The IS F Racing car produced by Lexus Europe, to match the mostly non modified production car class of the Nurburgring 4 hour race.

The maximum power output is 420ps, the same as the standard production car, and the weight is 1750kg (including a 120liter fuel tank), slightly heavier than stock.

  "So Mr. Yamauchi, would you be interested in entering a 4 hour race at the Nurburgring? "

The call was from international motor journalist, Peter Lyon.
My heart immediately thumped hard, and I was at a loss for words momentarily, but I sort of recall replying "Yes, yes of course I will" about a second later.

I love cars, and I love to drive cars, but I had intentionally placed a distance between myself and this thing called "racing".
It's because my life, or my work itself, is a series of challenges much like racing already, and I always thought I'd have to be crazy to take on any more challenges than I already deal with.

I think the reason I slipped and took that invitation for something I had intentionally banned myself from, is probably because of the word "Nurburgring".
I probably would have declined, if it wasn't THE "Nurburgring".
For a car enthusiast, the Nurburgring is the equivalent to what places like the "Eiger Nordwand" or "Mount Everest" means to a mountaineer. There is that special allure about it that you just can't explain in words. It was the great mountaineer Mallory who said "Because it's there", about climbing the Everest, and the Nurburgring, is a place where you are tempted to say something like; "because there's a road".

I succumbed to the allure of the Nurburgring.

After I accepted the invitation, I became flustered.
I obviously knew how dangerous the course is, and I knew all too well that I did not have enough racing experience in the first place to even begin imagining the infinite number of things that can happen in the chaos of a race where nearly 200 cars are on the road. While the development of "Gran Turismo" for the PSP reached its crucial stages, I started physical training in the corner of the office in the middle of the night, sort of in hiding, and drove very early mornings on the Tokyo Expressway to practice braking with my left foot.

There are some words of wisdom in Germany, that says "Motor racing is the funnest thing that a man does without taking his pant off." (I don't know if they really say that, but I heard it from a test driver of Mercedes Benz) but at the time, it really didn't seem like I'd have any room to enjoy myself.

In all actuality, I knew that what I accepted and took on, was not just a personal challenge.
I knew that the driving experience in "Gran Turismo" is directly connected to an improvement of driving skill in real life. We were able to prove that from a third person perspective through the GT Academy project last year, but for me to enter a race, means that I'll be carrying all the expectations of all the hardcore car enthusiast fans that have always supported "Gran Turismo". And that's also why the target had to be THE "Nurburgring" from the very beginning, it had to be.

This can't be ended with just an:

"I entered the race. I tried hard. It was fun."

It simply mustn't be ended like that.
…Aaagh. Just as I expected, another challenge has been added to my life….

To be continued…

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To the Nürburgring 2