I boarded my flight to Japan with a little bit more excitement than usual. I’ve gotten to know the guys behind the team fairly well over the years, but to get a private look at the build and how they go about testing was something I was really looking forward to. It’s a company that has more than earned its prestige given it’s racing heritage. Unfortunately, in the past decade, Japanese motor sport has seen a dramatic decline in interest in drag racing, and one that forced Escort to branch out into other mediums.
DEAD OR ALIVE 6 EVO JAPAN PRO
As the years progressed, Escort put their talents to use back in Japan building their equally iconic Type M R32 Skyline a car that would eventually go on to being Japan’s fastest RWD Pro Class car in 2009 (beating out Garage Saurus with a 7.67 run). The 2001 Import World Finals hosted at Pomona Raceway saw Shiobara take home an unprecedented Pro Class world title. After taking many championship titles in Japan, Shiobara eventually branched out his drag racing campaign to the holy land of the quarter mile the NHRA in the United States. They ran an entire program to ensure everything was working for Sugo and with times approaching that of GT machines, the results speak for themselves.īeside Ando’s recent success in time attack racing, Shiobara himself built the reputation of Escort behind the wheel of a car namely his infamous drag Z32. A perfect example of this is how the team rented out Central Circuit two weeks ago for a continuous 3 days of testing. They are expending all efforts of work, time, and money to seek the best time they can get from a single lap. From custom aerodynamic body parts, complete engine and trans builds, this is truly an example of an ultimate tuning car unprecedented in performance. The team has collectively built the car from the ground up in-house with their small crew of techs.
For now, they are focusing on the foundational circuits in Japan and specifically with this most recent event, the Tohoku area. Per Escort themselves, the revised Evo 9 that they built was created solely for establishing new tuning car course records for every circuit, both domestic and international, they choose to set their targets on. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to see their process in person, I would gladly make the drive to Sendai Saturday morning. Last week, Escort founder and owner Hiroshi Shiobara invited me out to Sugo Sportsland the Saturday before the Attack event to get a closer look at the team’s rebuilt Evo and to get a closer look into their test program.
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