April 19, 2006 - JDM superstars Nobuteru "***" Tanaguchi and Eiji "Tarzan" Yamada will be teaming up to compete in their first-ever Grand Am race. The press release can explain things better than we can, so read on for all the details!

Top JDM icons Nobuteru "***" Taniguchi and Eiji "Tarzan" Yamada will compete as a team in the Avondale Mazda Twin 200s. Their ride will be the 2005 Grand American Series ST class champion SpeedSource RX-8.

Both *** and Tarzan are established road racers and have the resume to prove it. *** which stands for "No One Better" came up from the streets of Hiroshima to sweep away amateur drifting championships back in the day. He is the undisputed ace of the Japanese drifting scene with his wide array of tricks and supreme speed. He won the 2001 D1 GP series champion and was 1st runner up in the 2004 season. He is the 2005 series champion in the Super Taikyu endurance series with teammate Manabu Orido. He also competes in Japan's top racing series, Super GT where he is a multiple race winner.

Tarzan is one of the most diverse Japanese drivers and has also established himself in the US tuner scene as a time attack specialist and drift driver. Tarzan's career started in the so-called Freshman series, which he promptly won in 1982. From there he moved up to All Japan F3 and won the Zaurus Cup series twice. In 1991 his entry into the Mirage Cup put him on a path of racing sedans, quickly moving up to Super Taikyu and JGTC/SuperGT. In 2003 he drove the Eclipse Taisan Viper to a remarkable win at Fuji Speedway. On top of it all, Tarzan is a multiple winner and record holder at time attack events in Japan and the US.

 

lets see how well the drifters do

 

actually they are doing well indeed...Before they were drifters they competed in many races. Tarzan actually hates drifting but he does it anyway cause he likes the attention the US market gives him.

 

I didn't mean it in a negative way, sorry

 

Go to just about any time attack event in the US or Japan and Tarzan will be in multiple cars. He's sort of a hired gun and I'm sure they'll do rather well in the Speedsource RX-8.

 

yay! my favorite driver, *** taniguchi. he also drives for wedsport in the japanese gt300 class. the blue wedsport celica.

 

and is also the ace driver for HKS..hahaha

 

Yeah, my understanding is that these guys are "ringers" who should do quite well in their class. Currently it looks like they are just runnign the PIR event....but who knows what the future brings.

 

i think they will do pretty well. With enough practice and seat time they should be up to par if not better than the grand am racers.

 

yea, i would like to watch this when i can. looks interesting.

 

AHHHHHH, speed tv has TAPE DELAY!!!! for those that cant go to the race, we have to wait until NEXT WEEK!!

edit: oops got too excited.. its mazdaavondale 200, i see it now,, hehe
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E-cigarettes

 

I can't wait to see this. Can someone post up the airtimes for these races?

Hopefully these two guys can help the RX-8s get more media attention from speed, but knowing speed they'll probably show highlights of Nascar during the race rather than show the rotaries.

-hS