DATE: SEPTEMBER 20, 1999

It was around 6:30 AM when Drew, May, Misty, and Ash woke up. Today, May would race at Narita Airport in the Chiba Prefecture. This would be her first circuit race in her R34. May said “Today is going to be an awesome day. I hope to win.” and Ash said “That’s the spirit, May. If you can keep your hopes high, you will come out on top.” About 30 minutes later, Ryousuke and Keisuke Takahashi arrived to load May’s R34 on a trailer. Then everyone got into a van and headed off to Narita. They arrived at Narita Airport at around 12:15 AM. When they got there, they unloaded May’s car and filled up the gas tank. They also installed racing tires so May could get the feel of a race car. Before they installed the new tires, Ash and Ryo replaced the brake pads so they could last the whole race. While May’s car was being worked on, Dawn and Zoey came over. Zoey said to May “So May, are you excited about today’s race? I guess it’s your first time driving your Three-four on a circuit.” and May said “Well yes. I hope that I do well.” Then Dawn said “What I hope for is that we beat these two guys. Their names are Daiki Ninomiya and Smiley Sakai. Their team is a rival to our team.” Zoey also said “Dawn has improved a lot since our challenge at Mount Haruna. She has tuned her car to 260 HP and the suspension on her Eight-six is improved as well. As for me, I haven’t done anything because I’m happy the way it is now. Good luck, May. Do your best.” May said “Thanks girls. I feel a little more confident. What I’ve done after my race with Toshiya Joushima, my suspension has been tweaked and I have got 15 more horsepower.” A few minutes later, a voice of the PA system said “All drivers go inside for the driver’s meeting. All rules will be explained there.” Dawn, May, and Zoey then went inside Narita Airport for the meeting. Once every racer got there, an official talked about the rules. 30 minutes later, the meeting ended and everyone went back to their cars. When May arrived, Ash told her “Okay May. The car’s all set for the race. You should have enough gas for the race. You will have to make a pit stop during the race for tires. Good luck and we all hope you win.” At about 1:00 PM, the cars went out on the track for their qualifying laps. The track was 2 miles in length and the race would be 100 laps. May set the fastest time in qualifying so she would start on pole position. Dawn set the 2nd fastest time. At 2:30, the drivers got on the track this time for the race. 3 minutes later, the green flag waved and everyone was off and running. The prize would be $50,000. At the first corner, May had a slight lead over Dawn and Zoey. At the end of lap 1, May’s lead over Dawn was about a second. On the second lap, May’s lead stayed the same but Zoey overtook Dawn for 2nd place. On lap 3, Daiki Ninomiya made a pass to overtake both Dawn and Zoey but was 2.74 seconds behind May. Then Daiki’s teammate, Smiley joined the battle for 2nd. May’s lead now was about 5 seconds over Daiki and his Honda Civic Type R. Smiley was doing well driving his Honda Integra Type R. While watching the race, Drew said to the rest of Project D “It looks like she is doing very well. I guess that tune up has made her car better. You did a great job Ash. I’m glad you and I are friends.” Then Ash said “Thanks Drew. You know, we haven’t always been friends but now I see a different Drew. Your attitude has really changed and so has your personality.” Drew then blushed. Meanwhile May was ahead by 10 seconds now over Dawn. The battle for P2 was still heating up. Zoey moved from 5th to 3rd in one corner on lap 4. Dawn was able to move to 2nd from 4th place on that lap. It was now lap 8 and May’s lead went down from 10 seconds to 9 seconds because a slower car help up May so she lost a little time. May said “Alright, I’m doing very good so far and I can’t afford to make a mistake that will cost me the race. Okay May, keep your head in the game and concentrate on the task at hand. Win the race!” May still had a good lead over Zoey who overtook Dawn for 2nd on lap 9. 25 laps later, May was overtaken by Zoey in the third corner. The slower cars held up May and allowed Zoey to catch up with her. However May fought back and retook the lead a lap later. Then Dawn joined May and Zoey for the battle for the lead. She then led a lap then Zoey took the lead away from Dawn. On the next lap, May took the lead from Zoey again and 2 laps later, May’s lead was 4 seconds. 3 laps later, Smiley Sakai made a pit stop for a flat tire and it dropped him from 4th to 12th position. Daiki then asked one of his pit crew members to know what happened to Smiley and the crew member said that Smiley had a flat tire. Daiki then said “I knew this would happen. Sometimes he gets over his head and screws up. Looks like he’s not going to win it.” 4 laps later, Dawn had to make a pit stop for new tires so she has better grip. A lap later, Zoey had to come in for new tires and fuel because she was almost empty. Then May came in 3 laps later. Her crew was Max changing the left front tire, Misty changing the right front tire, Drew changing the right rear tire, Ryo changing the left rear tire, and Keisuke as gas man. May still was leading after her pit stop but her lead was less then half a second over Zoey. However Zoey was now starting to see how May’s new adjustments were making her car better and faster. With 10 laps to go, May’s lead was over 25 seconds over Zoey. With 7 laps remaining, May’s lead was over 30 seconds but Ash told May to slow down to save fuel. Even though May slowed down, it was enough to win the race. When the race was over, May decided to do some burnout near the finish line to celebrate. When May got out of her Three-four, she sprayed her teammates with Coca-Cola. Then Dawn and Zoey approached May and Zoey said “That was a great race, May. You raced cleanly and I respect that.” and Dawn said “You did an incredible out there. Nice work, May. That was probably the best race I’ve ever driven in. You certainly are one of a kind.” Then May said “Thanks. I feel so good winning.” Then Project D packed everything up and headed back to Haruna.