Chapter 6
When Tatsuo and Nika arrived at the school they saw a 2000 Mazda RX-7 painted in vivid blue, its carbon fiber hood and the spoiler mounts were the only things on the whole car that weren't blue.
"Who do you think this belongs to?" Nika asked as she walked around the car a couple times.
"Well unless Gavin did a full overhaul on his body kit and painted it in two days, I don't think this is his," Tatsuo replied as he too stared at the mystery machine, "Think it could be Takahashi-sensei's, I mean Kyoko-san's?"
"No Takahashi-sensei's is black and parked over by the maintenance bay," Nika answered looking in the window of the car, "Even the racing seats in this thing are blue."
Gavin and Reiko pulled in and joined the other two by the mystery FD. The students were unaware that all of the teachers were watching along with the tall blonde haired man who had driven the car to the school.
"Seems your students are trying to figure out whose car that is Takumi-kun," the blonde man said with a chuckle.
"And how long are you going to be in Japan David?" Keisuke asked as they continued to watch.
"I'm only here for a few days, my wife didn't even come with me for this trip," David asked smiling at the students.
"Too bad, still you're welcome to come to dinner any time," the spiky bleach blonde said with a slight grin, "You should run a few laps if you've got time, it should be easy enough on the current lay out."
Back outside Gavin and Tatsuo were about to pull the pins out of the carbon fiber hood to sneak a peek at the engine when the sound of footsteps and the voices of the staff stopped them.
"If you like, you can give it the tune up I requested," the older blonde man in a black business suit said not introducing himself.
"I don't think we have a right to Sir, not without our Sensei's approval," Tatsuo said respectfully.
"You and this young lady drove up in a pair of SE3Ps, your blonde haired friend here came up in an FD, that gives you just as much right as I have I would think, especially with the car not really belonging to me," The older blonde man said with a slight chuckle while gesturing towards Reiko and Gavin, "Though if you insist, Takumi-kun the permission is yours to give."
Takumi chuckled at his student's eyes getting larger at the prospect of checking out the car and all its mysteries as well as this seemingly American man's use of their teacher's given name with such a casual tone.
"I guess I have to introduce you to Crandon-san," Takumi said with a chuckle, "Students this is David Crandon, an old friend of Project D when we were still running the mountain passes and also a manager for one of the corporate sponsors for our little school here."
The tall blonde returned the students' bow before he stepped to the car and climbed in. Tatsuo opened the garage door as Gavin and Reiko walked beside the slow moving vivid blue FD. As the three made quick work of changing out the spark plugs and wires, Nika seemed to stand apart and simply stared at the aggressive looking machine. Once the class was finished David removed his tie and jacket passing them to Kyoko to hold, and moved the FD to the starting line where a new computer controlled lap timer was on either side of the track.
"Guess they had that put in while they were retuning the trainers," Gavin said just before the 13B-REW of the blue FD screamed onto the track with a bit of smoke from the tires.
As the FD began its trek it was obvious only to the Takumi and Keisuke that the blonde at the wheel had lost some of his adaptability as the car slid through the first right hand corner and part of the way through the following open left hander. As David flew through the wide left handed u-turn he had gotten half a feel for the car and was gaining on Takumi's standing start lap time.
"Must be rusty," Keisuke chuckled thinking about the stories he'd heard about the Purple Shadow's top drivers.
"That and he's never driven that car or this course," Takumi said while his eyes stayed pinned to the FD as it pushed through the two hundred seventy degree right handed loop corner and slid through the left u-turn right after it.
On the course David was having a hard time controlling the wild blue machine, it either wanted to slide too much or not at all as he passed through the long corners of the throttle course. To the students this was an exciting show as they watched the new car fly though the right handed hairpin corner.
As David approached the v-shaped left hander the FD turned sideways, its nose just ever so slightly chasing after its tail, as the car lined up with the exit it simply squatted down and flew away from the corner leaving smoke trails as its tires struggled to grip the road again.
