“AJAJ Motorsports Subcommittee” launched, where automotive journalists also take on the challenge of improving their driving skills

Technology required for dynamic performance evaluation

Hiroki Yamada's AE86. Yamada is also the initiator of the Motorsports Subcommittee. — Hiroki Yamada’s AE86. Yamada is also the initiator of the Motorsports Subcommittee.

The Motorsports Subcommittee, proposed by Hiroki Yamada, was established within AJAJ. The official name of AJAJ is the Japan Automobile Journalists Association. It is a gathering of automotive journalists with freelance experience, and was founded in 1969. It currently boasts nearly 100 members, including honorary members and associate members. It is probably the largest automotive journalist organization in Japan. So why did AJAJ need a Motorsports Subcommittee?

A certain level of driving skill is absolutely necessary when evaluating a car’s dynamic performance. However, even among automotive journalists, opinions are divided as to how “certain” that level should be. Some say, “You need the ability to drive comfortably on a circuit,” while others say, “No, you’re not going to become a racing driver, so you don’t need to be fast,” making it difficult to reach a conclusion.

I myself have never been a good driver. However, one day at a sports model test drive event held at Tsukuba Circuit, I was confronted with the fact that my skills were nowhere near Yamada’s, so I decided to work together with Yamada on circuit training. After repeated, steady practice, I now believe I have mastered the most basic of circuit driving.

It should be a subcommittee of the club that is one level above the rest.

The Roadster NR-A comes with a roll cage so it can be driven on a circuit.

So, how much has it improved? Well, you can understand that it’s now possible to catch the signal just before the tires start to slip, and drive stably even in situations close to their limits. Of course, it’s difficult to bring out the full performance potential of a racing car equipped with extremely thick slick tires. Still, I’m confident that I can now drive road cars, even super sports cars, at a reasonable pace and control them.

Because of that experience, I fully understand the importance of circuit driving, but if you try to do it on your own, it will cost a fair amount of money, and it will be difficult to hone your skills efficiently without the right instructors and friends. Yamada-san, who acted as my coach, felt this way even more strongly than I did, so he proposed the establishment of a “Motorsports Club” at the AJAJ general meeting with the aim of “improving the driving skills of AJAJ members.” Not only did the response far exceed expectations, but there was also overwhelming voice calling for it to be a “subcommittee one level above a club,” and so the Motorsports Subcommittee was launched.

The AJAJ Motorsports Subcommittee recently held a gymkhana event at Fuji Speedway as its first commemorative event. Furthermore, Tetsuya Yamano, an AJAJ member and a living legend in the gymkhana world who has won the JAF All Japan Gymkhana Championship 24 times, participated as a special guest and coach on the day.

Gymkhana is available as a place to hone driving skills

Shinya Yamamoto participated in the GR Yaris, recording a good time thanks to its high power and 4WD, which is also effective for gymkhana.

Incidentally, gymkhana is a competition in which pylons are lined up on a flat paved road and cars compete to see who can drive the fastest and most accurately around the winding course. However, this time, you can think of gymkhana as a place to hone your driving skills rather than as a competition.

Fortunately, Shogo Nishikawa, a young member of AJAJ, regularly hosts gymkhana events, so we were able to rent space there to hold the event.

Gymkhana is a racecourse that is significantly smaller than a regular circuit, and although the average speed is much lower than on a circuit, driving quickly on the narrow course requires more precise machine control than on a circuit, making it a great way to easily hone your driving skills. Yamano, who gave an opening speech, even said, “Gymkhana is the most difficult course in terms of machine control. It was because of the experience I gained here that I was able to win the Super GT championship.”

Witnessing the precise techniques of professionals

Tetsuya Yamano, a legend in the gymkhana world, kindly agreed to join us for a ride in his "Legend," whose performance was surprisingly smooth and fast. — Tetsuya Yamano, a legend in the gymkhana world, kindly agreed to join us for a ride in his “Legend,” whose performance was surprisingly smooth and fast.

I attended this event in a Mazda Roadster press car. My own AE86, a circuit practice car, is stored in a garage in Tsukuba, so I couldn’t bring it to the venue due to scheduling conflicts. However, as I’ll explain later, there were many times when I thought, “It was actually a good thing I was driving the Roadster.”

The event itself was simply a matter of each participant driving as they wished. However, if they wished, they could receive advice from Yamano and even experience riding alongside him. Seeing Yamano’s steering skills, I was deeply impressed. Even though the Roadster is compact, it was amazing to see something nearly 4 meters long and weighing about 1 tonne turn so easily, so precisely, and so compactly.

Moreover, apart from occasionally lightly applying the handbrake, it’s safe to say that Yamano doesn’t perform any special driving maneuvers. In fact, even though the car is driving so quickly, sitting next to him you don’t feel any impact whatsoever. What was particularly surprising was the downshift during sudden braking; there was no noticeable shock, as if you were driving a CVT car. And yet the downshift itself was incredibly quick. His precise technique is truly worthy of being called “magic.”

A compact, rear-wheel-drive car ideal for learning to drive

From right: Sato Koichi, Okamoto Koichiro, Hashimoto Takashi, the author, Yamada Hiroki, Yamano Tetsuya, Yamamoto Shinya, and Nishikawa Shogo.

On this day, Yamano was full of praise for the Roadster. “There’s quite a lot of roll when cornering, but the suspension geometry is good so the tire contact patch is always consistent. That’s why the handling characteristics don’t change in a tricky way no matter how hard you corner. I think it’s truly a sports car that we can be proud of around the world.” It’s rare for Yamano to praise a single car to this extent. Moreover, with ample suspension stroke and relatively soft spring/damper settings, the drive to and from the circuit is extremely comfortable. It felt like the perfect car for easily honing your driving skills.

As if to prove this fact, nearly half of the cars participating that day were Roadsters, with the majority of the rest being AE86s. It seems that, just like in the past, compact FR models are the best for learning how to control a car.

Although only seven AJAJ members participated this time, we sincerely hope that this small start will eventually lead to the development of the automotive journalism world in Japan.