Stage 4, Episode 4
Short summary
The downhill battle between Takumi and Daiki begins with Takumi leading and Daiki chasing. Daiki is the best driver out of Toudou School's current students because of his skill in braking. He always finds the ideal place to stop decelerating and begin accelerating when braking for a corner. In the first run, Takumi was given two instructions from Ryosuke. One was to not look in his rear-view mirror during the first run. Because of this, he does not react to Daiki's pressure and can concentrate well. The second was rev-limiting. Ryosuke sealed off Takumi's upper 2,000 rpm by making him shift up at 9,000 rpm instead of 11,000 rpm. Believing that he could end the race in the first run, Daiki attempts to pass Takumi, but always misses by a little in the corner. He ends up not being able to do it, so they begin the second run with Daiki leading and Takumi chasing. Daiki brings up the pace, but Takumi can keep up because he can now use his upper 2,000 rpm. Since Daiki's EK-9 is a FF (front engine, front wheel drive), he uses the front tires for both braking and accelerating, and the stress the downhill puts on the front tires are making them wear out sooner than Takumi's. Takumi's Hachi Roku can also rev higher than Daiki's EK-9. Using both of these to his advantage, Takumi passes Daiki in one of the corners and wins the battle. The uphill battle against Keisuke and Sakai then begins with Sakai leading and Keisuke chasing.
Longer summary
The race between Takumi and Daiki has just started with Daiki doing the chasing. From behind, Daiki is in awe of Takumi's skill and his highly-tuned Hachi Roku. He feels he will win anyway.
Sakai understands why Daiki chose to chase. He would have done the same to watch how Project D, the fastest in Gunma, drives. If the opponent is not that impressive, he could easily pass him. Of the current students at the Toudou School, Daiki is the best because of his natural talent in braking. The timing of when to stop braking in a corner is more important than when to start. Where the driver stops decelerating and begins accelerating needs to be just right or the result could be some time loss. Daiki is able to find that ideal point each time. Chief Director Toudou has told Daiki in the past that you have to master braking without ABS to use ABS properly.
As the race goes along, Daiki thinks he has figured out his opponent and plans on ending the race in the first run. He looks for a place to pass Takumi and tries to pressure him. However, before the race, Ryosuke gave Takumi two basic instructions. One was to never look in his rear-view mirror during the first run. Takumi can feel Daiki's pressure but can concentrate well by not looking back at his opponent. In each corner, Daiki pulls up close to try to pass Takumi, but keeps missing by a little because of Takumi's fast cornering.
The second instruction from Ryosuke deals with rev-limiting. Takumi's Hachi Roku can rev up to 11,000 rpm, but Ryosuke has told him to shift up at 9,000 rpm, preventing him from using the upper 2,000 rpm. This is to hide some of Takumi's abilities from his opponent. It's risky, but Takumi will most likely be able stay in front with his skills.
The first run ends with Daiki not being able to pass Takumi. The second run begins at the peak again. This time, Takumi is chasing and without rev-limiting. Not knowing that Takumi was hiding some of his abilities, Daiki believes that Takumi will not be able to keep up with him and brings up his pace. From the back, Takumi sees how fast Daiki is and wonders if he can keep up. Ryosuke believes he can though because Takumi has the ability to adapt to other people's paces while he is chasing.
As the race continues, there is no distance between Daiki and Takumi. However, the difference in cars will be a factor. The downhill puts stress on the front tires, and a FF (front engine, front wheel drive) car like Daiki's EK-9 overuses the front tires for both accelerating and cornering. Takumi's Hachi Roku is a FR (front engine, rear wheel drive) so Daiki's tires will start to give out first. In the first run when Takumi used rev-limiting, Daiki thought he could pass him and pushed his car too much, wearing out his tires and brakes even more. In the second half of the second run, Daiki's cornering becomes sluggish and both he and Takumi realize that Daiki's tires are losing grip. Takumi's tires still has plenty of grip though. Seeing this, Takumi decides to end the race in this run.
On any course, there is a point where it's more difficult to find the right place to shift gears. For example, while accelerating towards a corner, the tachometer is in the red zone, and there isn't enough room left to shift gears and accelerate. Takumi's Hachi Roku can rev higher than Daiki's EK-9 though. Right before the next corner, Takumi pulls up by Daiki's side, and in the corner, he gets ahead. By the end of the corner, Takumi has passed Daiki. The win goes to Takumi and Project D.
The downhill battle is over and Daiki reports his loss to the Toudou School while Ryosuke goes to congratulate Takumi. Takumi feels like he has been able to live up to Ryosuke's expectations and is really happy.
The uphill battle is about to start with Sakai leading and Keisuke chasing.
