Ah…I love the sound of pan pipes…so peaceful…

Oriental instruments drifted out from the radio speakers as Shinka stood stationary, undertaking his daily meditation. Not the sort of thing you would expect a racing car to do, especially in his trailer.

Shinka ceased his meditative hum and gazed out of the large trailer window to his left. Yokohama was now nothing more than a tiny blotch in the distance. Grasslands, sky and snow-capped mountains blurred past, as did the southbound traffic.

He'd made this journey many times before. The first time round it had been an exciting, new experience, as if he was on a journey to a fantastic place, the place of his dreams. Now it was just a routine travel from racing circuit to racing circuit.

It irritated him. Sure, his trailer was comfortable, decked out in ancient Japanese patterned walls, and he had all the mod cons. Shinka didn't go for the modern look.

Where Shinka would rather be was caressing asphalt with his Bridgestone tyres. Out on the track, enjoying the thrill of the occasion, the turbo-fuelled rush. And he enjoyed it even if he didn't win. To this Skyline, winning was just a bonus. The only problem was, everyone expected him to qualify and finish in first place every time.

Shinka stood deep in thought. The glare of green lights on his eyes snapped him out of it. To his right, he could see another truck rumbling alongside the window. A quick inspection revealed it to be painted green and red, with small green lights peppered along its undercarriage.

Shinka grinned as he saw Banzai watching him from the green trailer. He was mouthing something, but of course there was no way that was going to be heard through two layers of glass.

"Hey, Shinka," chimed in Hideo over the radio, "truck stop coming up, I'm gonna pull in."

"Of course," replied Shinka. It would be another day before they reached Kyoto. Another day before he could race again.

Hideo exited the motorway and pulled into the truck stop, parking in the nearest free bay. About 30 other trucks were also parked up, taking breathers from their long and short-haul journeys.

One truck caught Hideo's eye. It was coloured red and white and had the words 'Denso' and a large image of Rikishi emblazoned on the trailer. The truck also wasn't looking too happy, obviously still upset about Rikishi's inability to finish a race.

"Hey, Shinka…" spoke Hideo through the radio. "Yuuto is here…he doesn't look too great…"

Poor Rikishi, thought Shinka to himself, if crashing out wasn't enough, his team truck is having a bad turn too…I wonder if he'll make the Kyoto race?

Some of the other trucks suddenly got excited upon seeing that the JGTC champion was in their company.

"Wow, it's Shinka! Shinji Katayama! He's here!"

"He's racing in Kyoto in a day, ya know…he's gonna own everyone else for sure!"

"Hey, let's see if we can have a word with him, get the goss…"

"No, he's probably takin' a break or something. Gotta let him get his energy for the race."

Man, why do they have to make such a fuss…

A horn sounded from the motorway passing the truck stop. It belonged to a white and red truck, sporting the words Loctite on his trailer, plus a picture of Sun.

Hideo beeped back, while Shinka just stared out of the window, watching Sun's trailer drive off into the distance. He smiled at the thought that he'd be reunited with her soon enough.


"Rise and shine, Shinka! Welcome to Kyoto!"

Hideo's sudden greeting shook Shinka out of the pleasant dream he'd been in the middle of. Something to do with blossoms, a racetrack and a certain white and red Nissan…

Groggily, he looked out of the window to be greeted by a view of monolithic skyscrapers and roadways towering above the road that Hideo was travelling on.

Very impressive…but I've seen it so many times it never feels as special as the first time…

Hideo left the road which was the main drag into Kyoto. After much driving along the outskirts of the city, he eventually saw the road signs for the Kyoto Raceway. Not before he was suddenly distracted by four tuned-up cars tearing up alongside him, clearly wanting to cause mischief.

"Hey Big Blue…" piped up one of the tune-ups, a green graffiti covered sports car with an oversized spoiler on his back, "anyone ever tell ya you're such a slowcoach?"

His cronies started to laugh. They didn't even notice the large picture of Shinka on Hideo's trailer.

"Get out of it!" replied Hideo sharply, "at least I'm respecting the road…unlike yourselves!"

"Oooh, touchy, ain't he?" taunted the green tune-up, "anyway I ain't got time to hang with slowpokes. Kinda cramps my style, ya know? Besides, me and my buddies are headin' for Yokohama…see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!"

With that, the tune-ups, still laughing, accelerated in front of Hideo and sped off into the distance, but not before Hideo caught a glimpse of their number plates, which read "Snot Rod", "Boost", "Wingo" and "DJ".

"Hey! I've got your numbers, you roadhogs!" yelled Hideo, "I'll get the police on to you!"

