Takumi overtakes Keisuke during a slow turn in Mount Akina, by going to the inside when Keisuke braked into the turn. Keisuke thinks Takumi will crash, considering he was going too fast into a right-left combo turn. He is proven right seconds later when the AE86 slides on the right turn. Cue Takumi pulling off a kansei (inertial) drift into the left turn, using the countersteer from the first right turn. Keisuke is left wide-eyed, utterly dumbstruck.
After Takumi's victorious race against Keisuke, Takumi takes Iketani for a ride in the Trueno, as Iketani wants to see how Takumi races. Takumi's usual driving causes Iketani to freak the hell out after turn one and outright faint after the third turn!
Then Takumi takes Iketani's S13 for a spin: Iketani stays conscious, but he realizes that he is nowhere near Takumi's level.
In a schadenfreude kind of way, Shingo crashing his EG6 when he tries to ram Takumi off the mountain pass and kill him and fails. Given that he's never depicted racing again afterwards and he's shown to be softer in Extra Stage, one can assume that it's the last time he ever tries to race dirty against someone.
Keisuke's First Stage race against Nakazato in Myogi Pass. When the battle start to rain, Keisuke decide to pass Nakazato in the last corner near the goal of Myogi pass using a suicidal attack, Keisuke tailslides his FD's rear right tire into the pedestrian path and uses it as an advantage to take a lead against Nakazato's R32 GT-R. Which leads Keisuke into a victory with only a hair between him and Nakazato's R32 GT-R. This race also makes Takumi excited for the first time, which marks that he and Keisuke are destined to be rivals.
Takumi delivers this line to Natsuki after he sees her with an older man.
Takumi: Good luck with your buddy in the Mercedes. Now leave me the hell alone.
Third Stage
Takumi has a rematch with Kyouichi after losing to him as a result of his Trueno's engine giving out mid-race. Not only does Takumi keep up with him and tie against him on a course he's not familiar with and which is differently-structured, being a narrow one-way street rather than a two-way like Akina or Akagi, but then Kyouichi, in an inversion of We Win, Because You Didn't, declares Takumi the winner, explaining that anyone who can tie with him on his home course is a Worthy Opponent.
Takumi chases Natsuki's Psycho Ex-Boyfriend up Mount Akina. He's in a 4WD Celica Turbo, Takumi's in his RWD 86, and it's snowing heavily, so naturally Takumi sticks to the guy's bumper like glue until his sheer driving technique scares Natsuki's ex into spinning out before pretty much passing out at the wheel. Since we watch the entire thing from the latter's point of view, this also doubles as a Mook Horror Show.
Fourth Stage
Takumi's victory against a professional. Specifically the part where Takumi turns off his headlights.
In the previous race, Takumi beats a Toudou School student by keeping the lead in the first run while not using his top 2000 rpm, on a course he's only practiced for a day, then surprising his opponent in the second run with the additional power.
Bunta beating Takumi in an impromptu downhill race... When test driving a GC8 Impreza.
Of note: Takumi's reaction when he uses the gutter drop technique... Only for the mysterious Impreza (at that point he doesn't know Bunta is behind the wheel) to do the same. Bonus points for having one of those rare moments where Takumi swears.
In Episode 16, Keisuke faces off against the Tsuchisaka Lan Evo hillclimber, who spilled the oil in the first place that resulted in him getting into an "accident" and making him unable to race or practice either. Because of this he decides to borrow Kyoko's FD that arrived the same day when the battle was settled. He has two handicaps that Takumi mentions, first that he's using a car that he's never driven before, and second that he's never fully practiced the Tsuchisaka pass. But even with those two handicaps Keisuke manages to win against Lan Evo by passing him after they go side by side which leads the latter into a Villainous Breakdown for driving so recklessly because of the pass earlier. But Keisuke points out that two cars can go side by side with the barricade in the straight and humiliates him over the defeat.
In Episode 17, Takumi faces off against the Tsuchisaka Lan Evo downhiller, who threatens to call thugs to beat up the rest of D if Takumi doesn't throw the race. Takumi spends about half the race behind him before figuring out that the guy's braking technique is trash, and manages to pass him partly thanks to the oil slick his team used to sabotage D. Takumi's opponent and Kenta both suppose that Takumi will have a hard time maintaining the lead in the high-speed section of the course. Cue Ryosuke correcting them. Cue Awesome Music. Cue slow motion as Takumi demonstrates his demonic braking technique, utterly destroying the Lan Evo in two corners.
The conclusion of Project D's battle against the Tsuchisaka Lan Evo Team. When the Bōsōzoku gang arrive at Tsuchisaka, attacking Project D after the Tsuchisaka Lan Evo Team's defeat, Keisuke comes to meet and face the gang by himself since he's also a former delinquent. But at that point, it's revealed that the Bosozoku's gang leader and members are Keisuke's former subordinates, and they come from the same prefecture as Project D. Needless to say, the current gang leader is not amused at being made to look bad in front of his former boss, which causes the Tsuchisaka Lan Evo Team to get beaten instead.