"If I catch any of you students trying that in the trainers or your own cars you'll be restricted to track side for a week," Keisuke said seriously noticing a smirk on Gavin and Tatsuo's faces.
"Keisuke, I don't think he meant to do that this time," Takumi said under his breath, "Last time I saw that he was a lot steadier on his exit."
'Did not expect that to work,' David thought as he flew down the straight after the v-turn.
The FD slowed as David pulled his foot off the throttle at the start of the left hand corner at the end of the straight. He kept his foot in the air till he was through first part of the next right hander before he floored the throttle sliding the tail out just a little and hanging on through the rest of the corner leading into the last straight of the course.
"He's a little off the pace your Honda set Takumi, but he might make it up now that he's had a lap to practice," Wataru said looking at the lap time board next to him.
As the next lap progressed a change in driving style was obvious to anyone who had seen the first lap, it was much smoother and only a half second behind the pace of the lap time Takumi set in his Honda. The FD slid less and opened its throttle sooner through most of the long corners. As it approached the v-turn this time it simply nose dived before the corner as the tail flew out and once again squatted down and launched the car down the course.
"He's only a half second behind you Takumi, he keeps this up your students will have a new goal to hit," Wataru said before the sound of screaming tires and the smell of burnt rubber drew all of their attentions to the course.
David had turned the car around and was driving at a snail's pace compared to his earlier speeds. As the FD came off the course, Gavin closed the track gates while the other students and the staff followed the vivid blue machine to its parking space.
"That was fun, but if I went for another lap the owner of this machine may not have gotten her FD back in one piece," David said calmly as he stepped from the car.
"Why, was something wrong Crandon-san?" Takumi asked sounding a little concerned for the car more than its driver.
"Yeah, I nearly blew the tires on the first lap, I'm good at switching cars but the girl who owns this thing has a sick sense of humor in her settings," the taller blonde responded with a chuckle, "That little stunt at the v-turn was not what I wanted to do, but it worked so I won't complain too much."
"You can't be serious, I've never seen someone drive that way first shot in a car," Gavin said completely forgetting his manners, "I'm amazed that you'd be willing to try it first time is all Sir."
"Well, if you think I'm joking young man, ask Takumi-kun here just what I did with one of his friends cars in Akina," David said gaining a serious tone before looking at his watch and collecting his tie and suit jacket from Kyoko, "Keisuke I'll do what I can to get to your place for dinner, but I've got a meeting to get to, I'll call you a bit later to say if I'm coming for sure or not."
Without waiting for a response, just as quickly as it showed up, the vivid blue FD left tread marks on the pavement as it flew out of the parking area.
"Alright, let's get to it then. Ms. Mahara you've got the Cosmo, Ms. Sasaki you're in the AW11 this time," Keisuke said as he and the other staff walked back to the track.
Several hours and a whole ton of laps by each of the students later Keisuke and Takumi noticed some clouds on the horizon and called them in for the day.
"Alright, you're done for today, I've got two things to say, one when we have visitors, don't gawk at their cars," Keisuke said rousing a chuckle from everyone, "And I'm glad to say that I've seen a lot of improvements in your driving, now get out of here before the rain the weather man was calling for comes."
"Sir, why don't we practice in the rain? Most of us have raced in it before so why don't we do that here?" Gavin asked before anyone could move towards their cars.
"Mainly because at this point in time we don't have the cars set up for the rain, and we also don't have the race grade wet tires we want for such practice sessions," Keisuke said before he turned back towards the main building, "Once we have those we'll start practicing in the rain."
Later that night at Akina the rain had stopped but the roads were still wet as four cars filed their way to the top of the pass, a red FD leading the way. As they arrived at an old radio tower, all four cars pulled into the pull off area.
"Well who is riding with whom tonight?" Gavin asked as the other drivers gathered around.
"I'll ride with Nika, maybe I can finally have a woman to woman talk about some things with her," Reiko said with a laugh as she climbed into the pearl blue Z33 sitting just behind the group.
