Round 2 of the 2005 D1 Grand Prix Season was held in Odiba, (Tokyo Bay) Japan. HKS and Nobuteru Taniguchi brought out the HKS Genki IS220-R (Toyota Altezza) that was debuted during the 2004 season. Taniguchi being a seeded driver received a bye from qualifying and went directly to the single-car elimination round.

In the single-car elimination runs, drivers run individually three times for the judges. Out of the 32 cars the top 16 make it into the tandem elimination runs. Taniguchi qualified easily for the Round of 16, scoring very high, especially on runs one and three showing incredible entry speeds and drifting inches away from the crash barriers.

In the Round of 16 Taniguchi and the HKS Genki IS220-R faced off with Kuniaki Takahashi and his JZX100 Chaser. This would be a 4-door Toyota sedan showdown between the new-school Altezza and the classic drift sedan, the Chaser. Takahashi led the first run with Taniguchi chasing. Takahashi and his Chaser slide wide on the 1st corner which allowed Taniguchi to take the Altezza to the inside and setup for a clean pass on Takahashi thru the 2nd corner. On the second run Taniguchi led, and Takahashi was unable to gain any ground on Taniguchi, giving the win to Taniguchi.

In the Best 8 Round, Taniguchi and HKS faced off with the RE Amemiya FD3S RX-7 piloted by Masao Suenaga. On the first run Taniguchi pushed the HKS Genki IS200-R with blistering speed which Suenaga's FD could not match. On the next run both drivers showed off there skills with excellent control, but the advantage Taniguchi had gain on the first run was too much for Suenaga to overcome. Taniguchi would go on to the final four.

The Semi-finals pitted the HKS Genki IS200-R vs. Trust's S15 driven by Masato Kawabata. The first run was called dead heat between Taniguchi and Kawabata. On the second run Taniguchi slide high on the 1st corner giving an opening for Kawabata, but Kawabata was unable to capitalize and spun in the 2nd corner, earning Taniguchi a trip to the finals.

The finals were a renewal of one of the classic D1 Grand Prix Rivalries, Taniguchi the 2001 D1 Grand Prix Series Champion vs. Katsuhiro Ueo the 2002 Champion. During the first run Taniguchi under-steered and Ueo spun his Toyota AE86, so the run was deemed a tie. The 2nd run was too close to call so a sudden death battle was called for. In sudden death Taniguchi and Ueo were simply amazing neither driver was willing to concede to the other. They ran a total of five sudden death battles! In the final battle with Taniguchi chasing there was a loud "bang" which came from the HKS IS220-R on the third turn. Sparks flew from the undercarriage and the car stopped on the track. Since the Odaiba track is normally a parking lot, there are many bumps and dips. Due to these harsh conditions, the drive shaft snapped which gave Taniguchi no choice but to retire. Ueo took first place.

It was a tough 2nd place finish for Taniguchi and HKS, but with the 18points that accompany 2nd place Taniguchi moves into 4th place overall in the series with 20points. The next round of the 2005 D1 Grand Prix series will be on May 7th and 8th at Sportsland Sugo course in the Miyagai prefecture of Japan. This will be a tight and taxing course for Taniguchi and the HKS Genki IS220-R, but the HKS team and Taniguchi are up for the challenge.