Initial D-December Snow

Frigid Roads

10th December 2000

Mt. Myogi is covered in snow. Street racer activity is minimal at the moment as snow really screws with cars, even with winter tires. Sure, some still drive, but not at their limits. Not even the Night Kids, the fastest local team, will go all out at this time of the year. Besides, many of them do have a life outside of racing and are preapring for Christmas or something. However, this year, a roar can be heard in the frozen roads of Myogi, a roar of a beast, trying to run even with the slippery conditions of winter: the roar of a 2.6 litre inline-six engine with 380 horsepower, rushing up and down Myogi.

"Damnit, I went a bit too fast over my target time!" Nakazato yelled in frustration in his R32 GTR. He has been racing every day as Sayuki isn't around. She's down South visiting her parents and wouldn't be back until the 23rd, hence Nakazato spends his time practicing, trying to gain more control over his pacing. Nakazato inhaled and exhaled, calming his nerves, reset his stopwatch and preparing for another run. He had been practicing timed mixed runs for an hour or so. The timer starts, Nakazato's R32 rushed off the snowy start line, beginning the uphill part of the mixed run.

Remember, try to grasp a sense of time. It is the only way you'll improve. Nakazato thought as he continued his uphill run. He reaches the midway point of the pass, going at more than 100 kilometers per hour. Due to the low grip, Nakazato slid around the corners in order to maximise cornering speed. This isn't something Nakazato enjoyed doing, but he knew he needed to in order to go fast in snow.

Nakazato reached the turnaround point. He braked hard, slid around and headed back down. While doing so, he took a very quick glance at his stopwatch. Not bad, my judgement was not that far off. Let me try to keep it up until the end. Nakazato thought.

Unbeknownst to Nakazato, another racer was not only eying his run, he was preparing to intervene.

All it took was a few losses for me to get this far. Perhaps one day the Night Kids would be able to regain its reputation.

Nakazato's R32 enters the four consecutive hairpins. He brakes hard and all wheel slided through the corners with ease when he noticed something in the corner of his mirror.

Am I being followed? Thought Nakazato as he entered another hairpin. As he exited, he saw it again. During the third hairpin, he decided to slow down. As he exited, he saw it, a pair of headlights right in his rearview. Nakazato realized that he was being challenged. After the fourth hairpin, Nakazato picked up the pace a little, wanting to see what the other car could do. The other car kept up with ease. "Nice job. However, if you think that little bit of speed will gain you a win, you are mistaken!" Nakazato said as he picked up the pace even more. Nakazato saw the next left hand corner coming in and braked, shifted the weight and slided. As he slided through thr corner, he glanced over to his opponent.

To his surprise, it doesn't look like a domestic car at all. He saw the shape, it was a boxy coupe. The way it was slidong indicated that it was AWD. Then he saw it, the brand emblem: four rings.

"Nani, An Audi Quattro?!"