The Saitama team had gathered and were watching the Project S guys pulling in with their trucks.
Nobuhiko watched with great interest before he opened his mouth.

"For those of you that thought Project D was hard. Well these guys are 10 times worse it seems. They do not drive their cars here; they have them on a truck for transport."

"How are you planning this?" One of the team mates asked.

"Well it is Friday night now, they will practice until tomorrow night and we will run the first set of races. Then on Sunday we will run the last set of races to conclude. These guys requested Sakamoto to come out with the Cappuccino as well as Waturo and his AE86."

"Who will go with the first batch then?" Waturo asked leaning on his AE86.

"The weather forecast shows rain on Sunday, and I think it is very likely as well. So I will try to do the downhill and Kyoko will do the uphill. But though we might lose, I do not feel like walking away without even trying." Nobuhiko commented and looked at his Altezza.

"I wonder who they will send to the uphill race." Kyoko said.

"I heard they used the FD and the NSX for downhill and the GT-R's for uphill racing. But no matter whom you face these guys will out power you."

"Out power me?" Kyoko asked.

"That FD is packing a 4 rotor rotary engine. The NSX got a supercharger and the 2 GT-R's are monsters alone. That blue one didn't have any specs on the webpage, however the black one is a response monster, with the Mine's RB26DETT package." Nobuhiko commented while looking at the cars being unloaded.

-

Over at the trucks Keiichi had a look at Jane, she was done with the simulations.

"Well Jane, which car do you think will work best in the rain?" Keiichi asked.

"The GT-R's are of course the best for the uphill at least in all cases."

"So you want to send one of the GT-R's up against the black FD as well?" Keiichi asked.

"It is the best choice for the uphill no doubt." Jane said, just then Sweeper came over.

"You want to send a goddamn GT-R against that FD? Isn't the driver named Iwase Kyoko?" Sweeper asked.

"Yeah what about it?" Keiichi asked as a counter question.

"I would like to do that battle, for personal reasons." Sweeper answered

"It isn't advisable to do that, after all the GT-R is the surest way to win this."

"Well Jane it is the best point for cars I guess, but not the best attack point strategy wise." Keiichi answered Jane.

"What do you mean by that?" Jane asked.

"Well they are expecting a GT-R, however if we send the FD it will be a much better way to play this."

"Is that the only thing you want to change on the battle list?" Jane asked.

"Yes, we will send McClintock against the AE86, and if it will rain we send Chang against the Cappuccino, as the Altezza I guess Carlos want a free and easy run. Sweeper will do the FD, besides FD against FD will get most attention as it is the most similar to Project D." Keiichi commented.

"Ok we will go with that list then." Jane said and begun altering her simulation on the laptop.

"Send everyone out Sweeper, all of the drivers, even Carlos. We don't want to give them hints of what cars to expect for the battles." Keiichi said with a smile.

Sweeper headed over to the 3 other drivers standing around talking, Carlos were teasing McClintock with some GT-R jokes when Sweeper arrived.

"Ok guys; get in your cars we got to head out. Get your chief mechanics and let's get rolling." Sweeper said and got into his FD.

Carlos wasn't slow about running over to his black GT-R and firing it up and following Sweeper.
This night was going to be all practice and mainly pure routine with a few changed variables.
The 4 cars disappeared with loud engine screams and blow off valves ringing.
Nobuhiko and Waturo watched them go and looked a bit shocked.

"These guys are not amateurs, I can tell from just watching them for a slight moment." Waturo commented as he saw the blue GT-R disappear.

"My main concern is how they have paired their cars against us, who will race who, by sending everyone out on practice they sure have created a damn good diversion." Nobuhiko said to Waturo.

"Yes, I guess we will have to take it as it gets here." Waturo said.

"Which GT-R I get to face doesn't matter." Kyoko said.

"Where is Sakamoto now? Isn't he supposed to be here Waturo?" Nobuhiko asked.

"He had a few things to take care of today; he will get here for tomorrow's race." Waturo answered.

"I hope the rain and Sakamoto will give us the edge this time unlike the AE86 race." Nobuhiko said with a smile, this time he had simulations for both uphill and downhill.

