R's Meeting 2022 - Part 2 - Chronologically Taken Photos

So after running into Dino again where he was taking photos of the long line of cars trying get to customer parking, we walked back to my car so he could change out his camera lens.

On the way back, we ran into this car, on the end of the row of guest parking spots:

So what, just another Autech R33 GT-R, right? Well, this one is well known for being owned and cherished by legendary Nissan test driver Hiroyoshi Kato! Yep, a fellow R33 GT-R owner, and if you look closely he's outfitted his car with the carbon ceramic rotors from the Spec V R35 GT-R.  So if Nissan's best test driver prefers the R33... I mean if he's driven them all, his choice for his personal car I think really means something.

I guess he really likes the Bitburger beer?

Once back at my car Dino quickly changed lenses (and yes he was grateful for not having to haul his bag around with him, as he might have done if he had parked further away - you're welcome DCD!):

And quickly went back to work.

Meanwhile I turned back to make sure no one was messing with my car:

And then headed over the Nissan Prince Tokyo Motorsports booth to catch up with some old friends. 

Today only - a new N1 Engine!

The most popular booth seemed to be Robson Leather's - not surprising as they were discounting their line up of shift and parking brake boots for each GT-R generation.

Back in the parking lot for cars awaiting the GT-R Magazine photo shoot, I spotted this beauty:

simple and clean!

Pulling back a bit, you can see how many other cars were in the lot.

Meanwhile I heard some talking over the PA system - the "Talk Show" with the guys responsible for each generation of GT-R was there to talk nerd and answer nerd questions!

I quickly lost interest and got a text from Dino to meet him at the OS Giken booth.  When I got there he wasn't there but I did find something interesting I will discuss in a future post.

Heading back towards my car, I stopped off at the Kyosho booth to see what they had...

No 33s so I quickly left.

I then got a text from a good friend, and current GT-R /Z Chief Product Specialist Narita-san, to join him watch the end of the talk show.  There, a German photographer named Alex who is responsible for a certain GT-R book was being introduced on the stage. 

Spotted this guy as we waited for Alex to come off the stage

Alex had somehow heard of me and my car, and wanted to meet. Narita-san made the introductions, and then we headed towards my car so he could do a quick impromptu photo shoot.

Opening the hood seemed to attract a lot of people who wanted to check out the car

Alex got intercepted by Tamura-san so they went off right before he started shooting, so I was left talking to the Nismo guys and several other people - and some new friends - who stopped by.  Finally, Alex returned and did his thing, but I was getting hungry so I threw the keys to Dino who promised to watch the fun.  Narita-san and I went upstairs by elevator to a suite reserved for Nissan...

Where over this bento lunch, we discussed a few interesting projects. 

Of course I can't publish what we talked about, but I will tell you the bento was tastier than it looked.  Once finished, we grabbed a few extra bottles of free drinks for the guys who were waiting by my car.  Dino reported that Masa and Daiki from Robson had stopped by to check out my car... too bad I missed them, but an excuse for me to call them!

Anyway, any one who has been to Fuji Speedway on a Sunday knows that the earlier you drive back, the better, given the crazy PM traffic into Tokyo. So even though the festivities continued, we left, driving very slowly through the crowd, at about 2pm. A great day, I had a lot of fun and I think Narita-san and the guys at Nismo for the invite and the hospitality!

Check back soon for a couple of posts that go into detail on a couple of interesting finds!