SIDEBAR: TARZAN RETURNS TO THE USA

It was exciting news to hear that the legendary Japanese driver, Eiji “Tarzan” Yamada, would be coming to the IDRC West Coast Nationals to drive the D’Garage Project RH9 R35 GT-R. While most enthusiasts recognize Tarzan for his driving prowess in time attack competition, Super GT, N1 and D1GP, one of his
first appearances in the USA occurred back in 1999. He made exhibition passes in the A’PEXi V-MAX R33 Skyline GT-R at IDRC events, wowing the crowds with scorching passes. His best time slip was an 8.47 at 165 mph. It was great to see him behind the wheel on the drag strip again, which he stated is a motorsport that he really enjoys and wants to see return to mainstream popularity.

Pro-Am Slammers

In the other full field, the CP-Carrillo Pro-Am Turbo class, the group suffered a terrible blow as six competitors broke, three were disqualified and one fouled, all in the first round of eliminations. The top qualifier Josue Gonzalez was among the casualties, opening the door for the rest of the field. Two of the broken competitors that advanced, Juan Hernandez and Luis Gomez, got back on the track for the second round against each other. Hernandez prevailed, advancing to the finals when his semi-final opponent Justin Verches broke. Adrian Salcedo had delivered mid ten-second passes but got lucky when his 11.545-second pass was quicker than Mike Escamilla’s. Salcedo ran tens for his next two battles, which included his finals victory over Hernandez.

Eight drivers vied for the win in the Pro-Am All Motor class. Unfortunately, three broke in the first round. Art Rodriguez beat Mario Menendez in round two to secure a spot in the final round. Leo G and Marissa Liongson were the only first round pairing to make a pass, with Leo G coming out on top. He then beat Jerry Guzman in the second round to lock in a shot at the finals. Leo G ran his quickest pass against Rodriguez, winning with a 10.314-second time slip.