The next weekend arrived and the racers had already been chosen up front but they still brought all 4 cars on a trailer to Akagi.
If not it was a showoff of the products used in the tuning and buildup of the cars they had been using, and the race at Akagi had attracted very big gallery's from all over Japan.
The biggest street race of all time was going to happen, the foreign challengers were going up against the uphill ace of Project D, Takahashi Keisuke.
The trucks rolled in at the bottom of the pass for the uphill race, Project D had already gathered with three familiar cars, a yellow FD, a white FC and a black and white panda Trueno.
As soon as Sweeper and the rest of the drivers got off the bus Takahashi Keisuke was there to greet them.
"So it is finally time for the race Keisuke, the bet is still on you know." Sweeper said as he greeted Keisuke.
"Of course I know that!" Keisuke replied sharply.
"Just remember if you lose you will have to give Kyoko a proper date and if she still wants you, you will have to accept it and no jellyfish attitude here." Sweeper said.
"I remember the terms of the deal Sweeper, just get your FD ready to race." Keisuke replied.
"Not to be too much of a party crusher here but racing me is not a good idea; you wouldn't stand a chance to keep up with me. So I am going to make it slightly easier for you this time around, besides I never said that you and I were going to race now did I? I have already beaten you two times already." Sweeper commented.
"So who will be my opponent then?" Keisuke asked.
"That will be me and my R34 GT-R." Carlos shot into the discussion.
"This is Carlos Gonzales, but please just call him Carlos even though he is known under several names." Sweeper said.
"You paired me with a GT-R driver? I was hoping for you to give me a chance for a rematch" Keisuke said.
"That will not happen just yet Keisuke, you are still not on par with me, Carlos is currently nr 2 on the World Cup board and judging from that he is supposed to be slightly slower than me. But I am giving you another chance, there will be a cone at the top of the pass where you two will make a spin turn and head downhill to finish the battle. A side by side start where the one that gets up and down again first wins the race." Sweeper explained.
"Interesting terms that I will gladly accept." Keisuke said.
"Let us hope you get to see why they call Carlos Speedy Gonzales or God Skyline, he is not going to disappoint you tonight..." Sweeper stopped speaking and ended in a smile as he saw Carlos grin as well.
"Whatever, let us just get this battle over with it, I don't understand why you are going all out without practicing on the course but that is none of my concern" Keisuke said.
Carlos had during the week copied Sweeper's approach and done a few practice laps as well as watching course recordings from Akagi so he was well prepared.
But it had been done in secrecy to not have the Takahashi brothers snooping around and snapping up a few hints for the upcoming battle.
The original plan had been for Sweeper to drive on Akagi against Keisuke but after the bet had been made, Sweeper had asked Carlos to drive instead due to a few reasons Sweeper had figured out when it came to Keisuke.
Keisuke were ready on the starting line with his FD, the girls were of course overjoyed to see Keisuke as they usually were but Keisuke also noticed a certain girl sitting on the hood of her black FD waving at Keisuke.
That was Iwase Kyoko that had arrived to see the battle that was very important for her, for this particular battle she both wanted Keisuke to win and lose at the same time.
Keisuke on the other hand was filled with slight rage as he saw Kyoko.
"I can definitely not lose this battle tonight, I just cannot do that!" Keisuke said to himself as Carlos' R34 rolled up on his left.
Fumihiro got out on the road and positioned himself between the two cars with a radio in his left hand.
"This is Fumihiro, is it all clear?" Fumihiro asked over the radio and waited for the stations to report back.
"All clear here"
"Ok you can start at anytime"
"We are currently moving some of the gallery but we will be done in time"
"This is the top, all clear around the cone, you are all green for start!"
"I am counting down!" Fumihiro shouted out.
Carlos and Keisuke started up their cars and begun revving.
"5"
"4"
"3"
"2"
"1"
"GO!"
The two cars did a rocket start with Carlos snapping the lead early clearly showing that 4WD was superior at the starting line.
Spectators at the start was shocked as they witnessed the R34 take off with the FD chasing it.