-

The night flew by and tires were swapped, unlike Project D who used mainly the same tire dimensions and compound, Project S used every type of tires from street tires to racing rubber in 300mm sizes and above. Same type of tires they used in JGTC, the same type of tires that Carlos, McClintock, Sweeper and Chang had built their cars to take.
The cars were also reinforced to withstand the higher cornering G from higher grip tires, on dry conditions the wider tires was superb to maintain traction and to out corner a lighter car with a heavier machine.
The rain was a different story though, as wider tires tend to distribute the cars weight over a wider area and therefore making the car prone to hydroplaning.
Hydroplaning was a nasty condition, it is a condition where the car is afloat on water, though it is not afloat very long, and when the car is afloat is like having zero contact with the road.
And with zero contact it will either under or oversteer pending on which end of the car that hydroplanes in a corner.
Having grooves in the tires helps against this condition, as you give the water a place to get away from the pressure put down by the tire, but even so you will still have problems.

Saturday night came and the team were already ready to go for that night's race.Sweeper looked up at the sky; the clouds were gathering over them, it looked like the forecast was going to be correct this time around.

"It looks like the forecast is correct for tomorrow." Sweeper said to the 3 other drivers gathered around him.

"Yeah, looks like I will have to do it in the rain, and I hate rain. Even with 4WD it is difficult." McClintock said.

"It is easy to cope with McClintock, very easy. Just do as I thought you here earlier. Don't sit around waiting for the rear to slide out or understeer into the corner. Make it slide on your terms instead." Carlos commented.

"It really isn't always that easy Carlos, I don't know much about doing that with 4WD but I know from MR experience in the rain that it isn't always the best solution." Chang commented.

"Well, rain or not we are still fast enough to cope with it and our cars are in a perfect state of tune for either dry or wet." Sweeper commented.

"Hey Keiichi what battle will we run first tonight?" Carlos shouted out to Keiichi.

"It is the Toyota Altezza, you better get ready." Keiichi shouted back.

"I'll slaughter him with the power of my GT-R!" Carlos said before heading over to his car.

"Just don't get overconfident and understeer into a tree or something." Sweeper shouted to Carlos as Carlos was walking towards his car.

"Do you think he will be ok?" Chang asked.

"He may be an overconfident prick sometimes…" Sweeper was interrupted by Carlos just as he was entering his car.

"I HEARD THAT!" Carlos shouted back.

Sweeper ignored Carlos' comments and continued.

"But when it comes down to driving he sure isn't slow about it. He showed you against Todou School what true driving skill is all about. After all he is my rival and to be my rival you have to be around the same skill level, that guy can keep up with me and is DAMN hard to shake off. I dare you to try tackling hard courses like Nürburgring and try to shake off Carlos from your tail."

The 3 drivers turned towards the starting line and saw Carlos' GT-R pull in front of Nobuhiko.
Apparently the Altezza driver was having a plan to win this.
As Kyoko did the countdown and the Altezza launched after the GT-R, Sweeper observed Nobuhiko.
He observed how the Altezza behaved upon launch.

"What do you think?" McClintock asked.

"I think that Carlos better be careful." Sweeper replied.

"Oh why is that?" McClintock asked.

"If Carlos pushes too hard and that Altezza tries to copy his pace it will be all over for the Altezza driver. He has no chance in hell to keep up with Carlos' GT-R."

"I was afraid you were going to say it the other way around." McClintock replied.

On the course McClintock was smiling, the Altezza were having trouble keeping up with his pace, after all the GT-R was lightened with carbon fibre modifications as well as wider tires.
A combination that allowed insane cornering speeds.
In the Altezza, Nobuhiko were struggling.

"He is so damn fast! I can hardly keep up. The GT-R's I have faced before were nowhere near this guys speed or level! I am stretching myself to the limit here. The temptation to brake and slow down in corners is tempting, but I got to keep up, I don't feel like losing." Nobuhiko said to himself before stepping harder on the gas pedal.

Carlos looked in the rear-view mirror and laughed slightly.

"Having trouble keeping up? Oh well, I am getting bored here in the lead, we are soon coming to the hairpin, after that there is a long straight, I guess I will show you a little flash of my technique before I disappear for good!" Carlos smiled after thinking that and prepared for the upcoming corner.

Back on the top Sweeper was smiling, he knew what was about to happen, as if he was sitting in Carlos' car.

"Why are you smiling Sweeper?" Chang asked.