"Guess that leaves you with me Tatsuo, whose car do you want to go in?" Gavin said chuckling as Nika climbed into her car.
"Let's take yours, maybe I can learn a thing or two watching you drive, I still don't know how you go downhill with that monster under the hood," Tatsuo responded scratching his head.
As the two men climbed into the red FD the two women of the group were already a third of the way down the mountain, the Z33 making good time despite its heavy body and over powered engine.
"I can guarantee that my tires won't last more than a couple runs, I wasn't really planning on still having this set by the end of the day," Nika said as she maneuvered the car through a corner.
"It's not that big a deal, I just got tired of riding with Tatsuo and we never have gotten to know each other," Reiko responded with a small chuckle.
"Well there really isn't much to tell," the brown haired young woman said slowing down to a safer speed at which to hold a conversation at, "That and I really don't like talking about the typical girly things."
"Well, when is your birthday?" the black haired girl asked reaching for her phone, "For my phone, so I know."
"It's only a few days away, 21 at long last," Nika said with a quiet chuckle after several minutes and two of the five hairpins later.
Only a few corners behind the Z33 the FD was quickly catching up to the slower vehicle. Gavin had just steered through left hander before the five hairpins and was laying the hammer down.
"I guess we're not going to catch the girls before we hit the bottom," Tatsuo said as he grabbed anything he could to stabilize himself in the FD's passenger seat.
"We might if Reiko is intent on having that girl talk," Gavin responded during one of the short straights between hairpins.
When the toreador red machine cleared the last hairpin Gavin floored it once again in a vain attempt to catch the other car. Once they did reach the bottom Nika and Reiko were poised and ready to hit the course.
"Should have known he'd try and catch us," Reiko said with a chuckle before the blue Z33 launched onto the uphill of Mt. Akina.
The toreador red FD turned around in the lower parking area and launched back onto the course and began chasing down the pearl blue Z33. As the two cars re-entered the five hairpins the red FD began drifting through each corner with an appearance of ease even though behind in this impromptu race.
"Gavin is showing off back there," Reiko said with a chuckle watching the headlights of the other car flash in and out of the mirror on her side of the car.
"Think he's getting impatient?" Nika asked with a chuckle as they continued their upward trek.
"I think he would have already passed if he were," the black haired girl said somewhat seriously, "Besides, we just came up here for a little fun since there aren't any teams out here anymore."
A few moments later the red FD took a better line through one of the corners and passed the pearl blue Z33, but Gavin did not pull away all at once.
"Alright, now he's just showing off right?" Nika asked as they flew through the following corners.
"Actually I think he's trying to show you what to do," Reiko said hesitantly as they watched the car go from one rougher style of cornering to a smoother one, "Try mimicking him and see if it feels faster."
Nika mimicked what she saw as best she could even without knowing exactly what the pedals of the FD were doing, but it did feel much faster. At each different corner the brown haired girl mimicked what the FD did and she was finding it much easier to keep pace with the toreador red machine.
"You know he's holding back to show me all this stuff," Nika said as they cleared one of the final uphill corners.
"Well, at least you learned something tonight," Reiko with a small chuckle, "And besides, this is part of the reason we come to the mountains, to practice the stuff we're being taught at school."
"Very well done Nika, I wasn't sure you'd understand what I was up to," Gavin said as the two ladies stepped from the pearl blue Z33.
"Reiko had to explain it, I just thought you were showing off for a couple pretty girls," Nika laughed, "My tires won't last another run, so I'm headed out for the night, see you at school."
A few moments later Nika was on her way down the pass while the others stayed at Akina for the remainder of the night practicing. The next morning Reiko, Tatsuo and Nika arrived to Kyoko watching Gavin running around the throttle course at an impressive pace.
"How long has he been on the track Takahashi-sensei?" Reiko asked as she watched the car.
