Entrants grid behind a rusted-out Land Cruiser pace car. They're not running for lap times or against the clock. In a format closer to European rallycross, it's wheel-to-wheel racing in a six-hour endurance format. Mandatory driver changes happen every hour. Otherwise, 15-minute penalties are incurred. Two warm-up laps are taken behind the Land Cruiser, and at 9am, a subtle homage to the rising sun replaces the green flag. And then they're off.
Early on, the fight for first is between Kiwi Sports in the #1 Subaru Vivio, Mitero Kachan in the #2 Mazda Carol and Team Zero Flag in the #4 Vivio. Honorable mention has to go to the #14 Mira of Team Kame (translated Team Turtle), driven by a mother-of-three looking to blow off some steam after a rough PTA meeting. The racing is every bit as close and exciting as Super GT or Le Mans, but there are no bruised egos or pit lane shoving matches to be found after any paint-trading. Each driver knows the other is just there as a weekend thrill-seeker. There are no high-falutin' notions of being discovered for a Formula Nippon drive-the atmosphere is extremely laid back.
An engine failure for Team RTT's #18 Daihatsu Mira retires them early with only 12 laps completed. By the end of the second hour, a few teams are starting to get reckless. Team Kame tries to make up for lost time with their second driver, Tsuruta. He loses control just past the chicane, taking the honors for the first rollover of the day. Shortly after the third hour, Watanabe, the driver of #4, tries to correct from oversteering into a bank, and is soon greeted with viciously swift snap oversteer in the other direction. In a stroke of irony, his Suzuki Alto flips just in front of the start/finish line, the same place where the team crashed last August. He loses a well-fought bid for first place.
The back straight is about a tenth of a mile, followed by two concrete slabs functioning as a set of esses. The braking zone is clearly indicated by years of erosion, exposing a glossy surface of smooth rock. The # 5 Vivio, from team Colt Crowd, loses a rear wheel at the esses, making one slow lap as a three-wheeled wagon before pitting. The rear drum survives the dragging and another wheel is soon installed. By noon, Kiwi Sports are on their 64th lap.
The dissonance of three-cylinder engines continues. Like bees in a hive, the Altos, Carols (a re-skinned Alto) and Miras have a distinct whine compared to the Subaru Vivios, the only four-cylinder cars in the field. The disparity of sound is most evident when they accelerate out of an apex. With all kei-cars restricted to a scooter-like 660cc, the Vivio achieves this with a 56mm bore and a 66.8mm stroke. The rest of the field achieves this using a 65mm bore and a 66mm stroke.
The fourth hour brings about fuel delivery problems for the #33 Cervo. Team Rond Bell keep an even keel as they find a sticky fuel filter to be their problem. A few stops in the pits sees them changing drivers and cleaning out the dirty filter, a temporary fix until a parts store run can save the day. Further up the pack, the fifth hour has the front runners marked as the #1 Vivio, # 2 Carol and #10 Mira, all of whom are finishing their 156th lap. Team Zero Flag's third-hour rollover holds them down to 10th place, while Team RT Geronimo's Mira completes its bid for third. However, as events unfold, RT Geronimo's hard charge isn't enough to break Kiwi Sports' and Mitero Kachan's fight for the win.
As the sun sets on Nagano, the 'Roof of Japan', it is Mitero Kachan's #2 Carol taking the win with a nail-biting 192 laps. It would be a major upset of last year's season champion, Team Kiwi, who came close (but not close enough) with 191 laps.