The battle between Takumi Fujiwara and Ichijo is the thirty-eighth battle of Initial D.
Prior to the Battle[]
Ichijo talks to Takumi about the gangsters
Having seen his comrade in the Evo V lose unexpectedly, Ichijo decides to pull a nasty trick. Just before the battle, he tells Takumi that his teammate (who previously lost to Keisuke) has called in some gangsters and thugs, so he should "focus on the bigger problem". When asked by Takumi if he is asking him to lose on purpose, he doesn't answer him directly, but Takumi understands his intentions. On the starting line, Matsumoto realises Takumi looks too nervous, and when he hears what the Lan Evo team has planned for them, he tells Takumi that it is simply a psychological trick to make him lose concentration, and he should focus on the battle. Takumi agrees.
During the Battle[]
Takumi catches up to Ichijo using his braking skills
The battle starts with Ichijo's Lancer Evolution leading with Takumi chasing him. Ryosuke didn't give Takumi any advice as he knew Takumi was able to manage the race by himself. However, he states that the Lan Evo is actually fast on the downhill and the driver does indeed have some skill to back this up. Meanwhile, Ichijo hopes his conversation with Takumi had affected his concentration so he could take the advantage. As they approach a tight corner, Ichijo utilizes his ABS to slow down during corner entry, while Takumi with his expertise brakes later. With his braking skills he manages to exit the corner in a flawless drift (despite the Eight-Six's lack of ABS) and closes the gap between him and Ichijo, shocking the spectators. It is explained that Takumi's skills, coupled with the tuning of the car for downhill speed, allows it to outperform cars with ABS.
Back at the starting point, Matsumoto reveals to Keisuke and the rest of the Project D members what Ichijo said to Takumi before the battle. Upon hearing, Kenta tries to persuade Keisuke to call their own gang members back at Gunma, but Keisuke tells him it will be too late by the time they reach, and they must act cool for now. On the pass, Takumi feels that he can actually win this race, and he realizes Ichijo's weak point: his braking skills. His AWD complex was realized as the last time someone had overtaken him in an AWD car was none other than his father himself. Ichijo's braking skills don't even come close to Bunta's. At the starting point, Matsumoto worries that if Ichijo's words can affect Takumi. Ryosuke and Keisuke assures them that Fujiwara may seem harmless, but once he begins to race, his mindset switches to a pro-racer mode. Ichijo - realizing Takumi is keeping up - switches his cornering line to a defense mode, blocking Takumi from overtaking. Takumi realises this and prepares to attack from the outside. Meanwhile Aikawa and his team gets the message that the Bosozoku gang they have called have almost reached their area.
Ichijo slips on the oil slick on the bridge as Takumi overtakes him
Back at the battle, Ichijo takes the corners from the inside as he plans to go all out once the high speed section arrives and Takumi takes the outside of the corners to wait for chance to attack. As they reach the bridge corner section however, Ichijo's Lan Evo suddenly loses front grip and skids straight forward, as Takumi takes this opportunity and passes Ichijo as he skids sideways. The battle has now turned tide with Takumi leading. It turns out that the remaining oil slick from the oil which has been previously poured by the Lan Evo team themselves on the bridge to trap Keisuke has backfired on them.
Takumi pulls away from Ichijo with his flawless four wheel drift
Ichijo realizes that he still has a chance to get his position back on the upcoming straightaway and aims for it. His Lan Evo with a much more powerful engine tries to come up next to Takumi's Eight-Six, but the corner after this was a slow speed section, which requires a precise braking skills for the corner entry. Ichijo realizing he can't enter the corner at this much speeds brakes away, but was shocked to see Takumi accelerating forward without braking. However Takumi, with his impeccable skills was able to enter the corner in a flawless four-wheel drift followed by another in the next corner, gapping Ichijo and grabbing the victory forward.
After the Battle[]
Keisuke and Amada with his gang recognize each other
Fumihiro informs Project D about the gang members called by the Lan Evo team are heading towards them and will reach any moment. Ryosuke states that time trial is anyways out of the list and their top priority right now is to ensure their team's safety. Keisuke prepares for the upcoming conflict as they order the rest of the team to get in their vehicles. Soon the gang with their cars arrived at the base, with the gang leader emerging at the front. The Lan Evo team are stunned to see them coming and plan to join in the fun of beating up Project D. Keisuke with a metallic rod tool moves towards the gang while they move towards Keisuke. They both move closer and reach an area with a light source and just before any of them can make a move, they suddenly recognized each other. Keisuke recognizes the leader, who used to be his follower back during his reckless days. The gang immediately greet Keisuke respectfully and ask if the Lan Evo team has caused them any trouble. Keisuke states that the only problem he has at present was that gang's cars blocking their way. Keisuke returns to a surprised Project D team and he reveals to them about his past and relations with them. The gang are furious at the Lan Evo team for making them look like fools for asking to attack Keisuke and his team, let alone attack anyone from the Gunma area, as the leader is from Gunma himself.
The time trial called out, Project D walks out unscathed with their victory recorded and their expedition in the Saitama Prefecture being finished. Takumi also got over his AWD complex thanks to his battle there.