The old Impreza WRX STi lined up next to the R34 GT-R, permanent 4WD vs. part time 4WD of the Skyline.
Akira felt confident and smiled as he revved his 4 cylinder 2.0 litre boxer engine.
McClintock responded by revving the RB26DETT, the larger 6 cylinder engine gave off its distinct Skyline sound.
Ryo did the start, and the 2 cars launched off, with McClintock wheel spinning the 4 wheels when leaving the starting grid compared to Akira who had a perfect launch.

"Damn! Too much revs upon launch, good thing I upgraded the driveline for more strength!" McClintock mumbled to himself as he begun chasing down the Impreza.

The two cars dived into the corners with the Impreza leading through the 5 low speed corners.
On the exit the Impreza was superior due to closer gearing than the GT-R and lighter body giving it faster acceleration.
But McClintock had far from given up, the GT-R's advantage on exit was having the power available early compared to the Impreza.
The Nitrous system actually made up for some of the weaknesses that the GT-R had on the corner exits.

On the top Carlos and Sweeper were waiting for the results.

"The main point to this battle is really simple isn't it? Just use your power…" Carlos said and stopped mid sentence as he remembered the battle with Sweeper.

"Yeah, a bit similar to what you used to do before you and me raced in Brazil?" Sweeper asked.

"Right on the dot there Sweeper, but then again, I never expected to face a FD that was packed with so much power. I have raced a lot of RX-7 guys and ever since I battled the first FC in my 800HP R32 GT-R I clearly noticed that they were underpowered machines that really had no chance to keep up me. The same with the FD's, but then your blue '98 Type RS came along and changed all of that…" Carlos stopped for a while before he continued, "On the straights where I had left countless of FC's and FD's you still kept up, heck, you even passed me and disappeared!" Carlos said.

"RX-7's have since the first SA22C been underpowered lightweight machines compared to their rivals, the Toyota Supra and Nissan Skyline. Nevertheless our speciality was cornering, however I couldn't settle with just winning on cornering, I feel cornered if I cannot keep up on straights. That is why I put that 4 rotor turbo into the racing machine, but your driving clearly changed after I passed your R34. In the later races we had you have been paying more attention to corner work and not just engine power." Sweeper tried to comfort Carlos.

"Yeah, if I was going to beat your Type RS I would need to be able to challenge you in corners as well as straights. That's why I had the engine block totally revamped and a totally suspension tune as well as a lot of work on weight reduction. My R34 GT-R was reborn as a totally different car, it turned from a sloppy heavy fat ass muscle racer to a corner crunching power devil. And it was a pain to tame, but when I finally got the hang of the car it was a blast to drive." Carlos said.

"This time the Impreza will get the same feeling that you had on the straight when I passed you. But then again I cannot say I feel sorry for that Akira guy." Sweeper laughed.

"This is going to be the shortest race I have ever seen." Carlos said to Sweeper as he looked towards Keiichi holding the radio.

The Impreza blasted out of the 5th low speed corner and stepped hard on the gas pedal.
Akira usually wished that the straightaway was long since all of his opponents lacked power to keep up with him there, but this time it was different, he was the underpowered opponent in this battle and he was the one that wished the straight was short.
McClintock braked early compared to earlier corner entries, and piled on the power early letting the ATTESA ET-S keep it in line on the corner exit.
The heavy nitrous powered GT-R quickly closed the gap and blew past the Impreza at an amazing speed.
Akira realized he had already lost the battle as the GT-R disappeared through the high speed corner at a great speed and onto the final part of the straight.
Just like Sakai, all he got to see of the GT-R was the 4 round taillights disappear into the night.

At the top the radio message ticked in and Keiichi was relieved, compared to earlier battles he wasn't as tense as usual, probably because this opponent was slower than the others they had been facing and it was impossible to lose the battle.
Carlos turned towards Sweeper.

"The power of the GT-R!" Carlos said and smiled.

"Yeah right… Where was that power when you raced me in Brazil?" Sweeper laughed at Carlos.

Carlos knew that this was a joke, a joke those two had been pulling for a long time.
Both of them knew the strengths of each others cars, Sweeper knew the R34 since he had owned one.
Carlos knew the FD since he had battled it and seen it drive at the limit.
Project S quickly begun packing up the equipment and loading up the cars as Ryo got up to the top.
Sweeper approached Ryo as he got out of his GT300 Garaiya.

"Even though we lost Sweeper I feel happy. Just go and get those Project D guys and give them a warm welcome from us." Ryo smiled as he said it.

"You didn't lose to Project D back then; it was a tie actually, thanks to me beating their FD on the uphill." Sweeper said.

"Well we didn't win either, so you will still have to give them a hello from us." Ryo quickly replied.

"You already know we will… But that AE86 worries me, he has a lot of hidden speed to draw from." Sweeper said as a short hint to Ryo.

"A little hint may be to chase and then plan your attack. And for you that will work splendidly. Unlike the other opponents he has faced, you are good at chasing, if you chase him he will have no chance of getting away." Ryo replied.

"Still, I doubt that will be enough to beat him, but I will not back down without trying." Sweeper said.

"I will be there to watch, but right now I am starving. I am going to head home and get me something to eat, so I will catch you later." Ryo got into the Garaiya and drove off.

Sweeper watched the loud Garaiya disappear before he got onto the bus with the rest of the team and headed back to Tokyo.