Capeta (カペタ, Capeta?) is a sports manga and anime about kart racing by Masahito Soda. Taira Kapeita (平勝平太) is a 10-year old boy whose single-parent father, Taira Shigeo (平茂雄), works for a paving company. While completing a paving job at a go-kart track, his father sees a young boy racing at the track and amazed at the speed and seeming thrill of the sport. Realizing that his young son has an interest in racing cars (particularly Formula 1), Shigeo asks the circuit steward as to whether he is able to take some old worn-down parts out of the circuit's trash pile. Taking these back to his workplace, he manages to construct a rundown yet (barely!) driveable kart. Shigeo's boss, Mr. Ikari, (initially begrudgingly) supplies a generator engine to power the kart. Determined, Capeta, in his first time on a race track, manages to not only master the mangled racer, but also overtakes other racers in much faster, better karts. One of the people he catches and attempts to overtake on the inside line is Minamoto Naomi (源奈臣), a talented young racer who drives for a works karting team, Endless Autohouse Racing. This overtaking manoeuver shocks Naomi so much so that he drops the accelerator of his kart, accelerates past Capeta. This infuriates his mother and team manager, Minamoto Nanako (源奈々子), as he overrevved a brand new engine which he was supposed to be merely running in. Capeta, unaware of the difference in machinery between his own kart and Naomi's works-grade kart, doesn't understand why it was impossible for him to catch Naomi. Nonetheless, onlookers are amazed that a child from out of the blue is able to outrace the regular drivers of the track, let alone unnerve the track's local hotshot. Nanako, also amazed, offers to helps Capeta's entry into the world of kart racing, secretly as a rival for her son. After what is a difficult conversation for Capeta, the Taira father and son turn down the offer to enrol Capeta in the Endless Autohouse Racing team and run their own single kart team on their own instead. But can a hard-working but poor father and his talented son really make it in the big money world of kart racing? It won the Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen in 2005. The series consists of three separate arcs. The first is of Capeta in his first experiences with kart racing. The next is Capeta a few years later having to deal with mounting monetary issues. The third is Capeta trying to realize his dream of beating his rival and becoming a professional racer. The anime is known for one of numerous references and homages to Initial D and Best Motoring International references, as well as Formula One. In addition to this, there are many karting and racing references that not only add flesh to the story, but are also factual (such as comments about racing lines, tire usage, slipstreaming and general commentary on the world of 4-wheel racing).