"This is the end of his second lap, I've only allowed him four since it's about what we had time for before class begins," Kyoko answered with a calm tone not taking her eyes off the car.
On the course Gavin was in trouble, his tires were losing grip faster than he expected and he was struggling to keep his car on any line at all because of it. As the red FD approached the two hundred and seventy degree right handed loop he spun out just barely keeping it on the track before the car came to rest its driver's side resting on the red and white markers along the outside of the corner. After a few moments Gavin caught his breath and moved the FD backwards along the track to pit lane.
"Whose time were you going for Mr. Reynolds?" Kyoko asked as the buzz cut blonde climbed from the car.
"I was trying for Crandon-san's time Takahashi-sensei," Gavin replied before sitting down and leaning back on his car, "Just couldn't get there this time."
"Well there are reasons for that," Kyoko said gaining Gavin's full attention before continuing, "With the differences between your driving style and his, the suspension layouts of the two cars had an effect as well as your lines, but the biggest part was as you well know your tires were shot by the third lap."
"Well I'll make sure I get a new set before I leave then," Gavin said laying his head back on the FD's door.
"First you'll be getting your FD off the course and into the AW11 Mr. Reynolds," Keisuke's voice came from just behind Kyoko, "Mr. Sasaki you'll be in the Cosmo today and you'll all have radios while you're doing your laps from now on."
"Why is that?" Nika asked leaning against the guardrail, "I mean won't that be distracting?"
"It can be at first, but it's pretty easy once you get used to it," Takumi said scratching his ear a bit, "And well, we are a racing school, so we should teach these things at some point."
"Let's get to it, I want at least two laps per student in each car today, and you've still got a lesson with Wataru and Kyoko later on," Keisuke said seriously causing everyone to scatter; the staff to their own jobs and the students to the trainer cars.
Once the school's two trainer cars were on the start line, radios were put in safe places inside the cars and Gavin and Tatsuo were helped getting the wires to comfortable places as they put the ear pieces in place. Once everything was in place, Keisuke checked the radios through the headset he had put on.
"Mr. Sasaki, I'll be your radio man for today, just say check to make sure it works," Keisuke said into the radio as Takumi checked Gavin's, "Just be sure to tell us what you feel the car doing and if something is wrong, if we give advice give it a try."
After both students had checked in Wataru gave the go and both cars launched on to the track, the Cosmo gaining a slight lead over the AW11 before they entered the first corner.
"This thing is fighting me on left hand corners," Gavin said after the long left handed u-turn, "And the brakes feel stiffer than last time I drove it."
"Alright we'll look into it after your laps, just try to hang on to it till you get done, if it gets worse pull off," Takumi said being a touch cautious about things.
Gavin managed to keep the car on the track pretty well till the v-turn after the right handed hairpin where the car simply wouldn't turn enough to clear the corner without running into the gravel on the outside.
"That's it, I'm calling this one Fujiwara-sensei" Gavin said as he pulled the car off into the gravel and shut it off.
Tatsuo stopped some distance away at Keisuke's instruction and Wataru got the new tow truck out for its first use. The students continued their laps for the day in the old Cosmo while Kyoko worked out what happened to the AW11 and Wataru put new tires on Gavin's FD and Nika's Z33.
"The SE3Ps could do with a fresh set too, but Tatsuo said to just do his sister's for now," Kyoko said from under the AW11 just before Wataru moved the Z33 out of the garage area.
Just before class was to be dismissed for the day, the students gathered track side at the instruction of Wataru and Kyoko.
"Okay the AW11 is going to need a new rack and pinion," Wataru said calmly, "We're not sure how yet, but it got pretty screwed up, until we get that fixed the 67 Cosmo is the only trainer you've got."
"For now, you're dismissed for the day, and we apologize for not having the best equipment for you to learn in," Kyoko said sounding slightly disheartened by the event.
As the students left out the staff remained at the school, Wataru went to talk with Takumi and his cousin, and Kyoko slowly made her way back into the garage area. Keisuke took notice of this and followed his wife.
