A group of street racers called Team Emperor, all using Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions, appear in the Gunma area, defeating anyone in their path, until their No. 2 racer, Seiji Iwaki, was defeated by Takumi, breaking their winning streak. Their leader, a professionally-trained driver named Kyoichi Sudo, challenged Takumi to a race at Akagi to “teach him some things” and as a sort of cover event for his race with Ryosuke, his primary target. Takumi declined his proposal at first but eventually accepted after being infuriated with seeing Natsuki with the Mercedes Driver which left him at a disadvantage from the get-go. This race saw Takumi's Eight-Six blow its engine. While it may have been a defeat for Takumi, Kyoichi did not consider it a race instead considering it more as a seminar to show Takumi how much he needs a better car as he believes the Eight-Six is far too old to match Takumi's skill level.