It might not be the Goodwood Festival of Speed, but the Motor Sport Japan Festival just happens to be one of the three biggest such events of its kind in the country. Held on a large car park and tree-lined park in Odaiba, Tokyo on the October 13-14 long weekend, the popular 2-day event saw more than 100,000 people take advantage of perfect autumn weather to see an inspiring collection of new and vintage race cars and production vehicles driven by well-known drivers and celebrities.

In fact, anyone who is anyone in Japanese motor sport was there. From former F1 drivers like Satoru Nakajima to Kamui Kobayashi to many of Japan’s greatest-ever racers including Kazuyoshi Hoshino, Masahiro Hasemi and Akira Iida, to foreign stars like Michael Krumm and Sebastien Buemi, the event was a non-stop buzz of tyre-smoking car antics, photo and autograph ops, interviews and talk shows.

Even FIA boss Jean Todt and Lotus-Renault F1 driver Romain Grosjean (3rdSuzuka!!) came straight from the Suzuka F1 race to show their support for the event. So was it any surprise that they were welcomed by none other than the event supervisor, actor and race team owner Masahiko Kondo and Japan’s fastest female driver Keiko Ihara? Not likely. One of Grosjean’s first jobs was to jump into a waiting Renault Megane and give some lucky visitor the passenger ride of a lifetime.

Incidentally, speaking of passenger rides, one of the highlights of this event was the passenger ride zone featuring many of the hottest production cars in the country. As one of 20 drivers who gave hot lap passenger rides to over 5,000 people, we piloted cars like the Audi R8, Jaguar F-Type, Mercedes SLS AMG, Nissan GT-R, VW Golf GTI, Subaru BRZ, Nismo Z, McLaren MP4-12C and Aston Martin Rapide, VW Beetle Turbo, Abarth 500, Suzuki Swift Sport, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and a Bentley Continental GT to mixed screams of joy and fear.

Over the 300 meter-long twisty road course that took no longer than 25-seconds to complete, every passenger asked for maximum revs and the highest possible braking and cornering G’s. So drivers from the Automobile Journalists Association of Japan – including yours truly, did not let them down. The kids strapped into child seats seemed to enjoy the ride the most, many too scared to utter a sound.

Another highlight of the event was the Mother and Child car safety zone, instructing families on emergency braking, parking techniques, child safety and even a rollover experience. Having instructed at the emergency braking zone last year, I was surprised at how hard it can be to get people to slam on their brakes in potentially dangerous situations. Surprisingly, it was the first time for one-third of participants to experience the pulsating pedal feedback from the anti-lock brake systems.

All drivers and instructors finished the record-breaking event with a feeling that many seeds had been sewn to liven up Japan’s deflated automotive market and struggling motor sport industry. As I walked around checking out the thousands of young kids and adults taking pictures and playing with the smart phones, I could not help but think that while smart phones and games are fun, we have to get more young adults back behind the wheel while infusing a genuine understanding of full road safety aspects.

From left to right – Japan’s fastest female driver Keiko Ihara, FIA boss Lean Todt and actor and race team owner Masahiko Kondo.

Drivers sign autographs for young race fans

At the hot lap passenger ride zone, visitors were treated to quick acceleration, sharp braking and tight cornering by professional drivers.

At the roll-over experience zone, visitors were heard screaming as the Nissan March was tipped upside-down.

Trackside, dozens of present-day racing cars and production vehicles showed their power and drifting prowess in huge burnout displays.