After the team had arrived at their new and improvised home they had a whole week which they had kill time awaiting the next opponent.
Some mechanics would hang out at Chang's bar in downtown Tokyo while others would find other ways to spend their time.
Sweeper, Carlos, McClintock and Chang however headed off to Chang's bar which carried the rather weird name of "The Hole".
But by no means was this a dump of a bar, it was a fairly high class bar judging from the interior.
However it was clearly inspired by Street Racing, pistons with conrods were hanging on the walls as well as a few racing tires and pictures of cars as well as racing legends.
The bar had 2 floors, the first story was where the bar desk was and had the most tables scattered around with the bar desk located in the center of the building.
On top of the bar which was about 20 Square meters there was the 2nd floor which had a few more tables, it created a classic look with the ability to sit on the 2nd floor and look down at the people in the 1st floor of the bar.

Chang had already arranged a table by the entrance at the first floor, the table that Sweeper usually took when he arrived in Tokyo.
They were sitting around talking when a Japanese friend of Chang showed up.

"Hey Chang, are these the World Cup guys you were talking about?"

"Yes Kenji, let me introduce you, this is Kenji. Kenji this is Carlos, Sweeper and McClintock. Kenji here drives a S14 Silvia."

"Pleased to meet you Kenji, sit down with us."

Kenji took a chair at the end of the table with Chang and McClintock sitting closest to the window.

"So, what do you guys think of the results in the WRC last week?" Kenji asked.

"WRC?" Sweeper and Carlos said with a slight annoyance.

"You know, World Rally Championship. What do you think about Loeb winning?"

"Let's go for a ride Carlos… In your car, my car drinks too much fuel." Carlos nodded and they both left the table slightly disgusted.

"What was that all about?" Kenji asked.

"Sweeper and Carlos doesn't recognise rally drivers, they hate rallying. They state that all rallying is good for is learning oversteer control with minimal wear and tear to the car; it is not something you drive to get better on. I don't share their way of thinking though." Chang commented.

"Have they tried rallying?"

"If they have, that Carlos guy used to practice with 700 HP out of a R32 GT-R on dirt and gravel before he moved to tarmac. Back in the World Cup we had a few rally courses, Sweeper and Carlos only raced 2 times in the rally races then they stopped showing up when those events was being held. Rather losing points than being bored, needless to say those guys were fast on that rally course; they won the events with ease."

"So they basically find rallying boring?" Kenji asked.

"Yes, they love tarmac driving and the challenges that brings. Both have driving styles leaning towards oversteer rather than understeer when it comes to driving fast. Carlos is more of a drift guy while Sweeper prefers grip driving up till the point a slide is unavoidable."

"Does he go 100 percent Grip driving?" Kenji asked

"Well not exactly, his roots are in drifting though but drifting eats on tire wear so he doesn't drift wastefully. He isn't an expert at tires for nothing; he can distribute the grip as he wants it perfectly during racing as well as being very good at managing the tire wear." Chang explained while making hand movements to illustrate what he was talking about.

"You said roots in drifting? Did he do drift racing like D1?"

"Nah, he started out with grip driving in his first car, well he lost badly in a race and that was when he changed to drift driving and levelled up quite a bit. Later on he went back to grip again with a lot more skill. But with such knowledge came his hate for rally drivers. Everyone was talking all about the rally drivers and how great they were; well he is determined to show them they are a bunch of school kids. The funny part is that Carlos thinks the same way." McClintock commented.

"Have they ever had a show down with a rally driver?" Kenji asked.

"Officially no they haven't though rumours have it that Sweeper dragged Petter Solberg into a mountain pass match on tarmac and beat the crap out of him. But that is just a rumour I heard, it apparently happened in Norway during one of his own conquering rounds around the world. That was before he ran into Carlos that is."

Just then Keiichi came over to the table with an armful of beer bottles and a cigarette in his mouth.
He stopped and looked over the 3 guys sitting on the table before asking:

"Where are Sweeper and Carlos?"

"Those two went out for a ride when we started talking World Rally Championship." Chang replied.

"Oh, well that means more beer for us then, you want one Mr?" Keiichi asked Kenji sitting on the end of the table.

"Sure, I got nowhere to drive right off so no problem with that" Kenji replied and grabbed a beer before Keiichi sat down on Carlos previous seat.

In the meantime Carlos and Sweeper were out cruising on the streets of Tokyo in Carlos' R34 Skyline.

