Keisuke Takahashi vs Hideo Minagawa

The battle between Keisuke Takahashi and Hideo Minagawa is the forty-fourth battle of Initial D.

Prior to the Battle
Following the battle between Takumi Fujiwara and Kai Kogashiwa, Keisuke is promptly matched with Hideo Minagawa for the next battle. Minagawa notes that Keisuke has consecutive wins against 4WD cars and chooses him to start in the lead position, telling Keisuke to "let me see your proud sprint dash". Keisuke tells Kenta Nakamura that this battle has a "special meaning" to him.

During the Battle


Keisuke starts in the lead position as Minagawa wished. The battle begins and Keisuke appears to hold back as usual, waiting for the right moment to sprint off. Minagawa arrogantly states that the 'amateurs' Keisuke previously faced couldn't use their car's full potential, stating that he could overtake Keisuke simply by using tire management. Ryosuke Takahashi and Fumihiro discusses his decision to choose Takumi Fujiwara over Keisuke for Project D's battle with Tachi Tomoyuki. He says that back then he chose Takumi because Keisuke was known for his 'traditional skills' in racing, which would've been no match for a pro like Tomoyuki. Now its been changed as Minagawa himself is top level traditionalist and Keisuke has improved a lot from back then.

Meanwhile Go Hojo and Eiji Kubo discuss about the race. Go says the Minagawa is a pro with considerable amount of skills, but he has this pride won't let him lose to an amateur, but Keisuke is no 'amateur'. His skills along with acceleration works and Ryosuke's strategy will prove wrong for Minagawa to think he can win the battle easily. Eiji laughs and asks to Go if he has anything to do with Ryosuke as he keeps on talking about him. Go replies its not him, but his elder brother who has a bitter connection with Ryosuke.

Soon both the cars passes Go and Eiji. Go realizes Keisuke is on the lead and states that the battle will be dealt by who will maintain the position on the first round. As the battle continues, Ryosuke states that Minagawa's professionalism is something that street racers cannot attain. He also has a flashback to himself giving Keisuke a "training" menu to improve his accelerator proficiency following the Project D expedition in the Tochigi prefecture. During the discussion between them, Ryosuke explains that five round trips a day is enough, and that Keisuke should write down his times and explain why he was too fast or too slow compared to the set times Ryosuke put on the menu. When Keisuke expresses that the times on the menu are slower compared to Akagi's record time, Ryosuke explains that it is never good to be too fast or too slow, aiming for one set time with precision. After the flashback, Ryosuke explains to Fumihiro that the training menu was slightly altered for Keisuke, but is still very similar to the training menu he was given when he was younger. He also gives a more in-depth explanation of the reasoning for the menu, stating that driving blindly at full throttle will only put stress on the car, not improve your skills, where with the menu, Keisuke would be able to learn the technique of controlling the throttle precisely. He also states that in rainy conditions, the driver has to be creative when setting the pace due to the changing friction of the road surfaces. He also states that the menu will also help Keisuke rely on an "internal clock" to judge time management rather than stopwatch times through repetitive, simple training. He also says that the daily report gave Keisuke a logical foundation for his driving style as well as a habit of analyzing things rationally. Ryosuke then states the reason why Keisuke performed really well in the first battle of the Kanagawa prefecture was due to the training he gave. He states the reason why he sent Keisuke on confidence is that he was sure Keisuke got the new ability of the training he's been to - The proper control to sprint without wasting tyre potential. Fumihiro realizes out of surprise that Keisuke will be going on a head on head fight against a racing driver on a sprint battle.

Meanwhile, Keisuke has been trying to trick Minagawa on thinking he will sprint at the end of every corner by using 85% to 90% of the throttle control, which the latter soon realizes. After exiting a particular corner, Keisuke suddenly feint brakes in front of Minagawa, who also brakes deeply. This gives Keisuke an advantage and he begins to increase the pace and sprint away. Minagawa realizes this and increases his pace as well. Ryosuke and Takumi at their respective bases realizes that the battle had begun. While spectating, Eiji Kubo and Go Hojo evaluate about the cars. They state that Minagawa has a few advantages but point out that his Supra has an incredibly heavy body as compared to Keisuke's light, nimble RX7. They state that the battle was suddenly changed to who experiences the most tyre wear will lose. Go Hojo and Eiji Kubo state that the race might be decided by whether Keisuke succumbs to the pressure or continues to fight. Minagawa notes that he will likely lose the race if Keisuke doesn't back down soon due to the higher tyre wear that he suffered. This is due to the fact that Minagawa's car is heavier compared to Keisuke's. Even though Keisuke may be feeling a lot pressured as he is on the lead, the real weight of the situation goes to Minagawa, who is now chasing at higher than expected pace with tyre grip to sacrifice. Minagawa, now properly caught up with Keisuke begins to pressure the latter, chasing just centimeters away from Keisuke's FD. Eventually, after soon realizing that he cannot battle further for a second round as he used up all his tyre potential, he bumped onto Keisuke's FD's bumper slightly to signify that he have forfeited the race.

After the Battle
As Eiji and Go states on how Keisuke's lightweight FD helped in winning the battle, they also state that the race broke the course record. Keisuke who was happy that he won the battle, but confused about it, asks Ryosuke on how Minagawa was able to catch up to him despite the sprint made on the latter. Ryosuke simply states that because Minagawa was a professional.

Following the defeat of R.T Katagiri, Project D is given time off before their next competition against Team Spiral, consisting of the battle against Keisuke and Ryuji Ikeda followed by Takumi and Hiroya Okuyama.

Fifth Stage

 * Rockin' Hardcore - Fastway
 * Crazy On Emotion - Ace

Arcade Stage 8 Infinity

 * Adrenaline - Ace

Battle Stage 3

 * Victim Of You - Mickey B.
 * Smoke On The Fire - P. Stone

Arcade Stage 8 RivalSide Info
Story arc: R.T. Katagiri S.V.

Driver: Hideo Minagawa

Car: Toyota Supra RZ (JZA80)

Opponent: Keisuke Takahashi

Team: Project D

Car: Mazda RX-7 Type R (FD3S)

Mission: Preserve the Steering Gauge

1-ryu Condition: Keep at least 1 Steering Gauge intact

Cho 1-ryu Condition: Keep at least 2 Steering Gauges intact

Course: Nagao

Rule: Uphill

Start: Standing

Weather: Clear

Time of day: Night

Trivia

 * It was stated in the manga that Minagawa was able to pass Keisuke, but he didn't want to as his pride blockaded him from doing so, as his goal was to keep up with Keisuke, which ultimately cost him at the end.