SNEAK PEEK: Here's Who I'm Visiting in Japan
Let me show you the blueprint
Happy Race Day! especially to photographer and friend of the newsletter Syd Cummings (interviewed here back in 2020) for launching a new collection of her One Hell Of A Town! line of automotive merch. Go grab yourself something cool!
Big news. We are proud to announce a new project! This summer, international motorsports journalist Hazel Southwell will dive into a worthy topic:
We are thrilled to work with Hazel and add her to our growing list of authors. Follow her above for coverage of F1 and other racing series. And stay tuned for more news coming soon — follow me on LinkedIn! — as Carrara Media continues to grow.
Adventure Time!
Next week I’ll be on the ground in Tokyo. For the first time, I can reveal that my new book is about a national legend: the Nissan Skyline GT-R. I’ll explore the roots of the GT-R’s feverish global fanbase. To do that, I need to see where it originated.
I’m visiting shops, museums, car meets, engineers, brokers, drivers and journalists who have lived and breathed GT-R culture in Japan collectively for more than a century. It’s going to be a trip. Let me walk you through some of them.
Top Rank:
A specialty dealer known for locating and storing pristine GT-Rs until they’re legal to export to the US.
HKS:
This iconic aftermarket company creates monster GT-Rs at the foot of Mount Fuji and remains a major supplier and tuner today.
Daikoku Car Meet:
A free, nightly car meet known for attracting underground heavy-hitters.
Nissan Heritage Collection (Zama):
A legendary assortment of pioneering sports cars, especially GT-R racecars.
Wangan Highway:
A stretch of public highway that hosted street races inspiring multiple movies, shows and video games.
Of course, there are many more people and places to see. I’ll keep them under wraps for now. Consider them… special guests when the book comes out.
Culture
Over the weekend we returned to Garage And Social, the storage facility and lounge-y events center owned by Hagerty. This time it was to celebrate women in car culture.
It was great to see so many ladies bringing their rides and sharing their passion. Shout out to everyone who said hi!
You can also see my daughter Claire wearing the biggest smile of her life as she’s shown around the inside of a Porsche 996 RSR racecar in this IG Reel.
Race Results
Here’s something wild — two different endurance racing series held events at Sebring on the same weekend. Both were a blast to watch.
You can find IMSA’s riveting docu-style video series here and a 3-minute race recap here. At one point, all three leaders crashed into each other!
But WEC was the one to watch, debuting their phenomenal new hypercar class. Do yourself a favor:
Let’s do it all again!
Ask A Millennial! Michelle Miller, 45
Last week we talked about the Women in Motorsport summit held at Dirtfish rally school in Washington state. I reached out to Michelle, a driving coach there, to ask about sharing a stage with motorsports legends, plus her thoughts on the amateur racing scene. Here is an edited version of our conversation.
Empowering. The number of people supporting and celebrating strong women uplifted me and gives me strength and hope for the future. Taking the first step is often the hardest and seeing and hearing from those who have found tremendous success through hard work and determination has paved the way for future generations.
There is added enthusiasm to motorsport right now and a trend toward inclusiveness. The accessibility is better than ever, particularly for those wanting to enjoy cars at a grassroots or recreational level. We have to keep working to shed the concept that it’s just a rich man’s sport. The majority of people active in sport are doing it in this space.
As a professional coach, a perfect day of driving is the moments when my student “gets it” and realizes how capable they are and how much joy there is in driving a car at its edge. From a racing perspective, I love a difficult day where I get to conquer challenges, push through and find success. An easy day or an easy win is never as rewarding as challenge or competition or overcoming obstacles.
Thanks for your insight, Michelle! Follow her on Instagram here.
And Finally…
Here are three different ways that happy customers posted about their copy of Postcards From The End of The World. Pick your fave!
You can follow Carrara Media on Instagram to see even more fun shots.
Drive hard and be safe. Black Lives Matter.
Race Day has subscribers in 30 states and 15 countries! Want your event included? Shoot me a note with subject line “Race Day” at ryan@carrarabooks.com.
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