"I have known Carlos for some time now and with an opponent like that Altezza guy I know Carlos is growing tired of playing around with him around now. I am guessing that he will go all out soon and end this, showing the Altezza driver a quick flash of his driving style and speed."

"Carlos is a drifter, right?" Chang asked.

"Yes, he is one that is said to defy the laws of physics when it comes to drift. He knows how to make the car run faster than others once it goes sideways. After all that is what he does when he otherwise experiences severe torque steer."

Carlos waited till the last possible second before slamming on the brakes and turning in, the loss of rear traction came quickly and his timing with the steering wheel was perfect.
The GT-R begun a drift into the long hairpin and Carlos were piling on the power to keep the car in the 4WD crabwalk.
Nobuhiko were shocked by the speed of the R34, forced to take the corner at a lower speed all he saw was a lot of smoke and a black shadow that went sideways.
The shadow disappeared around the bend and as Nobuhiko got around the corner he could see the rear end of the GT-R accelerating away using its 600 HP responsive engine.
It was over, all over for Nobuhiko, he had lost yet again.

10 minutes after the start, Sweeper got into his FD and headed down the hill to prepare for the uphill race.
Kyoko had left earlier after she got the report that Nobuhiko had lost to the black GT-R on the downhill.
For Sweeper this battle was actually to settle some grudge, not a grudge towards Kyoko but more like a grudge against Keisuke.
Just to light a little fire under Keisuke's feet.
As he arrived and stopped at the road behind Kyoko he got out and greeted Kyoko.

"I am Sweeper, or that's what everyone calls me and that's also what I like to go by. Nice FD you got there."

"I am Iwase Kyoko, pleased to meet you and thanks for the complement."

"Before the battle I would just like to tell you that I am doing this battle out of personal reasons, but those reasons do not involve you as a major target." Sweeper commented while looking at the FD.

"What do you mean?" Kyoko asked.

"I will give you this race to ponder on it, if you haven't figured out the answer by the end of the race I will tell you." Sweeper said and got into his FD preparing for the race.

Nobuhiko got ready for the countdown but was halted by Carlos as he had to talk to Sweeper for a bit.
Sweeper rolled down the window and Carlos bent in.

"Personal reasons? Care to explain what you mean by that?" Carlos asked.

"Takahashi Keisuke and his Project D, he is still an immature brat weather he likes it or not. I want to send him a signal that his choice was stupid and that he needs to think more! And a few other reasons are of personal concern for her and her kind." Sweeper said.

"Personal reasons for her? What has happened to the tough mercenary that lives under your skin?" Carlos asked.

"Look here Carlos, I do not have the time to discuss this with you nor will you understand it, even if I explained it for you!"

"Ok then Sweeper, you do what you do best then. I'll leave it to you then." Carlos went back to the guardrail behind the FD.

Sweeper rolled up the window and began revving his engine.
Nobuhiko did the countdown and the 2 RX-7 launched onto the course.
Carlos watched the 2 disappear around the corner at an amazing speed, Carlos looked down on the tarmac then he smiled.

"I know what you meant by personal concern now. You had a crush on her from the moment you first saw her in the FD, but you knew you couldn't have her and that the so called immature brat was perfect for this Takahashi Keisuke. So you want to do whatever that is in your power to unite those two. You may be harsh guy that have taken hundreds of lives, lived on the battlefield, and seen the scars of war up close but those who say you lack a heart are either lying or being ignorant. Under that cool surface is a man that still has a passion for humans, but you try to hide it. You are wrong Sweeper when saying I don't understand what you mean; the only thing I don't understand is why you are hiding that soft heart of yours." Carlos thought.

The 2 FD's were clearing corners on the bumpy course; Sweeper wasn't used to using the special accelerator manipulation technique Keisuke had used.
But it didn't take long for him to catch on as the movement he used to manipulate the brake pedal also worked on the gas pedal.
The black FD that was leading sure was battling hard and Sweeper was trying to keep up, but the bumps on the course were a pain in the ass like Sweeper had experienced during practice.
The bumps upset the traction and proved to make the case of getting power to the ground difficult.
All the torque a 4 rotor could put down due to doing twice the amount of combustions compared to a 13B proved to be difficult to keep in line.
Because it is torque that creates wheel spin, the relationship between horsepower and torque is an interesting equation.

