The annual Motor Sport Japan festival wrapped up Sunday, after its celebration of all things ‘motorsports’ saw over 120,000 visitors attend the free event.  

The festival site in Tokyo’s waterfront Odaiba district played host to cars ranging from retired vintage classics and rally car replicas, through to high-performance touring cars and motorbikes currently plying their trade on the nation’s circuits.

With three areas to explore, enthusiasts, petrolheads, and the casual observer had plenty to get their teeth into.

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Motor Sport Japan’s Culture and Legend Zone hosted collections of vintage motors, legendary former racing cars from Toyota, and replica models from the Rally Replica Car Owner’s Club.  The vintage models on display were all manufactured before 1990 (a year that may be too close for comfort for some to be considered ‘vintage’).  

Active Zone is where current racing models were on display, and as the name might suggest, where most of the hustle and bustle of the Motor Sport Japan festival was to be found.  A number of stages in this zone had been set up to host talks and Q&A sessions with professional drivers (we spotted Yokohama-based Italian driver Ronnie Quintarelli rubbing shoulders with New Zealand and Toyota Racing Series driver Nick Cassidy).  It was here, too, that visitors could best experience the kind of pit stop, pre and post race vibe one might expect from a motorsports event; revving engines, the sounds of screeching tires from the nearby circuit, racing girls, exposed engines, and all the kit and parts that go into making the motors on show, well, go!  

A small ‘motor racing’ circuit had been set up at the event with a program of displays and driving demonstrations schedule over the weekend.  Given the feverish atmosphere and giddy chaos to take photos, the Circuit Walk seemed to be among the most popular programs, allowing visitors to the best opportunity to see the cars in their most ‘natural’ of settings.

See more images from Motor Sport Japan 2017 at www.city-cost.com