Arrow Emblem: Grand Prix no taka (1977)

Young Takaya tests his car during the first race he participates in, but one step away from winning an oil stain prevents him from winning. His car, just built, ends up destroyed and he himself suffers a trauma that moves him away from the engines. A mysterious character proposes to him to start over.

Taken to the residence of the young daughter of the Katori, Takaya struggles to question himself and is pushed to resume his journey by young Niki Lanz. The boy, hesitant and grumpy, discovers that his car has been rebuilt right on the industrial estate.

The discovery of the Katori's new prototype pushes Takaya to resume the race. The young Suzuko, in charge of the cars, intimately in love with him, pushes him to try it, but the damage done to the car forces the young man to accept participation in the rally, in order to be forgiven for the unauthorised attempt.

The controlled skid, the most complex manoeuvre for a rally driver, is the challenge for Takaya, who really has to commit to winning the race he has now decided to win. Thanks to the help of his friends and the mysterious motorcyclist, the boy tries.

The first part of the race closes with a considerable delay of the new Katori, due to the unfair manoeuvres of fellow rivals, who tamper with the car and force it into unexpected slowdowns and accidents. The rally is lost, however, dee to the prototype's poor road holding. Takaya, out of regret, returns to Tokyo to his uncle.

Despite returning to Tokyo, Takaya returns to the car show again at the invitation of her great protector Niki Lanz. Here he meets the president of Katori motors, who offers him to work for the company as a tester to return the 10 million damage caused to the prototype of the house. Takaya, at first reluctant, accepts after discovering the identity of the masked man.

At Katori's research centre, Takaya is left to complete in isolation and realises that he can rely only on his strength to do his job. With observation and tenacity he finds the way to remedy the problem of road holding of cars, going so far as to build a model with six wheels.

Under the eyes of the President of Katori Motors, Takaya experiments with his new car and convinces him to include it on the list of riders at the Monte Carlo Rally, where the automaker will participate for the first time.

On the Monte-Carlo circuit, Takaya gives great proof of his skill by surprising even those who had doubted him among the team members. Mountain circuits are not a problem for his driving, but the difficult comes to the last stage.

The ice of the Alps is a challenge for any driver. However, Takaya manages to master the ice also thanks to the tires already mounted. The problem that frustrates Katori's race is the rivalry with the other driver, who sees both losers.

The Spanish Grand Prix is approaching, and Katori has chosen her driver in Takaya. But the House's new model needs to be perfected and the only one able to improve it is him, as Oynata and Niki leave the team to switch to Lotus and Ferrari. But Takaya doesn't give up and asks for advice from the man he believes to be his father.

To participate in the Spanish Grand Prix Takaya faces a difficult circuit like Jarama's, whose curves put him in difficulty. Moreover, in his mind the beautiful Isabella, known while travelling, engages him in the challenge against his ardent rivals.

Takaya's intentions are excellent, but an unforeseen event ruins Katori Motors' programs: the car was stolen by the bullfighter's brother killed in Spain and now Takaya has to recover it to be able to participate in the grand prize.

Recovered from the bullfighting accident, Takaya is hosted by Isabella's father who has now decided to marry him to make him heir to his fortune. Takaya, disappointed by his missed triumphs, decides to leave the races and agrees to go to Spain. Here, however, the mysterious motorcyclist who has always followed him, entrusts him with a car that he will have to drive on the Le Mans circuit. Takaya can't refuse.

The training for the 24 hours of Le Mans is very tough and Takaya promised not to see Isabella until the end of the race. But Jida, still vindictive at her brother's death decided to create a dangerous obstacle for the pilot and Isabella is determined to sacrifice herself to save him.

Isabella's condition is desperate. To save her you need two transfusions and offer each other the father and Takaya himself. But the girl wants the driver to race anyway to win, without giving up her dreams. Jida, aware of the girl's condition, despairs for the gesture made and decides to stumble into the same trap devised against the rival. Takaya wins his race, but loses Isabella.

The Japanese team moves to France, where it prepares to face the difficult challenge of the Grand Prix. Takaya found a way to solve another problem to her car as well: by observing a plane taking off. His victory is all for the missing Isabella.

Takaya's talent is exalted by the features of her car, whose aisers allow her to dash like never before. With his competitors out of the race for accidents, Takaya also has to come to terms with his accidentally blocked fings, and settle for third place.

A trivial accident in the country estate makes Takaya weak at the Silverstone race. Feverish from a foot infection, the driver asks Suzuko for silence to avoid missing the race. The girl, in vatuated with the driver, accepts the request and luckily the race ends without consequences.

Arriving in Monza, Takaya has to prepare for the grand prix but the difficulties with the public and the language make everything more complicated. The car must be retouched for the circuit before the times are too tight and so it has to deal with the difficulties of a foreign country.

The public's intemperence against the Japanese House continues to the point of forcing Takaya to withdraw. But, surprisingly, Lanz and the Italian champion Prandelli also withdraw from the race as a sign of solidarity ...

In Japan Takaya can count on the support and support of the public, but his biggest ally is his car, the Todoroki Special. During the tests the technicians realise that the only way not to lose speed in corners, with the great grip of the tires is to cut the curve, but with the risk of leaving the road. Takaya's ability must make a difference. The unexpected burst of a wheel catapults him off the road though.