"4WD really has the advantage at the starting line!" Shingo said to Takeshi Nakazato.
"His car is definitely faster than my 32!" Nakazato replied to Shingo.
"Hey Takeshi, don't stand so close, those who don't know us might think we are friends." Shingo said.
"Yeah, this time we are not alone" Nakazato replied as the girls and a few other star drivers had crowded around them eagerly awaiting the outcome of the race.
Sweeper on the other hand were looking at the FD keys with the attached new Mazda logo as well as a rotor keyring that he had purchased when he bought a few rebuild kits from Atkins Rotary.
His thoughts were wandering off to his blue FD, if Carlos failed to prevail this would probably be the last drive he would ever get in that FD.
But then again he felt strange that he somewhat didn't feel all too lost around losing his FD, it was as if his feelings were neutral around losing his car for some reason.
Just then Sakura came walking towards him and Sweeper quickly put the car keys in the pocket of his jacket.
"Hello Sakura, what brings you out here tonight?" Sweeper asked while doing an attempt at diverting Sakura's attention from the weird look on his face when he was fiddling with the car keys.
But Sweeper had failed at doing that, Sakura had noticed it as she had been observing him for a while.
And Chang had told her about the bet that Sweeper had made with Takahashi Keisuke.
"Not an easy night for you is it?" Sakura started.
"What do you mean? It is great tonight and the next weekend will be the final weekend and my final race under the Project S name, it has been great so far." Sweeper were desperately trying to change subject.
"I know why you were having that look on those keys for your car." Sakura said with no regards for Sweeper's attempts to change topic.
"Aw damn, it was that obvious now was it? I must really be growing soft lately." Sweeper said while bringing out his FD keys.
"Well don't worry about it, should you lose that FD I will help you get another one, I have a few car contacts that should be able to help you get a new car of your choice. But then again I doubt that Carlos will lose, from the friendship between you two that FD means as much to him as it means to you. If he loses he basically will have to resign as well because racing will not be the same without you around." Sakura said.
"That is not my main worry, I know how far Carlos is willing to go and that scares me a bit. But what worries me is that I don't seem to be feeling a fear for losing it that I had a week ago. It is as if it is ok to lose the FD that I have spent a several years with, and yes we are RX-7 owners are sentimental when it comes to our cars." Sweeper said.
At the start of the course there were longer straights and it was fairly easy driving for Carlos and Keisuke quickly faded in the rear view due to the insane power difference.
A GT-R would be a tough car to match for Keisuke, tougher than God Foot's machine due to the power and response difference.
But then again, Keisuke had a fear of bounding with Kyoko, if he lost this race he wouldn't have much of a choice but to accept the conditions of the bet.
"This is so damn American, but what else can you expect of an American driver like that Sweeper fellow?" Keisuke thought as he shifted up and dived into the next corner.
Carlos on the contrary to Keisuke was taking it easy in corners doing early braking and not pushing the limit, but Carlos didn't save on the engine power upon corner exit with the traction and response of his GT-R.
To Carlos this match felt like a breeze and that it wasn't going to pose any problems for him.
"I don't get why you bothered teaching this kid some new driving techniques Sweeper, he is driving a slow FD and hardly has anything going for him at all." Carlos thought as his GT-R entered the more tight corner section of Akagi.
Carlos continued braking early until he looked in his rear view and saw the yellow FD beginning to catch up to his GT-R.
"What the? You can actually keep up eh? Well now I can start getting serious about you." Carlos thought.
At the next corner Carlos had begun racing and were braking right on the dot because now it was time to give Keisuke a challenge.
A challenge that would make this match worth Carlos' time.
Keisuke noticed that Carlos' pace had increased and that the FD was starting to have problems matching the pure brute traction of the GT-R.
"This GT-R driver really knows how to drive! It is almost like watching Sweeper's FD blast off through corners." Keisuke thought.
Carlos tried to pull away from Keisuke but at the last half of the course his power card was flawed and that allowed Keisuke to get closer again.
