO almost looks tame compared to the UMS car above….

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Rolloface BMW E92 M3 coupe….

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Buttonwillow Raceway allows for some great track shots so I made sure to snap some. Thanks to Tony Jackson for showing me the exact spots to go to for the shots since I had never been to this track before….

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The GST Subaru Impreza was a fucking monster and set a new record that day at Buttonwillow CW13….

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A couple of Dai and the Spoon Sports Civic in action. I think a lot of people at GTAxSLB were really surprised by just how fast this car was that day….

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Yimisport Subaru WRX STI with a custom swan-neck rear wing ended the day with the Street AWD Championship….

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Sportcar Motion’s ITR did very well and made it through the day with some impressive lap times. Kuo’s best that day was a blistering 1:51.916…

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Narvaez Racing R35 competed in the Limited AWD class and ran a 01:54.1…

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Closing out Part 1 of this coverage with one more of the Spoon Sports FD2. During the practice session the day before, it ran a best of 01:46 on old race tires and the Spoon Sports USA team had high-hopes of breaking the Unlimited FWD record at Buttonwillow. Did it ended up doing it? Well, stay tuned to find out…. Or watch the video above, haha. Thanks for looking and stay tuned for more…

By the way, Part 1 of the video is posted in the previous post below. Just in case you missed it….

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