Keisuke's race against Kozo "God Foot" Hoshino. After Kozo passes Keisuke on a pylon in the second round of the battle into downhill battle, both of them start to drifting together. Which is impossible for the GT-R to do because of the ATTESA ET-S system that denies any oversteer and understeer. After both Keisuke and Kozo go drifting at several corners, Hoshino's GT-R loses traction in his front tires and the car understeers even more. Near the goal line, Hoshino drifts too far, allowing Keisuke to pass him on the outside. Although Hoshino's weaker tyres make him bump Keisuke slightly, the FD pulls out in front and finishes the second round first, completely turning the tables on his opponent.
Takumi's race against Toshiya "God Arm" Joushima. After Joushima has spent the entire race (seven rounds of the downhill) psyching out Takumi by taking different lines while still pushing him to his limits, Takumi turns it around on him thanks to a bit of advice from Ryousuke. Takumi pulls out both of his signature moves, using the gutter drop technique to keep up, followed by turning off his headlights to overtake. This psyches out Joushima so much that he puts both hands on the wheel for the first time in the whole race,note Joushima's one-handed driving is a sign of his complete confidence in his victory, and a driver who's confidence has been shaken will instinctively grab the wheel with both hands. shattering the utter confidence he's had the entire race and completely turning the tables on him.
Fifth Stage
In Episode 8, Keisuke passes Ikeda during a thick fog on Hakone, which forces both of them to drive blind. Keisuke, using his own training, fighting spirit, and a call from Kenta (he does not pick the phone up but this affirms to him that the oncoming lane is empty), defeats Ikeda and his Zero Theory when he hesitates in the face of imminent danger (i.e oncoming traffic), at the same time exposing the weakness of the Zero Theory (it works less well in dangerous environments like street racing).
The race between Shinigami (Hojo Rin) and Ryosuke Takahashi has several:
Shinigami first rams Ryosuke from behind to wake him up, because the former thinks the latter is spacing out and/or "acting half asleep". Ryosuke successfully recovers without much of an effort, showing the audience just how good he is.
Later on, Shinigami attempts to ram Ryosuke again. This time, however, Ryosuke sees the attack coming, and accelerates just before impact, causing Shinigami to miss. Shinigami is stunned by this, while Ikeda finally learns who really is driving that white FC.
Ikeda then further notes that even the locals of Hakone are not brave enough to go downhill at full throttle, noting how dangerous Hakone is. Yet Ryosuke, despite not even hailing from Hakone, does this anyway.
Shinigami rams Ryosuke again, side-pressing him into the shoulder of a right-hand turn. Ryosuke, in what is noted to be a split-second decision (or, alternatively, one that requires full-on superhuman reflexes) aims his FC to ride the shoulder slope like a bank in a corner. Shinigami's only reaction is a Big "WHAT?!".
Shinigami once again attempts to ram Ryosuke, this time when there's no shoulder slope, only a guardrail. Ryosuke however, anticipated this and enters the corner at high speed, which slows down his exit speed but saves his life when he is going just fast enough to barely graze the guardrail before returning to the road. At this point, Shinigami can't say anything.
In the finale episodes of Fifth Stage, Keisuke pulls away from Go Hojo by disappearing at every corner with a similar technique to Fujiwara Zone after he saved his tires during the first round into full throttle mode. Because of this, when Go attempts to follow, his tires wear out rapidly and cause a spin-out when he goes overboard. Which settles Keisuke's victory over Kanto's fastest hillclimb driver.
Final Stage
In the series' final battle, Takumi uses his signature "Blind Attack" to take the lead during the final stretch. With the finish line in sight, Takumi turns his lights back on, and sees that he's pushed his engine to over 12,000 rpms, way past its maximum of 11,000. He only has enough time to register this before his engine blows like it did against Kyouichi. Only this time he keeps a cool head, spins the car around, depresses the clutch, and lets his momentum carry him backwards to a victory.
Others
The series' Eurobeat track, which has become synonymous with the franchise, now has its own page.
In Extra Stage, an unnamed Team Emperor driver declares that he's going to defeat Mako and Sayuki, with his rationale basically being "They'll lose, because they're women." Not only is the Impact Blue duo not pleased about this, they then prove him wrong by outmaneuvering him on Usui's C-121 corner, where he suffers an understeer-induced crash that puts him in such deep shame that he begs his teammates to not tell Kyouichi about it.
Takumi is currently racing against Red Suns member Keisuke, clearly the underdog in the race. The members of the Akina Speed Stars and Itsuki are discussing exactly what kind of chance Takumi has. Iketani says they should trust Bunta, Takumi's father, in that if the old man believes in Takumi, so should they. Nobody else really believes that's enough. Then Iketani drops the bomb on them that Takumi has already beaten Keisuke before. Cue the music, cue disbelief Takumi has these skills, and cue Takumi finally catching Keisuke, and putting on the pressure for the first time all race. Hell. Yes.