But even so Carlos was far from worried about the outcome, his plan had been hatched earlier and Keisuke had been proven worthy.
"This is the top! The two cars are coming around the corner now, I can their headlights, the GT-R is leading with Keisuke closely following suit. But Keisuke is unable to gain any more on the 34, here they go, they are diving in with a... TWIN DRIFT AROUND THE CONE! Man they are really serious now, neither is showing any signs of giving up." The radio report ticked in at the bottom of Akagi.
"That boy from Gunma is doing a good job keeping up with that GT-R." Hoshino said to Joushima.
"Indeed he is, compared to your race there are a lot more emotions involved in this battle. Neither of the parties wants to lose tonight as it will have consequences for them." Joushima replied.
Keisuke knew that his best shot for winning this battle would be on the downhill, as the traction of the GT-R wouldn't matter as much as it did on the uphill.
But contrary to God Foot's R34 this R34 was actually going faster through the corners, that was something Keisuke had failed to pay attention to before now.
This was not going to be an easy battle for sure, and this time he had to pass the GT-R before the finish line to win, or else he would lose.
Carlos threw another look in the rear view and grinned widely from ear to ear.
"I guess I should keep that promise to Sweeper after all. I am going to go all out on you!" Carlos thought and begun braking and shifting down for the upcoming corner.
The R34 all of a sudden changed driving style and closed as close to the inside guardrail as possible while drifting through the corner with zero counter steering.
Carlos was in the groove, and in the rhythm to give Keisuke a hard time in terms of speed.
"That GT-R has received weight reduction modifications and with that widebody as well as those tires he will definitely be able to outrun me if this was on a different course than Akagi!" Keisuke thought and followed in with a drift.
The two cars were going through the corners at extreme speeds, moving sideways but the main difference was Carlos"s recovery of speed after a drift.
Thanks to the ATTESA ET-S the GT-R was capable of keeping a high corner exit speed.
All that this achieved in Keisuke's eyes was increasing his hate for GT-R's, sure an inexperienced driver could be fast in one, but experienced drivers was the worst you could ever face.
But Keisuke used his home course advantage and found out that the GT-R was not driving the best line for the tight section of the course.
And at the next S corner, Keisuke executed his counter attack, snapping the line in front of Carlos and blocking Carlos' path to keep the lead.
"What the hell? You are playing blocking manouvers now? Well, that will not help you!" Carlos thought and continued chasing the yellow RX-7.
Back at the bottom the radio report ticked in:
"This is the S corner, the FD just passed the 34 in an extremely well timed counter attack!"
"Damnit, seems like Keisuke had the edge after all. Must been that tire management trick I taught him." Sweeper said.
"Don't worry have you forgotten Carlos' no lose policy?" Jane shot into the discussion.
"Yeah but how will he get past Keisuke again?" Sweeper asked.
"You are forgetting the easy part of the course, just wait and see at the end." Jane said while smiling.
Carlos knew that this was the point for him to make his move, it was time to settle the match once and for all.
As the GT-R had up to this point been sticking almost right onto Keisuke's bumper it now made an abrupt and quick lane change followed by intense acceleration.
The move caught Keisuke completely off guard and was unable to block Carlos' path in time and the 34 quickly came flying up at his left side.
"Just how much power is that big body box of yours packing?" Keisuke said to himself as the 34 came rolling up at his side.
The move was quick thanks to the Mines engine's response and engine power, it was an engine truly worth its weight in gold for the type of power it provided.
The black R34 quickly snapped the lead and kept on using engine power to pull away from Keisuke, moving sideways through the corners.
Like Takumi when he was racing Kyoichi, Keisuke was forced to just watch the 34 take off and disappear into the night only allowing him to see the 4 red circles resembling the taillamps disappear into the corner ahead at an intense speed.
The race was over with a move like that, Carlos had executed his plan perfectly with only some minor mistakes like Keisuke performing the counter attack.
At the starting line two headlights came into view and they were NOT flipups so it was clear that the 34 had won over Keisuke's FD.
