Kobayakawa

Kobayakawa (小早川) is Team 246's uphill representative who drives a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII.

History
Sure of his own skill and of 4WD's abilities on the uphill, he chooses to chase behind Keisuke Takahashi with the plan of observing his opponent from behind; confident that he can overtake if Keisuke is underwhelming.

Keisuke tunes his FD with as much power as possible with the plan of outrunning his opponent in the first round. This has a disadvantage, however, because the extra power causes the FD to oversteer easier and would wear the rear tires very quickly (Kobayakawa notes during the race that the FD was looking clumsy).

Kobayakawa becomes aware that Keisuke plans to lose him and attempts to anticipate when the FD driver plans to attack. The race progresses, however, without a sign of Keisuke's attack and Kobayakawa lowers his guard. Just when he did this, however, Keisuke initiated his attack and pulled away. Kobayakawa was unable to catch up and lost the race by a margin of 7 seconds.

Later on, him and Satoshi Omiya spectates Project D's final battles against the Sidewinder at Tsubaki Line where they discuss about the battles.

Etymology

 * The surname Kobayakawa means "small" (小) (ko), "already, now, fast, early" (早) (haya/baya) and "river, stream" (川) (kawa).

Trivia

 * Kobayakawa is his surname and his first name has never been stated.