Takumi Fujiwara vs Ichijo

The battle between Takumi Fujiwara and Ichijo is the thirty-eighth battle of Initial D.

Prior to the Battle
Having seen his comrade in the Evo V lose unexpectedly, Ichijo is agitated, and wants to quickly end the battle. Ryosuke does not particularly advise Takumi, as he believes there is nothing to be gained from this battle (especially as he's already dealt with far better AWD drivers).

During the Battle
Takumi takes Wataru's advice and looks for weaknesses. He notices that Ichijo relies too heavily on ABS, and as such is using greater longer braking distance than what his Evo actually needs. Ichijo manages to keep his Evo VI in front through the fast sections but commits a momentary mistake when he runs into a piece of the oil slick that had been planted earlier to wreck Keisuke's FD. Takumi overtakes him, but he is convinced that he can keep up and take the lead at the next power section - however, extremely deep braking by Takumi convinces him that he is outmatched, and he concedes the loss.

After the Battle
Completely defeated, the Lancer Evo drivers call upon a bosozoku gang to beat up Project D so they can try and win back some of the money they lost, but Keisuke defuses the situation when he realizes that the bosozoku leader is in fact, his old friend. As a result, the humiliated cheaters are served justice. After completing this race, Takumi had gotten over his AWD complex and understands what to do against any future AWD opponents. This is the final battle in the Saitama region, as Project D moves to Ibaraki to face their next opponent, Purple Shadow.

Fourth Stage

 * I Just Wanna Call You Now - Norma Sheffield
 * Mission Impossible - Nick Mansell

Battle Stage 2

 * Lonely Night 2006 - Helena