2NR: Was GT Live's USA vs. Japan event your first time back in a drift competition? How do you think that went for you?MO: I competed in a few other events in Odaiba, Japan. I felt that it was an honor to run with the best Japanese drivers in the USA vs. Japan event.
2NR: Rumor is you're having a JGTC team build a 1,000-hp drift Supra this year. Will it be difficult to drift with that much power?MO: A GT builder will build my Supra chassis. Instead of making it a power car the team will concentrate on making it a light car. They will also handle the suspension work. I want the car to be lower but maintain the suspension roll center. It's not necessary for it to have 1,000 hp; I'm after response. The engine is a 3.0-liter but it will soon be a 3.4-liter with a smaller turbo for better response. It will also have a sequential transmission. I'm excited to run the car this season.
2NR: You're also having kids from your old school work on the buildup. Can you tell us a little more about that?MO: I went to an automotive school. One of the teachers I know opened a new school, and I let his students do some of the work. They are doing stuff like the paint so they can learn more about the drift car. My teacher's school has a test course, too, so sometimes I will go there and take the students for a ride and teach them car techniques. Some of the students will be with me at the track to work on the car at D1.
2NR: How do you think you will do competing against the new generation of drifters?MO: I think it's fantastic that more drivers are getting into drifting. It's the best way to learn more about car control. I hope more people will jump into it.
2NR: D1 has been in the States for two years now. How do you think the U.S. drifters are doing compared to the Japanese drivers?MO: The first year of competition was much different than last year's. The U.S. drivers have improved a lot since then! They are getting much better at driving and even getting better at tuning the cars' suspension and engine.
2NR: How did you go from a street racer/drifter to a GT500 driver?MO: I always dreamed of being a racecar driver but I didn't start driving until I was 20. Before that I was really into motorcycles and motorcycle racing on the touge. Then I started getting into automobiles and drifting. There was a local competition, so I started practicing for it. I ended up being the champion at that event. One of the judges owned a racecar team and offered to help me. I really didn't have any money to get into Go Karts like a lot of the racecar drivers-I didn't even have enough money to tune up my car but this owner helped me with drifting. I wanted to be a racecar driver and I thought drifting would ruin those chances, but this guy wanted me to learn to drift first and then race for him.
2NR: A lot of kids can relate to your racing success because the route you took to become a professional motorist is the one every kid dreams about. What advice can you give to aspiring racecar drivers?MO: When I got into it, all we had was the touge. I would say don't race on the touge since it is dangerous and today there are more open track events where you can get a lot of practice. Also you can make a lot of friends at the track who can help you along the way. One thing you need to have is a rival who you can compare your skills against. Not "rival" as in someone you don't like but "rival" as in someone to run against all the time. Someone who is good and you like to compete against.
2NR: I understand you and Taniguchi are very good friends. Do you joke around with him a lot since he is a GT300 driver and you are a GT500 driver?MO: We have known each other for a while. I introduced him to a lot of the people in the racing community and that was how he got started. Now we are really good friends, but we are still like rivals. Not in a bad way but we're competitive. We race together in Super Takuya and that is when we tend to joke with each other. You know we only live about three minutes away from each other so when we aren't busy, we always try to hang out.
2NR: Your relationship with RS-R is very strong. Can you tell us about that?MO: RS-R has supported me for about 15 years, and I think it's important to keep that relationship going strong. I told the RS-R boss I wanted to start drifting, and he is also supporting me on that.
2NR: Last question: Where did you get that watch? It's really cool.MO: I got it in Malaysia. It was pretty cheap.