This past weekend was round 5 of the D1GP @ Ebisu Circuit. Kumakubo Nobushige used this event at his home course to unleash his new FR Converted Lancer Evolution. I still haven't seen a full report of the event yet, but he managed to finish 8th overall, which is great considering the new machine. What is even more impressive is that he brought out the new car in the middle of a tight battle between him and Kawabata Masato for the D1 Championship. This serves as a testament to both Kumakubo's driving and to Koyama-san and the crew at JUN Auto for building a competitive car. I found a couple pictures taken by some fans of the new machine. (I do not take any credit for them) Option/D1 should be updating their website with complete coverage soon, so keep an eye out for it. By the way, Nomura Ken won the Ebisu event, it's good to see him back at the top after struggling earlier in the season.

On his blog, Team Orange member/ D1 GC8 Impreza pilot Suenaga Naoto posted a few "teaser" photos of JUN Auto's / Team Orange's new D1 Evolution project. I don't know much else besides what you can see in these two pictures. Looks like the engine has been changed to a longitudal format. Since the D1 season is more than halfway through, I wonder if the car will debut before the season is up or they will wait until '08 to campaign this car. Either way, I can't wait to learn more and see it in action.