Day five of the Pagani Touge Run in Japan was the last day I was with the Paganis for this trip. The final day consisted of a trip back to Tokyo from their hotel near the Fuji area but I would have to leave a bit early to go to another adventure.
As a way to end what was an incredible experience, wrapping things up with a track day at the famed Fuji International Speedway was rather fitting. It was the cherry on top of an already extravagant cake.
Like other times, we arrived at the Speedway before the Paganis in hope to catch them entering the main gate. After a couple of cars had gone in, and once we realized the rest were going to be late as usual, we headed off towards the pit garages where they were already getting ready to go to the track. The fact that it was raining and windy also made it easy for us to decide to retreat into the pit garages.
The day did start off a bit wet, which meant despite the sky clearing up in the afternoon, the track was still a bit wet in some places. It was still pretty cool to see some of the cars going hard out on the track despite the wet conditions.
After a week of driving around Tokyo’s highways at night, taking the autumn scenery at Nikko, and experiencing the Hakone Turnpike in the fog, the Fuji Speedway day must’ve been a great relief for the owners as it was a chance to finally let loose on unrestricted territory.
Pagani Tokyo had a few secrets up their sleeves, which they sort of hinted at but never actually told me about. When we got to the pit garages I saw the distinctive rear end of not one but two track focused Zondas. The blue Zonda Revolucion that we’ve seen before during the launch of the Kiryu last year was also there. However, it was also joined by the black carbon Zonda R. I haven’t seen the Zonda R before so it was awesome to see it there amongst the Revolucion, Huayra BC, and gold Huayra.
Around the pit garage, engineers and staff were getting the cars ready to go onto the track. That meant having the engine bays open and seeing the magnificent AMG V12s in full display. It’s not often one gets to see the engine bay of a Pagani, let alone a dozen or so of them.
You know it’s a proper track day when you’ve got several Pagani engineers running around tending to all the cars, spot several spare sets of tyres, and of course the casual racing helmet resting on the wing of a Zonda Revolucion.
While this was a day of Paganis at Fuji, there was one car that did sort of steal the show a bit. That was the stray Rothmans Porsche 962 that was also there for a track day taking turns with the Paganis on the track. It looked like it was there for a casual drive/photo shoot but as it drove past the Pagani garages it also managed to make a few jaws drop.
Once the track was free, the Paganis made their way around. It was kind of a free for all with no real set groups. It was more like whoever wanted to go out and drive went out, while those who wanted to have a rest came back in. But there was always a few cars out on the track at any given time. Which was great because it showed the owners wanted to drive their cars on the track.
It was more of a casual drive around Fuji Speedway, but of course when you have a large number of the world’s best supercars and hypercars gathered on one of the world’s best tracks you’re going to get some people pushing their cars a bit harder than others.
Abdul, the owner of the Cinque Roadster, even said he had spun a couple of times on the track. Luckily there was no damage but that just shows how much fun these guys were having with their cars out there. Which is a good thing because these cars are supposed to be enjoyed.
Jon, the owner of the Enzo, is worth mentioning because he drove his car hard and fast consistently throughout the day. Despite that, nothing went wrong with the car. It was also out on the track quite often, this was one of the few instances he came back to the pit for a rest.
Once the rest owners had enough of driving and came back for a rest, the BC and the track cars started to get ready to go out. Dino, from Speedhunters, was out in the Huayra BC first before handing it over to the owners for them to try out on the track.
Before doing so, the BC, Zonda R, and Zonda Revolucion went around the track for a video shoot by none other than Luke Huxham. That’s a video I’m very much looking forward to seeing.
After Luke got the footage he needed, it was a free run for the Zonda R and Revolucion around the track. Despite having heard the Revolucion out on Fuji before, I was still unprepared for the torrent of noise that comes out of its ass. It’s about as raw, brutal, and primal as cars get. The drivers didn’t hold back, making the most of the time they had with the cars and the track.
Trying to get my hearing back, I went around to the parking area to see if anything else had shown up while I was focused on what was happening around the track. Of course, the G500 ‘support’ car, or rather ‘bodyguard’ car, was parked quite discreetly. By discreetly, I mean of course it stood out like a tank at the Vatican.
Back on the exciting side of the pit garages, the cars were slowly coming back in from their last few laps around the track. The Zonda Absolute had stopped to cool down a couple garages down from the main garages. This car has avoided me quite a lot throughout this trip so I took this opportunity to snap a couple of quick photos of it while it was alone. I love this spec a lot.
Once the cars had gone back to the pit garages, the engineers started to prep them to go back on the road. Seeing these cars static is one thing. Seeing them on city roads is another. But seeing and especially hearing them on the track is a whole other thing. It was a very special day indeed.
After the Fuji Speedway experience, some of the cars would go up to Mount Fuji, or at least as high up as they can, to catch the sunset. Unfortunately I couldn’t join them up there no matter how much I wanted because I had to go Kyoto to get ready for the next adventure.
Some of these cars I’ll probably not see again for a long time, or ever. So having the time and the chance to get up close to these cars was a real privilege. Cars that I’ve admired on the internet for so long, cars that have been the objects of my dreams since I was a child. Ending this trip for me at Fuji Speedway, which is possibly my favourite track now, with my favourite supercars in the world was more than I could have ever asked for.
It’s hard to put into words just how amazing this was, and some of the guys who joined us for this rally who had been to the ones in Italy and North America in the past, even said this was one of the best they’ve been to.
For me though, I’d say overall this has been the best car related event I’ve ever had the pleasure of being part of. The cars, the people, and the scenery made it a spectacular and memorable occasion. It’s hard to pick one favourite moment from this whole thing because it was all epic. A massive thanks to Bingo Sports, Pagani Tokyo, Pagani Automobili, to all the owners, and everyone else who made this trip as enjoyable as it was. Here’s hoping the next Pagani Asia Rally won’t be too far away.