"Didn't Chang mention that there was some action on the highways?" Carlos asked Sweeper.

"Yeah, that's where most of the guys hang out these days, the Highway or Wangan as they call it is where Chang made his name back in the day. Are you planning on heading over there?" Sweeper asked.

"Yep, even with the Mine's engine I still think I can have some high speed fun

Carlos headed onto an onramp and floored the gas pedal.
Sweeper was pushed back in the seat as the launched like a rocket down the highway.
Carlos noticed a red car up ahead, it was driving normally at the speed limit, and Carlos used his turn signal and quickly entered the passing lane still with the accelerator fully depressed.
The GT-R showed some instability during the lane change but Carlos had no problems controlling the Skyline, after all he was used to high speed driving with a 1500 HP RB26DETT.
Carlos had always been deemed crazy in comparison to other drivers, when on high speed courses he never got a new rear wing to help stabilize the GT-R at higher speeds, instead he used technique to control the car.
As they rolled up on the red car, Sweeper recognized it.
It was a Lancia 037, an Italian car with some rally accessories.
The driver watched the black R34 GT-R Vspec 2 blow past at a high speed but didn't bother to pick up the chase.

"Just another one of these kids that has fun on the Wangan these days, not interested in racing today." Sagara said as he watched the GT-R disappear.

In the GT-R Carlos was smiling.

"Did you see that? I passed a Lancia easy as that. Wasn't it a red Lancia that was Tokyo's fastest according to Chang?"

"Well, what Chang told me on the bus about it was more than that. He would have murdered you if you were racing. Well anyways let's head back; I am sure they are done talking WRC by now."

"Fine, let me pull over here." Carlos took an off ramp and found a small parking lot where he stopped the car.

"Why are you stopping here?" Sweeper asked.

"Well, I want you to take the wheel." Carlos smiled.

"HELL NO! I tried that 1500HP GT-R and I will tell you right now. It was a nightmare to drive, why do you think I sold my R34 in the first place?"

Carlos just laughed and got out of the car; he walked over to the passenger side of the car and opened the door.

"You are going to drive it back! So move over!" Carlos changed his tone.

"Ok, OK, OK! But only once, and I am telling you right off the bat that I don't like it."

Sweeper moved over to the driver's seat and depressed the clutch.
Carlos grabbed the shifter before Sweeper could move his hand and shifted it into first gear.
Sweeper let the car crawl slightly out of the parking lot and onto the road before he floored the gas pedal only to slightly let off when entering the highway again.
It was a quick shift into second gear, 3rd flew past equally quick before 4th.
The responsive RB26 wasn't just a name for show, it was very real.
Sweeper entered 5th and rode out that gear on the highway before he let off the gas and slowed down to the speed limit.

"This thing does move I got to admit that. But I have had enough for now; the handling is still the same."

"You never will change; well the next battle should prove interesting I hear."

Sweeper nodded as he cruised along the Wangan until he took off the entrance closest to Chang's bar.
He parked the car outside and got out of the car; outside he threw the keys to Carlos and headed inside.
Keiichi immediately greeted them when they entered.

"So what have you two been up to? Please don't tell me you guys went rallying?"

Sweeper rolled his eyes and Carlos was laughing, it was Keiichi's idea of a joke.

"Sweeper and me took the R34 out for a spin, blew past a Lancia 037 on the way as well. And Sweeper still hates to drive my R34…"

"WOW! You got to drive Speedy Gonzales' R34 GT-R! What an honour." Kenji shouted out.

"It is horrible, the car is fast allright but it is a nightmare to drive, it oversteers when you want it to grip and understeers when you need it to slide." Sweeper replied back.

"Complaints, complaints and more complaints" Carlos stuttered.

"At least my FD is easier to drive and much faster… Well at least with the turbocharged 4 rotor." Sweeper replied to Carlos.

"Whatever guys, our next battle is set in the Saitama area, got a few races to take care of there before we move on to the next part of the expedition. I suggest you use this week to get ready." Keiichi commented.

"I'll spend it in my way, sitting around in a goddamn bar talking cars with the rest of the bunch here, sounds like it is going to be great fun." Carlos said while rolling his eyes.

"Sorry attempt at being sarcastic Carlos?" Chang asked.

"Call it what you want." Carlos replied.

The evening went on with JGTC talk and the week didn't provide much action, however on the end of Friday it was Showtime again.
This time it was off to the Saitama area to get rid of some Project D opponents.