Torque is the force the engine makes upon combusting the fuel and air mixture, horsepower on the other hand is basically just a unit of measuring power.
To be more precise it is basically a unit that takes the torque and multiplies it with the RPM using a formula, in other words knowing both HP and torque output of an engine you can tell if it is a high revving engine or a low RPM machine.
If you compared the 13B in Kyoko's car and Sweeper's homemade 26B, the 13B would not rev as high as the 26B due to the lower compression.
However the 13B would be stronger in providing more torque at the lower power band making the car easier to take off with compared to the 26B.
The 26B on the other hand provided more torque but due to the fact that it was peripheral ported the low down power band was practically gone and a Peripheral ported rotary would never idle below 2000 RPM no matter how you tuned it.
However since it was NA and the parts were thoroughly engineered, the 26B could rev to 12000 RPM without any problems, which was needed as Peripheral ported rotaries only offer their power band from 7000 RPM.
The original 26B turbo that Sweeper used for street racing and track racing was engineered differently.
It combined the strengths of a normal ported rotary with the high end power of a PP machine by having the ability to switch while driving between Peripheral ports and regular side intake ports.
The process of opening and closing those ports were done automatically by a small homemade circuit connected to the tachometer so that it would open the Peripheral ports and close the regular ones at the 7000 RPM mark and vice versa.
A system like that had been tried and was banned from racing shortly after its introduction.

Kyoko looked in the rear view and saw the blue FD chase her, it reminded her of Keisuke in some way, but she knew this guy wasn't Keisuke and that the FD wasn't the yellow RX-7 that Keisuke owned.
Even so Kyoko kept having a warm feeling of some sort as if the outcome of the race didn't matter, there was something weird about the chaser, and that wasn't the loud exhaust sound.
But even so, she still kept stepping hard on the gas pedal and cornering at her best.
Sweeper was shocked of her speed as she dived into the corner ahead.

"She is fast! She is damn fast, this is nowhere near the calculations that Keiichi and Jane predicted from her last battle. She is going to be tough to pass but I have to do it somewhere, if I lose to her it would look really bad in the long run." Sweeper thought while braking for the corner and trying to match her entry, he kept his foot on a suspension to maintain the needed braking force without losing traction.

Even though Sweeper had retained his ABS system on the FD, the ABS is still slow about engaging so if you got some non ABS skill you can maintain traction in the short milliseconds it takes for the ABS system to correct you.
Though Sweeper was very good at braking without ABS, he had chosen to keep the ABS system on the FD because it could do things he had no chance in doing, no matter how much he tried.
Series 8 RX-7's that were produced from 1998 towards 2002 were equipped with 16 Bit ABS, in the earlier FD's that went from 1992 to 1997 the car had a 8 bit ABS system.
The difference was that now on the 16Bit each tire had a channel for braking unlike the old 8 Bit where the rear tires were on the same channel.
Having a channel for each tire allows the ABS system to brake harder on one tire than the others to allow better handling according to its programming.
Kyoko's FD had the 8 Bit ABS so in terms of cars Sweeper's FD was a lot better at braking during cornering.
The 16Bit ABS actually performed so good that most track racing events have banned it; its performance in a corner is miraculous.

As Kyoko looked in the rear view mirror she could see the FD close in through the corner but lose slightly on the exit due to the torque wanting to spin the wheels.
The short straights weren't that difficult; due to the insane power of Sweeper's FD it was quick at catching up what it lost at the exit.
While Kyoko desperately tried to get away, Sweeper was looking for an opportunity to pass her.
Kyoko stepped hard on the gas pedal causing her rear tires to slightly lose traction over a bump, though she also were good at accelerator techniques she was getting stressed up by the chasing FD.
Sweeper noticed the slight mistake she did.

"Trying to get away from me? I guess I should try to make an opportunity at the next straight. It is a bit bumpy but I think I should have a chance to make it past her in the corner up ahead, it is a tiny pinhole breach to get through but I don't feel like lagging behind for very long."

At the top of the hill Chang and McClintock were standing looking down the course at the 2 headlights blazing through the course.

"Is Sweeper planning to do it here? Damnit you sure like taking risks!" McClintock shouted.

"What do you mean?" Chang asked and looked at the chasing headlights.