Just then he caught sight of the grey structure that was Raceway and turned off to enter it. As he did he chuckled as he heard the tune-up cars arguing about directions to Yokohama.

"There it is, Shinka…your playground!"

Shinka sighed. Yes, indeed…just playing on the track. That'll do for me…

As Hideo pulled into the paddock, Shinka saw that a lot of the other racers had arrived earlier, including Hiroshi, who was parked outside his trailer, chatting to another racer, a black and red Toyota Supra.

Hideo pulled into a parking spot, and Shinka hurriedly exited the trailer, joining up with Hiroshi.

"Good journey, Shinka-san?" greeted his yellow and black buddy.

"Same as always…how about yours?"

"Ah, it never gets old for me…" smiled Hiroshi, "I saw the most beautiful sunset."

The Toyota that Hiroshi had been talking to nodded in agreement. "Nai…sunset very much beautiful."

Shinka grinned. "How are the English lessons coming on, Takahashi?"

"Going very well," replied Takahashi, his black and red paint glowing in the bath of the overhead light, "Sensei said me as becoming most gracious talker of English."

"Ah, you'll get there soon enough," praised Hiroshi, "anyway, it's gonna be a big one tomorrow."

At this he gave a knowing look at Shinka. He knew that there was mounting pressure on his best friend to break that record, but he'd known Shinka long enough to decide that he could handle it.

"Yes, I know…" sighed Shinka, "if I win tomorrow I will set myself up perfectly for the final race. I'll be fine, don't worry. Hope you do well tomorrow too, I'd love to see you beat Xin."

"Wouldn't we all?" replied Hiroshi, "in my opinion he shouldn't be allowed to compete, the damage he does…"

Takahashi nodded. "Xin Akashi-Feng is unfair race crusher."

Hiroshi gave a small laugh. "Your English might not be perfect, Takahashi-san, but you sure know how to give out some pearls of wisdom."

"I'm gonna head off and practice now," announced Shinka, driving off towards the track, "see you both on the track."

"Yes, laters, Shinka-san…have fun," replied Hiroshi.

"Much luck, Shinka-san! You will take gold!" chirped Takahashi.

Hiroshi turned to Takahashi, puzzled. "Did your English sensei make you watch the Olympics or something?"


The large grin on Shinka's face said it all. He was where he wanted to be, at one with the concrete racetrack.

He felt the wind blasting across his bodywork as he accelerated along the straight, priming himself for the upcoming bend. The said bend led into the finishing straight, past the dwarfing spectator stands on either side.

Yet the stands were empty. No wall of cheering, not a chrome soul in sight. As well as that, there were no other racers chasing Shinka down. After all, he was just completing his practice run. But this was how Shinka preferred it. The awesome feeling of racing, without the burdening pressure.

He pulled into the pit area for his debriefing from his crew of blue utility vehicles. They were hard at work, monitoring Shinka's times and maintaining his spare parts.

"Brilliant going, Shinka-san," exclaimed one of the crew, a silver executive saloon. Shinka recognised him as the boss of Calsonic, his team sponsor.

"Uh…arigatou, Mr. Seika," replied Shinka, somewhat sheepishly. It's just a practice run…

Seika beamed. "You've been flying all season…or should I say for the last 3 to 4 years! Not only are you putting Team Calsonic on the map, you could be going into racing history!"

Shinka gave a somewhat forced, toothy smile. As if I didn't know that already…

Just then a race official, a white and green Mazda sedan, drove into the pit area with a rather concerned look on his face.

"Where is Ryo Kobeyashi? He is due on the track for his practice run right now…"

An all white racer piped up. "Last time I saw his truck was about 10 miles from Kyoto…haven't seen him in the paddock…"

The official sighed. "Well, he will have to miss out, we can't afford any delays. Next car on the list will have to take his place…if he still hasn't appeared for qualifying, he knows the rules…"

Shinka knew what that meant. Any car that didn't make the qualifying session would automatically start from the back of the grid. The most severe rule of the JGTC was regarding cheating. If any car was found to have used illegal modifications or was too overweight, they could face a number of penalties, the most severe being disqualified from the entire championship, which also meant having their points total expunged from the championship. Shinka remembered very well when a Mitsubishi named Akira was kicked out of the JGTC five years ago for using illegal nitros.

Just then, Sun drove into view, and at once Shinka perked up. He smiled, as did the white and red beauty.

"Konnichi-wa, Shinka," she greeted, "I've got some downtime before the qualifying run. Want to join me?"

Shinka's smile got wider. "How could I say no to that?"


Kyoto was no Tokyo, that was for sure. Yet it was still as futuristic and alluring as the Japanese capital. Plus, it had quite a number of gas cafes.