"Something wrong Kyoko?" The spiky haired blonde asked when he stepped into the large garage area.
"Just wondering how I missed all that damage while staring right at it," Kyoko responded leaning against a tool box, "I inspected that car just last night before we went home."
"We were all tired, Aniki has Takumi and I writing reports on each of the students, you've been practically rebuilding these cars every other night with Wataru, so missing one thing isn't out of the ordinary," Keisuke said trying to be comforting.
"Yeah I realize but I should have caught it before it hit the track, it could have been so much worse if Reynolds-kun didn't stop," Kyoko said once again berating herself for what happened.
Keisuke and Kyoko continued to talk for a while before rejoining the rest of the staff to say good bye and leaving early to go home and rest.
The students met up at Mt. Myogi the following Saturday night since Tatsuo had gotten a call from Mikio requesting a meet there. Gavin and Nika were already there when Tatsuo and Reiko arrived, and just like always Gavin was laid across his hood like it was a bed.
"So what did Taniguchi want?" Gavin asked from his place on the FD's hood.
"A race with Nika is what he said," Tatsuo responded sounding a little skeptical.
"Well if he wants to race me, let him race me," Nika said in her normal pre-race bitchy tone, "He'll lose call me a cheater and I'll let Gavin hit him again."
"If he calls you a cheater Nika, you should be the one that hits him," Gavin said through a held back yawn.
After a few minutes of waiting around, Mikio arrived at the bottom of Myogi where Gavin agreed to start and mediate the race while Tatsuo and Reiko would wait at the top. Before Tatsuo left he gave Gavin a radio to tell them what was going on as they made the trek up.
"We're at the top, we ran into a few racers headed up, told them about a race starting so they should be off the course," Reiko said into her brother's radio.
"Alright, I'll get them ready," Gavin replied through the radio.
At the bottom of the mountain the buzz cut blonde was standing between the pearl blue Z33 and the Baja red Lan-Evo III ready to start the race, his FD idling noisily close behind.
"Alright let's get this done then, I'll catch up after the start," Gavin said before stepping out in front of the two cars.
The engines roared to life, the NISMO tuned Z33 just a little louder than the Lan-Evo, but both sounding equally angry. When Gavin dropped his arm the two cars flew by him and on to the mountain pass. By the time the buzz cut blonde got started the racers were already on the second corner.
"I'm behind, but I'll catch them near the first hair pins, if not shortly after them," Gavin said into the radio as he flew through the first corners of the mountain.
A bit further up the course Nika and Mikio were tearing into the first hairpin of the course. Nika was having no trouble keeping Mikio behind her through the straight between the hairpins. Gavin caught sight of Mikio's tail lights entering the second hairpin as he cleared the first.
"I just spotted Mikio's tails, meaning Nika is out front, how far I don't know yet," the buzz cut blonde reported as he entered the second hairpin, "I've got a little space, I'm going to punch it and catch up through this easier section."
At the top of the course a crowd had started to grow and a few racers were taking an opportunity to go down and find places to watch on before the racers got too far into the course.
"Gavin be careful when you get to the top, we've got spectators moving on the course," Tatsuo said into the radio getting a short growl in response.
Gavin caught up to the official racers and let off as they all cleared an open ninety degree left hander. Nika had a short lead and the buzz cut blonde was fighting the urge to pass Mikio. As they entered the next left hander the Lan-Evo slid off its line mid corner causing the gap between it and the leading Z33 to open further as the chasing FD braked a little harder to keep from hitting it.
"Nika is holding the lead going into the first hairpin set, I think something might actually be wrong with Mikio's car this time," the buzz cut blonde reported as he reclosed the gap.
As the three cars flew through the next hairpins the gap continued to open between the blue Z33 and the red Lan-Evo. As they cleared the last one Gavin noticed that Mikio's lines and style had changed, the Lan-Evo was smoother as it cleared the left handed corner after the hairpins.
