◤◢ 2 days before the race◤◢

In the roads between the mountains of nagano the sound of 2 familiar engines echoed through. The iconic matsumoto duo waltzing with the yellow supra and the purple R34 skyline GT-R finally stopped at the beginning of the highway going uphill. Enzo and diojo got out of their cars and looked around. "Alright here we go. I will do your time attack after warming up your tires. You're gonna cross the entire mountain pass the on 143 until we reach aoki" Enzo said while taking a chronometer. He got in her passenger seat and diojo thought "i think i gotta go easy for this lap. I'm not used to driving a skyline on the corners. And this curvy track isn't doing my case any better."

"I'm starting the countdown" enzo blurted interrupting her thoughts. Diojo immediately started revving her engine. The RB26-DET roaring across the mountain

"Five"

"Four"

"Three"

"Two"

"Alright I'll try my best" diojo smirked while shifting into 1st gear

"One"

Diojo stepped on the gas one last time before Enzo yelled "GOOOOO" starting the timer. Diojo did a little launch control then fully sent the GT-R. "WHOAAAAAAA" enzo was glued to the bucket seat due to the G-force "HEYY YOU GOTTA BRAKE HERE IT'S A SHARP RIGHT TURN" diojo ignored him while she downshifted to 2nd gear braked and turned using the tires grip while they screeched. She then accelerated again tackling the straightway with wider turns taking advantage of the 4wd drivetrain stability. Enzo's face was blank.
"Okay I think I got used to it. For now Just pretend you're in a Rollercoaster." Diojo blurted.

"A ROLLERCOASTER?? WERE YOU JUST PLAYING AROUND?" enzo asked, scared for his life

"so this is the power of the r34 skyline GT-R, soo cool! Every second in it is pure ecstasy. Unlike the R35 which is plagued with many emission restrictions which didn't go in its favor especially since the car scene was as good as dead due to stricter regulations and the domination of electric vehicles and self driving cars"

A long straightway came and she cranked up the speed shifting through all 6 gears and continued her inner monologu"this godzilla here, is a whole different story. The essence of racing is more prominent despite it being slightly slower than a stock r35 it's way more fun. Smelling pure gasoline and hearing the exhaust felt nostalgic. The manual gearbox made me feel more at home than the 35. Honestly nothing beats the clutch and the stick at the touge!"

She tackled the last wide corner before the consecutive twisty hairpins, having the time of her life while enzo glanced at the map and throught "you're going into the twisty hairpins section. Be careful- ah?" He felt a force tugging at him from all over the places as she dove into the S curves.

Her tires screaching as she intentionally oversteered while downshifting using heel and toe technique going through a slight downhill and- What? She's drifting? With AWD? These questions roamed around enzo's head as he observed diojo completely focused on the road ahead

"she really isn't playing around with my life. Actually... when I look at her while she's driving it's really calming. I almost forgot she's going this fast on a low speed section. Altering between 4 wheel drift and grip. It's true skylines can do it using ATTESA-ETS system, but to be done this perfectly, That's professional grade skills" he thought.

When she reached the aoki sign he clicked on the chronometer and on cue she slowed down until she stopped and pulled the handbrake. she turned to enzo "so how did I do? Ah- enzo you here?" He was dumbfounded "you set a new course record." He regained his composure "i really was scared for my life" he chuckled nervously.

Diojo replied with a little concern. "Ah my bad. I've only raced against a 911 on the Nürburgring once. My previous e34 touring was no match for them in terms of torque. Although I'm talking about newer 996 and 992 GT3-RS. Their drivers were mad good too."

Enzo was confused "992? I don't think there was ever a 911 type called like that." Diojo realized her slip of tongue and covered her mouth gasping then turned away from embarrassment "yea in this current year it isn't released yet it's in 2022 it's also one of the many cars I desire. Can you imagine it has over 500hp from factory?"

Enzo chuckled "no wonder your 16- i mean 36 year old bmw wouldn't keep up. Oh wait you said bmw? So you've driven FR cars before. I thought this gtr was your 1st car! Well no wonder you could drift an AWD." Diojo nodded and said "In this timeline yeah I guess. i think i also drove Sana's NSX so you can count MRs too. Amyway i hope the 993 Turbo doesn't give me as much trouble as its younger siblings"

there was a smaller silence then enzo blurted. "Say diojo, If you were to drive this GT-R against the newer 911s on the Nürburgring, would you win?" Diojo took a sip of her melon Ramune soda, took a moment to savor it then said "obviously I'd lose. The GT-R is an omnipotent car with its ATTESA-ETS AWD and the VR38-DETT engine that can handle 4 digits of power with insane stability but its biggest weakness is, um how do i put it, as if I'm driving a boat. It's heavier than the BMW i had and definitely heavier than new Porsches. Well i'm talking about my bone stock Nismo R35 GT-R. I never got to hit the Nürburgring with it though. It had a very short life..."

