Japan has its own way of giving new colors or trends to the whole world, especially in the world of motorsport, apart from the fact that many Japanese manufacturers have many fans, Japan also contributes in the form of modified models and motorsport events that are currently being cultivated by world automotive enthusiasts.
Call it modified models such as the JDM Style and Bosozoku Style which were adapted from Japan and are currently becoming popular in the world, even in Indonesia. In addition, in motorsport , Japan provides contributions such as the drifting motorsport event which is now also increasingly vibrant and developing every day. In this article, Carscusok will discuss one of the racing cultures in Japan, namely Touge Battle.
Race in the Mountains
The Touge Battle event is a motorsport event that is carried out on one of the mountains in Japan by spurring the cars of the participants to be able to complete the racing route by racing against other cars or with time (Time Attack). Touge or Tōge, which means in Indonesian “through” this racing route which is a mountain road has various “S” bends which if passed by normal driving (relaxed will be very fun. But if you have to race and do racing on this road, of course will be an extreme challenge for the drivers.
The New Japanese Automotive Culture
Initially the route used for Touge Battle was made to facilitate access to the transfer of private vehicles and public vehicles. However, over time the automotive community in Japan saw that this line had tremendous potential if it could be used as a racing track. So that in the end the path is often used for drifting, racing, and not forgetting to car meet . This line can also be called a part of the various Japanese automotive culture.
As mentioned above, Touge Battle is a racing event that is required to complete the race track in the fastest possible time. This event also has two ways to be able to complete a racing event, from racing with other cars, to racing against time.
Race Participants & their Rules
This race has 2 vehicle classifications, including street racing & professional, which can be seen the difference from the engine specifications carried in each car used. Competing specifications have a variety of specifications, ranging from Bantam (vehicles under 1300cc), Economy (1-1550cc), Regular (1551-1950cc), Premium (1951-2950cc, Honda B16, B18 B20), Turbo + (2451cc- 3750cc) to Prestige (> 3751cc), as well as Electric Vehicles (with permission from the organizer).
The classification is carried out by racing officials who check the origin of the car that will be racing and ensure that the car is in the correct category for the race. Participants will be given the opportunity to practice in the morning to carry out a qualifying session aimed at giving the riders the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the race track and track conditions to be traversed.
In contrast to other racing events where the qualifying sequence which usually places the owners of the fastest qualifying time will face other holders of the fastest time, in a toug battle the racer with the fastest time sequence will be faced with the racer who has the slowest time during qualification. This style of match is thought to reward faster drivers and give them a better chance of being the overall winner in their class.
This format also eliminates the need for sandbagging or intentionally degrades its performance. Basically the slower the record time during qualifying, the faster your opponent will be. So that every racer will have the opportunity to lead and pursue.
In combat stages, the main driver is released and then the chase driver is released after 4 seconds. To win the match, the main driver must extend the distance to 4.05 seconds or the pursuing driver must cover the distance to 3.95 seconds.
From a time difference of 0.05 seconds this is what is needed to determine whether the racer wins or loses. Then the racers are required to switch positions for the second round. If both racers win one round each, a third round will be held to get the final decision on who is the winner in the battle .
The Workshop Reputation Bet
Touge Battle is one of the prestigious events because it uses a knockout system where racers who have lost cannot race again, until the last 2 riders are left to determine the winner in their class. In this Touge race, the racers are not allowed to overtake the main driver even though it is possible.
If a chasing driver accidentally overtakes the main driver and causes the main driver to experience or an accident is indicated, the racing official will disqualify the driver who maneuvered overtaking. This race uses a point system that will be obtained by the winners of the battle with 5 points each awarded to the top 5 per category. Through the point system also determines the overall winner per class. If a racer joins a different class in another race, the racer will be awarded points only for the class they belong to.