'Something is different, Mikio's either improved or his style really has changed mid race,' Nika thought as she watched the car behind her while pushing the throttle closer to the floor, 'He's closed the gap a bit, time to really go then.'
By the time the three cars arrived at the next straight piece of road a radio tree had started and Tatsuo and Reiko were hearing the play by play from the crowd around them. The Z33 was in the lead and the pace had gone up just a bit since the start.
"Nika's playing it smart, she's not trying to completely level him, but instead save her tires for the last downhill stretch," Tatsuo said quietly to his sister.
"Something is definitely wrong with the Lan-Evo Tatsuo, I don't know what it is, but it can't seem to stay on the chosen line," Gavin's voice rang out through the radio.
"Where are you Gavin, and do you think he'll make it to the end of the course?" Reiko said snatching the radio from her brother's hand.
"We're at the v-type left hander and running towards the right hander after it, and I'm pretty sure he will," Gavin replied as he drove around the right hander he described.
Nika was a car and a half ahead of Mikio when they entered the long open corners before the last hairpins. The gap widened to two and a half car lengths as the three cars reached the last hairpins thanks to Myogi being Nika's home course. Mikio was driving his Lan-Evo III as hard as he could but the gap just wouldn't close. The stocky blonde was becoming frustrated and his car was quickly getting out of his own control.
"Last hairpins coming up, I don't think Mikio is going to be too friendly about this one," Gavin said as he watched Nika fly into the first of the final hairpins.
"Won't matter much we've got a whole ton of witnesses reporting along the last section of the course," Tatsuo said with a chuckle.
Gavin blew through the last hairpin and was close on the tail of Mikio's Lan-Evo III as the three cars flew through the straight leading into the right hander. Nika still had a car length over Mikio as they entered the final downhill stretch. Nika easily blew through the final left handed corner and crossed the line just ahead of the Lan-Evo III as the FD fell behind far enough to watch the end.
"Nice win Nika, I probably would have put up a better fight if it weren't for the old tires I've got on the car right now, but I can't afford a new set yet," Mikio said quietly as he shifted his weight on his feet, "Reynolds-san, what can I do better? You followed me up."
Everyone remained quiet as the shock of hearing the oldest man in the group ask for help sunk in. Mikio simply stared at Gavin waiting for a response.
"Tatsuo, check his tires, I don't think he's making anything up this time," Gavin said staring the stocky blonde in the eye.
"He wasn't, these tires are barely good enough for traffic use, forget bad weather or racing," the black haired man said loud enough to be heard.
"Well first thing is not running on shredded tires, the other thing is doing what you should have done in the first place," Gavin said with a slight chuckle, "Coming back to the school, you've improved a lot on your own, and your personality won't let you lose."
"Well I'm not good enough for the school yet, but I swear I will be around to challenge you guys," Mikio said before turning and walking towards his car, "Oh, and Tatsuo, you're next on the list."
The next day the students pulled into the lot and were met by the staff standing on the track in front of two covered cars. Both cars, even though covered, appeared to be heavily modified and very aggressive as the fenders and spoilers pressed their shapes into the covers.
"Class, today we have an announcement for you, and two new cars for you to drive when we deem you ready, you'll each get two laps in them today and have a few days off for modifications to the trainer cars," Keisuke said firmly.
"Takahashi-sensei, what are these cars for?" Gavin asked sounding a little giddy.
"For a professional career that will start at the beginning of the Super GT season AFTER your teachers deem you ready to drive," A deep voice said from behind the class.
The class turned to see a man dressed in a tailored suit with a blue shirt standing in front of a heavily modified white FC. The FC was dressed with fixed headlights, a carbon fiber hood and spoiler on the back, almost as though it were just as tailored as the suit the man was wearing.
"Once you've improved enough to be competitive in Super GT these two cars are what you'll be driving," The man said, "I'm Ryosuke Takahashi, financial backer and founder of this school and I hope you will be my Project GT."