Shinka and Sun had chosen to get their guzzle of gas at a quaint place known as Keiko's Pit Stop, an old favourite of the JGTC racers. Not surprisingly, it wasn't too far from the Raceway. And of course, it was doing a more roaring trade than normal because of tomorrow's race day.

"So…" inquired Sun, pausing to take another sip of petrol, "how you feeling about tomorrow's race, Shinka?"

This was one question that Shinka got asked way too much. With a reporter he'd probably give an abrupt "No comment!" This was the girl he loved, though, and he didn't want to ruin their drink with that.

"I'm cool with it," he gingerly replied, though he tried to hide the reluctance.

"Good…I'm glad," replied Sun sweetly, yet she could see through that smile a mile off. She was unsure whether to dig deeper. After all, she didn't want to wreck a potential relationship before it even started.

"How about you?" Shinka replicated the question.

"Good, also…" replied Sun, "I came fifth in the last race, so more points on the board. I'm hoping for more of the same tomorrow."

Shinka felt slightly envious of Sun. She was one of those 'all-rounder' cars in a race - never finishing high on the grid but always a solid performer. That meant she didn't get as much attention as the more successful cars did. That was where the envy came in. Sometimes I wish all those reporters, commentators an even the fans would just go bother another car…

He snapped out of it. "I hope you do well. It would be awesome if you got a podium finish."

Sun smiled. "Arigatou."

The smile was returned by Shinka. He just loved gazing at Sun's pretty blue eyes…and her white and red bodywork was so hot.

"Uh…Shinka? Looks like you have attention…"

Shinka wheeled round to see that a group of other diners were watching him in awe. They clearly were excited that the most famous racecar in Japan was sipping fuel in their diner. Some of them called Shinka's name, and three of them plucked up the courage to drive over to Shinka's table. Three excitable fangirl cars, of course, giggling and squealing in excitement.

"Oh! It's him! Shinji Katayama!"

"You're such an awesome racer, can't wait to see you win tomorrow!"

"I love you, Shinka! You're so cute…!"

Shinka gave a sheepish grin. Fangirls…so cute, yet so annoying…

"Domo ni, girls…I'll do my best tomorrow."

The fangirls then departed, hollering in unison, "Go Shinka! You can do it!"

"Gomen," apologised Shinka to Sun, "guess that kind of ruined our drink…"

Sun laughed. "Aw, don't be silly, Shinka! It can only be expected, being so famous…I've really enjoyed this drink…with you."

That instantly perked up Shinka. He wasted no time in returning the compliment.

"Thank you, Sun…I have also…we should do this more often."

Sun could feel a car's equivalent of butterflies. Yet still she was hesitant to say the right words. As was Shinka.

Both cars turned to drive out of Keiko's, but Shinka suddenly halted. This had to be his moment.

"Sun…there's something I…"

"What? What is it?" asked Sun. He's going to say it…he must be…

The confidence just leaked from Shinka in one split second. It's too soon…

"No…sorry…it's nothing…never mind…"

He silently cursed himself for blowing it yet again.

Sun gave a deep sigh. "OK…we should be getting back…"

Why can't you tell me, Shinka? Just open your heart…


A satisfied expression adorned Shinka's face as he crossed the finish line, knowing that once again, he'd qualified in pole position. But of course, it was yet another forced expression.

After some beaming praise from Mr. Seika, Shinka made his way back to his trailer, but before he got there he heard raised voices coming from outside one of the other trailers.

"It's not his fault! I got the directions mixed up! Why should he be penalised for my mistake?"

"Rules are rules, Yuuto…if a racer is late for the qualifying session, he will be automatically demoted to the back of the grid."

"Oh…for the love of cord! Why can't you let him off just this once? He's feeling lousy enough as it is…"

"His performance on the racetrack is not my problem. Inability to arrive at the venue on time? That is the problem. As I said, he starts from the back. I won't tell you again."

Yuuto scowled in anger as the official drove off, possibly to hassle another rule-breaker. He looked over at his trailer sadly.

"I'm sorry, Rikishi…"

The beleaguered Toyota Supra gave a laboured sigh. "It's OK, Yuuto-san…you were only looking out for me…"

"Just try your best tomorrow, man," coaxed Yuuto, trying his best to give Rikishi back some pride in himself.

Rikishi nodded slowly, and then retreated into his trailer. Watching from a distance, Shinka felt great sorrow for the troubled racer. He would rather that Rikishi finished the race tomorrow than have himself winning it.

The blue Skyline retreated to his trailer, to undergo some heavy-duty meditation and to psyche himself up for tomorrow's race.