The technical director, who is also his father, has a computerised control mechanism inserted on the car to give more stability to the car. In fact, during the race a car accident sends even Niki Lanz off the road and opens the way to success for him. His friend and rival Oyanata is the victim of a terrible accident.

After winning the Grand Prix, Takaya goes on to meet her uncles, who react very detachedly to her happiness. In reality they know the truth about his father's past: he just running on a motorcycle ran over his wife and did not help her in order to participate in the race. This gesture cost the woman her life. Now Takaya also knows the truth, but she has to leave for Africa and participate in the 5000km Rally-Safari.

Takaya's father is studying the best way to equip the car to deal with the hailments of African territory, but Takaya refuses to have him as a second driver. The past they revealed to him convinced him not to accept his person, and not to forgive him for his mother's death.

The choice of not having him as a running companion, convinces Takaya's father to fulfil that desire that had kept him away from his home for 15 years. The wife would have wanted to go on the Kilimanjaro and the race that her husband had to win would serve precisely to realise that dream. Now that Takaya is an adult, i, father reveals the truth to him by letter, but in the meantime the man has remained, lifeless on the snows of the mountain.

After the race in Africa, Takaya disappears from the automotive world causing her tracks to be lost. The Japanese house must then rely on the driver Hans Rosel, spotted by Niki Lanz, but hopes of victory are minimised with the entry of the US and USSR powers into the race.

While the president of Katori Motors has decided to find Takaya to compete with the great automotive powers, Takaya risks being killed at the hands of a hitman appointed by Jida's mother, who was angered by the death of her children.

An unknown mountain biker runs to Takaya's rescue for business reasons: a large automaker has decided to propose to the driver to compete for his cause and take their car sales to the highest level. Suzuko also finds his driver and tries to persuade him to return to the competition.

The South African Grand Prix is difficult and tiring, but Takaya counts on being able to bring a victory for the automaker of which he is a part. Attempts to lose him to change teams have been useless and on top of that there are also attempts to boycott his vehicle. The pilot is forced to retire.

At the Long Beach Grand Prix in North America, Takaya blackmailers thought it good to kidnap Angoro and release him only on the condition that the driver runs for them. Luckily Pat, known in Canada, is on his way right on the circuit and manages to free the boy.

Takaya travelling to North America, stops at the St.Sam service area, where the homonymous race between out of series is played. The boy Takaya meets gets injured on the eve of the race and so asks for the courtesy to be replaced.

The US has asked for and obtained the establishment of a Formula 0, even more selective than F1, in which only cars equipped with super engines will be able to participate: this means eliminating from the scene all those economically poorer countries that cannot invest capital in the new competition. As he decides whether to participate or not, Hans decides to leave the Japanese team eager to challenge Takaya as an opponent.

The new car, designed and built with the help of Japanese banks, has the name of Samurai, conceived by Takaya himself. The goal is to win American and Soviet competition to revitalise the car market. Hans passed with the company of the oil tanker Hassan, who wants to prove to everyone that even the East can compete with the Western powers.

The samurai's fine-tuning is about to end and Takaya must prove that he is ready for the appointment with rival Hans, who betrayed his colours for money and revenge. However, the race takes place without the necessary loyalty of the competitors, who to facilitate Hans' victory hinder the Japanese driver's race.

The training that Takaya lacks to outperform Formula Zero drivers is the anti-gravity one. A pilot in formula zero faces the same difficulties as an astronaut pushing himself into space. To his aid comes Mr. Himura, a motorcyclist who saved him on the Canadian snows, a friend of his father.

The next circuit is that of Nurbrgringin Germania, land of the legend of Lorelei, a woman who with her song attracted sailors causing them to shipwreck. Now, however, the same kind of fate could happen to the drivers engaged in the challenge on the winding path that awaits them. Pat, enterprising and determined to drive a professional car, will also compete with the British team and therefore spend the evening with Takaya.

At the generals, Takaya takes first place, despite the difficult conditions in which he has to run, and in spite of the improprieties of the Middle Eastern team. For the first time in Formula Zero, a female driver competes: Pat Clark.

The race, which began under the spectre of legend, sees a worrying succession of accidents, which eliminate cars without being able to count them. Pat, thanks to the unfair behaviour of Takaya's rivals, the unfair drivers, is also injured during the race.

Pat's injury causes Takaya to withdraw, unexpectedly from the race. He, first and with a high probability of final victory, gives up fighting for the guilt of having induced the girl to drive a zero formula. But Pat herself, who recovered in the hospital, is convinced of her victory, and none of the pilots reveal the truth to her.

Takaya at the invitation of Pat, arrives in Russia, where he will participate in the World Cup that must absolutely win to repair the mistake made in the last grand prix. With him he also hopes Hans, who has now become his great friend, albeit a great rival.

The final of the Moscow Grand Prix sees Takaya on the track against Hans, both determined to win. An accident, however, makes the race tragic. A tire hits Hans who is the victim of a fatal accident. Takaya comes second after Russia.

Japan's first Formula Zero Grand Prix takes place in Asama. A circuit unknown to Takaya, who, out of presumption, accepts Himura's challenge and loses by inexperience of the route. A demonstration of his deep experience on the steering wheel, but of human immaturity.

The lesson learned with the previous day's challenge, yields a teaching to Takaya that his Suzuko manages to make him understand. So the driver uses the same mistake as him in the race, to win the most fearsome opponent: Russia. Takaya shares the party with the woman who has always assisted and loved him and convinces everyone of his undisputed qualities.