She then pointed at her Skyline "However this one definitely has some weights cut from it and pushes more power than stock. the inline 6 configuration is one of the most stable engines too. You also have a Supra I'm sure with that height of yours I know the rear seats are gone without looking behind" enzo nodded "Yeah once i removed them and the brackets from the chassis it slightly handles differently. I wonder how far i could go in terms of weight reduction without entirely stripping the interior. My opponent has an RX-7 it might definitely give me a run for my money. I heard the driver is also german. Those people show no mercy on the track."

diojo teased him "but you're german yourself" "I'M NOT GERMAN I'M HALF DUTCH. FROM THE FRIGGING NETHERLANDS" he yelled out of frustration. Diojo couldn't help but laugh "I never knew hanging out with you could be this fun. People would think I'm crazy listening to my story. Truly Thanks for being by my side and trusting me"

Enzo was taken aback by what she said and his heart skipped a beat. He scratched his cheek that has a faint blush. "Well it's really nothing. Thanks for keeping diojo alive." He noticed the time and said "ah shit you need to do my time attack as well. Time flies."

"Alright let's get in the supra. You better do a better job than i did. You drift right?" It was Diojo's turn to go to the passenger seat while enzo nodded. "It's now your turn to just pretend it's a Rollercoaster, diojo" he chuckled which irritated diojo a little "the hell you laughing at enzo? You better not be plotting something funny- WHAAAA" she was interrupted by enzo doing a U-turn locking his front wheels with the handbrake and fully sent it through the straightway before tackling a corner

"dumb*ss you didn't even let me start the timer- ah" she looked down and noticed it had already started "I must've accidentally clicked on it. Just have fun Diojo" she smiled while resting her head on the bucket seat. "Poor enzo has to go with the hairpins first huh-" she was interrupted by his tires screeching "wow for something heavy and and on stage 1 modifications it sure cleared that U corner fast THAT GUY'S MAD FOR NOT BREAKING THIS EARLY."

"WAIT ENZO THIS IS A U CORNER WHAT ARE YOU PLOTTING BRAKE NOW!!" she yelled which made Enzo snicker "You'll see Diojo. I just mastered this technique on this circuit specifically. Now pretend you're in a Rollercoaster" and he steered to the opposite direction of the corner and quickly countersteered initiating an inertia drift "wait an inertia drift?"

Enzo cleared an S corner with minimal braking "she's rather calm despite me drifting so hard on these wild hairpins but rather she's smiling. As expected of a daughter of a rallyist."

The next corner was tricky and he was going a little too fast which made Diojo change her expression and gripping the roof handle "are you going to kill us enzo?? You're almost redlining the tachometer what are you plotting? Ah-?" And she felt the inner side of the car drop "wait... there's no way that trick exist in this timeline too... do they also have DK in this universe?"

The inner wheels gripping the gutter which allowed enzo to turn as fast as humanly possible "sneaky move for a supra but still awesome. We're almost done with the hairpins. The straightway is where the supra shines the most"

Enzo got out of the hairpins section towards the slight uphill that separates him from the left corner to the straightway "I'm assuming this is a good overtake spot for enzo if he gained distance towards the RX-7. You're quite an idiot for picking a supra for downhill mountain pass racing. Should've bought an MR2 or a celica GT4 for better cornering speed"

The hairpins that kept the supra on chokhold were finally over which made diojo yell "no traffic incoming, GO ALL OUT ENZO!" Immediately Enzo decided to pick up his acceleration which glued them to both their seats.

The Supra's 2JZ-GTE engine roared in excitement attacking the remaining of the circuit drifting on the few occasional corners until the last one which gave enzo the very creative idea of doing a powerslide and maintaining it with adequate countersteering until the end of the track.

Diojo stopped the stopwatch and read out loud the time. "Wow 8 minutes for a road that takes usually 40 minutes with the speed limit. You truly went all out" enzo put his finger under the bridge of his nose saying "this is no biggie for me. You're the impressive one. Usually on your daily commutes at 5am you take 7 minutes on the downhill using grip and 20 on the uphill swerving through traffic but you broke the uphill record with 3 minutes less than usual. I need to become even better since you're a rally racer's daughter"

diojo was confused "So the former diojo was THAT good?! And a rally racing driver daughter??" She thought "combining my drift and tire management skills with her grip and tuning skills will come in handy in the race with the 993. I'm more than looking forward to this race against Octra. I'll avenge my poor Beamer's humiliation"

"Anyways today's practice made me so pumped up despite being freshly out of the hospital. I can't wait for Saturday to come!" Diojo stretched her arms "but I'm feeling tired, it's already 3AM and we got morning lectures so I'll be leaving"

Enzo automatically yawned in response "likewise, I'm so excited for the weekend! Glad today i finish earlier so i can just sleep later. I have quite the low tolerance to caffeine ahahaha" he laughed sheepishly rubbing the bach of his neck "anyways, see you later, go sleep at Sana's, I'll take you there since we're technically neighbors"

diojo nodded and followed the blonde dutch back home.

To be continued >>>>