At the end of Ryosuke's short speech Wataru yanked the cover off of a light gold and red NSX while Kyoko pulled the cover off a blue and gold FD. The cars looked like they were ready to race in both GT500 and GT300 classes of the Super GT.
"Let's get those laps in, you'll find fire suits and helmets in all manner of sizes in the garage area. Ladies, Kyoko will show you where you can change," Keisuke said after a few moments of silence brought on by the students staring at the cars.
After about ten minutes, Gavin was sitting in the NSX getting strapped in to all the safety equipment by Wataru as Keisuke explained just what to do to start the car while Tatsuo was in the FD to his left undergoing the same treatment from Takumi and Kyoko.
"Okay, there are buttons on the steering wheel that control the radios; press, talk and release to hear our responses," Takumi said through Tatsuo's still open door receiving a simple thumbs up in response.
Just before Keisuke or Takumi closed the doors they watched as Tatsuo and Gavin started the two cars before clearing the track.
"Okay Mr. Reynolds, I'm going to be your radio man for today, as you know I drove in GT500 so I've got your car today," Keisuke said with a chuckle, "Take it slow and easy, get used to how it feels before pushing, your vision will be limited so listen to what I'm telling you about Mr. Sasaki's position on the course."
"I'm guessing he's getting the same briefing from Fujiwara-sensei then," Gavin said shifting in his seat, "Any way to move this seat back any?"
"Sorry but no, Go ahead and start your lap," Keisuke replied with a small chuckle just before the NSX launched onto the course with some wheel spin, "What happened to slow and easy Mr. Reynolds?"
As the NSX cleared the first corner the FD launched into the course with the same wheel spin. The two cars came to the second corner only a few feet apart, the right hander directly after it allowed Tatsuo to pass Gavin clean and slow along the inside before the switch to a left hander allowed Gavin to retake the lead of this slow race.
"Alright you two, no more of that," Keisuke said in a stern tone over both radios, "We'll cover passing later."
As the course took them onto the braking course for a fast left handed hairpin Gavin opened the gap and made it to the throttle course's v-turn about a hundred feet ahead of the FD. When they reached the new layout's triple hairpins the gap closed and the two men maneuvered the cars through the corners at a speed of about fifty miles per hour.
"We did say to take it slow, think they'll get braver on the last stretch?" Takumi asked right before the two engines screamed to their limits and the cars flew down the stretch, "Guess that answered that then," he added with a chuckle.
Once the two cars reached the final corner both drivers slammed on the brakes and entered pit lane and a proper speed before pulling into the boxes one behind the other.
"That will take some serious getting used to, but should be easy if we can make that seat adjustable," Gavin laughed through the radio just before he removed his helmet.
With the two men clear of the cars, Kyoko strapped both of the ladies into the vehicles, once all strapped in and with the briefing of how to start the cars done, Nika took off in the FD shortly before Reiko and the NSX. As the two made their way around the course both drivers seemed to be slower than their male classmates.
"You can pick up the pace if you like," Takumi said on a public channel.
"I can't see enough to try that Fujiwara-sensei," Nika said as she rubbed the helmet lens, "I picked up a helmet with a tented lens."
"Alright, we'll have that lens changed out by the time you come back if it's the only helmet that fits," the brown haired man said making note of it on a note pad close by.
When the two cars came back in Kyoko helped Nika out of the blue and gold RX-7 while Tatsuo helped his sister out of the red and gold NSX.
"Once you've changed you're free to leave and take about a week off so we can set up the two trainer cars to be a little more like the Super GT cars so you can get used to the feeling," Keisuke said calmly.
"Hey, before we get too far apart here, what say we meet up at my place on Thursday?" Gavin asked as he and his classmates approached their cars, "We'll have lunch; get to know each other better since we'll be teammates."
The others agreed, and the buzz cut blonde gave the address to his apartment to Nika since Reiko still remembered how to get there and they dispersed, each student going their own way for what was left of the day.