Keisuke on the other hand were only 2-3 seconds behind Carlos on the final sprint to the finish through a long sweeping corner.
But as GT-R's had their speciality at such corners there was no way Keisuke had any chance to get past the 34 in time to win the race.
A few minutes after crossing the finish line the drivers got out and Carlos shook Keisuke's hand.
"A great race Takahashi Keisuke, and a nicely timed counter attack as well, I didn't see that one coming at all until you were all of a sudden in front of my 34." Carlos said.
"Well I suppose this is how the outcome was supposed to be, I suppose World Cup drivers are indeed the specialists of the street. But you had a very interresting attack using the engine power that was quick and brutal. Not even God Foot managed to do something like that." Keisuke replied.
"Don't worry about that World Cup part, you should apply for GT300 soon and get some proper racing experience with the rest of us. Even though the competition for the events in 2007 are stiffening up greatly with a few new contenders that are eager at taking a shot at us old boys. I suppose it is only fair, just hang in there and when you get to the GT-U class I will give a few driving hints myself." Carlos said while smiling.
Sweeper and Kyoko approached the two chattering.
"Hey Hey Carlos, chatting to the average FD driver eh?" Sweeper asked.
"Heh, I suppose it wouldn't matter when I hang with you now does it?" Carlos replied.
"Not to nag this in Keisuke, but you do remember the bet we had?" Sweeper asked rather softly.
"Of course I do, I lost this battle to a GT-R and have to face the consequences of that. It made me rethink a few things as well and you know what? The shock of having Carlos pass me with that 34 in the sloppy section made me realize that the loss of the bet wasn't so bad after all." Keisuke said.
"I think I understand what you mean with that Keisuke, now if you would excuse me and Carlos I am sure you and Kyoko got a few things to do." Sweeper said before grabbing Carlos and pulling him away from Keisuke.
"Heh, what a great battle, I kind of underestimated that guy at first you know." Carlos said to Sweeper as they walked away from Keisuke and Kyoko.
"I told you he was good now didn't I? Admit it Carlos, you still underestimate FD's!" Sweeper said.
"Well, I may underestimate other FD's a bit but certainly not one certain 98 Type RS." Carlos said while smiling at Sweeper.
Sweeper and Carlos both bursted into laughter remembering parts of their previous discussions on the same subject.
Just as they were laughing a familiar girl came up to Sweeper while smiling.
"Seems like you are keeping your car like I told you it would happen." Sakura said.
Carlos got the picture quite quickly when Sakura said this.
"Ummm I need to go and check that my GT-R got fuel for something or whatever... I'll leave you two alone." Carlos quickly sprinted away to give Sweeper some time with Sakura.
"Still haven't changed your oppinion?" Sweeper asked.
"OF COURSE NOT you silly rotor head." Sakura said.
"Hey, you want to race over that?" Sweeper asked while smiling.
"Anytime, anyday, anywhere Mr!" Sakura replied.
"I'll book you later then, just use your time to think of the proposal wisely Sakura, just remember that it is not a one shot proposal like a race." Sweeper said and walked away.
"How long do you think you can stay coldhearted like that? Not for long I think." Sakura thought as she watched Sweeper run off to his car.
Keiichi was delighted as he called to main sponsors to inform that they finally had bagged a win that was big enough to begin exploiting the newly gained publicity.
Project S was almost complete and they had been quite successful on their travels, and it was time to prepare the paychecks for the drivers they had been renting for the past few weekends.
Hiring pro's gets the job done, but it also makes it easy to blow the budget, but in this case it was worth it, beating Project D was going to create a major publicity hit for the WC sponsors.
But for tonight it was time to pack up and head back and do a nice celebration, with Carlos as the main honor tonight for scoring the main victory, of course Sweeper had been successful although it had no financial importance it was still morally important to the team and especially Jane.
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Authors notes: Well now it is almost time for the "Grande finale" people... I estimate 2 or 3 more chapters and Project S is done and complete ready to just collect dust.
Stay tuned for the final race in this story, it is going to be VERY different from the previous battles.