For every kid who grew up in the ’90s obsessing over Japanese car culture, stories of the infamous Mid Night Racing Team were impossible to ignore.
And how many of us wished we could be a part of it? Admittedly, back in the day I was fantasising about joining the grunge band Nirvana, not an underground racing team in Japan. But despite the car culture bug biting me a bit later than some, the magnitude and history (spanning four decades now) of Mid Night is as infectious now as it was all those years ago.
It’s a very different story for Miyakawa-san, though. He’s one of the new generation Mid Night members who continue to wear the silver sticker with pride, albeit with the club’s focus now more centered around time attack than just street running. But that doesn’t mean joining the Mid Night ranks hasn’t been Miyakawa-san’s sole focus; it has for as long as he can remember.
Impressed by other Mid Night cars, including Nanami-san’s 964 Turbo and Noguchi-san’s 996 GT3, Miyakawa-san set his sights on one day owning a Porsche and, in time, maybe, just maybe, being able to become a fully-fledged member of the team.
Porsches have always been a pillar of Mid Night – even right back to the club’s inception – so Miyakawa-san’s choice of a 997 GT3 over something turbocharged and Nissan isn’t as odd as you’d first think.
But how exactly do you go about joining such a team? The process still remains a long and arduous one; you’re not just given your stickers and away you go. In fact, for those still in their early days, pink Mid Night stickers are used to signify their probationary status before becoming full club members.
But here’s the thing – Mid Night has never been some super-mysterious club with hidden identities. The information and people have always been out there, be it in old magazines or through specific tuning houses. The club’s code of conduct still gives hierarchy to elders who’ve put decades of their time into it, and while egos remain a necessary by-product, those members are still scrutinised for how they behave both on and off the track.
Just being nice and well-behaved isn’t enough though; first and foremost you need to be fast. But it’s not only about straight line speed. Irrespective of what other sources have cited, Mid Night’s focus has always been about being fast on the circuit and winding roads. So much so in fact, that the Hakone touge was fiercely battled in the past.
Having a car capable of ridiculous speed wasn’t always necessary; having one capable of maintaining high speeds for a long time – and being just as skilled when the roads got twisty – has been the real key to success.
Today’s Mid Night team are solely focused on track driving, with circuits like Tsukuba and Fuji Speedway the go-to spots. There’s been an influx of new members in recent years – hence why you’ll see quite a few Mid Night-stickered cars at various time attack events now, but they maintain their rules of conduct and recruitment just like years gone by. There’s still an individual president at the top, and Miyakawa-san knew he needed to prove his ability and dedication on and off the track to earn a place on the team.
He spent a few years tuning and racing GT-Rs, including an R32 and R34 and peaking with a 1,000hp R35 GT-R fitted with a full dry carbon aero kit. Miyakawa-san has also owned an AE86 Toyota Trueno and Suzuki Cappuccino for practice, as well as a Nissan Z33. Nine years ago he picked up the 997 GT3 and elevated his driving to a new level.
The 997 certainly looks the part, having be upgraded with genuine GT3 Cup bumpers front and rear, genuine Cup mirrors and dry carbon engine hood, one-off front fenders from The Check Shop and a huge rear wing.
While the 3.6L engine out back remains internally stock, it breathes freer thanks to an AFE air filter and Volcano exhaust manifold. The 6-speed transaxle runs an Arugos twin-plate clutch and an OS Giken Super Lock LSD with GT3 Cup 4.0:1 final drive.
The suspension uses a number of genuine GT3 Cup components, including both front and rear uprights, lower arms and hubs. JRZ Motorsports 3-way coilovers feature at all four corners, as do StopTech Trophy brakes – 6-pot callipers up front and 4-pots out back, all fitted with Endless pads. Finally, the wheels – one-off, center-locks from Agio, measuring 18×9-inch and 18×12-inch with Hoosier A7 tyres in 245/40R18 and 315/30R18 front and rear respectively.
But if you think it’s the brilliant chassis of the GT3, the 415hp on tap or the mods that have opened the door for Miyakawa-san, then think again, because you’re only half right.
For years, Miyakawa-san honed his driving skill on the track. He mapped his racing lines using a DigSpice GPS tracker and timer, refining every entry and exit of every corner, and reviewing the data logs with scrutiny in order to shave tenths of seconds off his lap times.
Finally, the practice paid off; Miyakawa-san entered his first race – a seven-hour endurance – alongside Mid Night seniors and placed 2nd outright. He then went on to clock a 1:52:222 lap of Fuji Speedway, which is considerably quicker than Keiichi Tsuchiya’s 2:01.18 in a Porsche 911 Carrera S (997), and sits in the top 15 submitted by Best Motoring. For reference, Fuji’s fastest car lap times are around the 1:42 mark.
Of course, these are all numbers and we can debate the many factors which contribute to a certain lap time. But the important thing to take away from this is that something caught the attention of the club’s senior members and got Miyakawa-san noticed. And that special something helped him earn his place in the Mid Night Racing Team.
Toby Thyer
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Keyword: A Porsche 997 GT3 Carrying The Torch For Mid Night