"His exit line kinda gives it away, he is planning to get side by side with that FD girl then try to attack her from the outside, problem is that the straight is very bumpy and he will barely get side by side with her. And after that he will have to brake hard and do a turn in. It is going to be very close, one mistake and the other FD will hit his front fender and the match is over for Sweeper." McClintock replied.

"Match over? Care to explain it more?" Chang asked.

"It will be totally over! He might get a nasty understeer throwing him through the guardrail and into the valley below. But then again Sweeper is a guy that takes any chances he gets, if there is an opportunity he will take it, as long as his instinct tells him he can make it. That is not my style of driving; I like to have some margins to make it through with."

Sweeper gave as much throttle as he could with his FD on the straight; even though his 98 Type RS was 4WD equipped it was still difficult to get the power down to the ground.
On the entry to the corner he and Kyoko were side by side for the braking contest.
Kyoko braked earlier as she had the inside and Sweeper had more turning room so he could enter at a higher speed.
The blue FD steered in and cut in front of Kyoko, just a millimetre in front of her fender, Kyoko jammed on the brakes in fear of crashing and the FD started to pull away.
On the exit the FD was in the lead and started trying to outrun Kyoko much like what Keisuke had done to her in the match they had.
2 seconds later it was all over, the match had been decided by a really close call.

At the top Sweeper parked next to Chang and McClintock, Kyoko stopped next to the FD and got out.

"You must crazy or something! That was dangerous, how much margin did you have?" Kyoko shouted angrily at Sweeper.

"1-3 millimetres I am guessing, but it was me the risk was on, if something had gone wrong it would be me that would be in trouble, not you." Sweeper replied.

"Seriously Sweeper, you shouldn't go that close." McClintock commented.

"My instincts told me to take that shot, my speed was higher than yours Kyoko, so if you had kept going at your speed instead of braking we would still come out of very nicely, a bit close though but ok."

"You are crazy." Kyoko replied.

"That's what they all say about me; just ask either Carlos or McClintock, they can confirm it." Sweeper said with a smile.

"That aside, I couldn't figure out the answer to your reasons for this battle that you mentioned before we raced."

"It is really simple; my major target is a yellow FD…" Sweeper paused.

"Darling's FD. Takahashi Keisuke right?" Kyoko asked.

"Yes, I would like you to bring him the message that his mistakes has caught up to him. If he wonders who said that, just tell him it is a guy in a blue FD, he will know who it is." Sweeper said and opened the door on his FD and got in.

"Oh and one more thing, don't worry about the fact that Keisuke turned you down back on Akagi. Yes I know about the date you two had and the fact it went in the thrash. When I heard it I kinda gave Keisuke a real scolding over the phone to the point that I hung up by throwing the phone out the window. Yes, I was very pissed when I got the news about that. Keisuke will give you a phone call when I am done, you can bet on that. There will be another date for you with him, trust me." Sweeper closed door on the FD and drove over to the mechanics.

Kyoko stood there with a rather puzzled face; rarely did strangers offer their services like Sweeper did.

"What's up with that?" McClintock said before him and Chang walked over towards the bus, leaving Kyoko and her FD alone.

"That McClintock is what the rotary owners call rotary power. The rotary power isn't just the power the engine puts out at the flywheel. But it is also the link between other rotary car owners; they tend to help each other out just because they have the same type of car. The mysterious rotary engine brings more than smooth power delivery; you should head off to a rotary meet sometime and check them out. Just leave your Skyline at home." Chang replied to McClintock.

"Never heard of that, well I guess it is like you say Chang, I haven't been to a rotary meeting as I have never owned a rotary."

"Neither have I, Sweeper invited me to one when we both were in the US, Seven Stock to be more specific." Chang said.

"Well, time to get some sleep in some crappy bus seats. Tomorrow is going to be fun." McClintock commented to himself as he looked at the bus.

Keiichi were smiling as McClintock and Chang passed by, while Jane and Sweeper were bent over the blue FD's engine bay obviously discussing rotary tech.
Even though Kyoko had lost and she could nearly have been a murderer, she was happy.
Because her chances of getting a date with Takahashi Keisuke was there, but she had no idea how Sweeper was planning to pull it off.
Chang had a feint idea knowing Sweeper's style, Jane on the other hand knew what Sweeper had planned and every time she thought of it she almost felt sorry for Keisuke.
But every time she thought of how Keisuke had treated Kyoko she knew he deserved what was coming for him.