Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name features the return of Pocket Circuit, a side activity that might be familiar to anyone who played Yakuza 0 or Kiwami. The setup in Gaiden is mostly the same as it was in Kiwami, with some slight changes to stats and tracks. If you played through all of that it will be very familiar and shouldn’t cause much trouble.
In Pocket Circuit you build a small race car on a limited parts budget and use it to race around a track beating opponents. Because it is an auto racer where you have limited intervention of your own you can follow part setups for each race if you want to just complete the races without messing around. You are automatically introduced to Pocket Circuit in Chapter 2 of the story, then after that you can return and play it at any time.
Trophy-wise you are only required to complete about half of the races to unlock the Master Circuit for 
Pocket Circuit Pro, then beat any 3 rivals for Left in the Dust. Completing further is purely if you want to finish it for Activity Log completion or just for fun. Rivals appear as Stroll n’Patrol missions as you progress through the Pocket Circuit races, then you need to go speak with them to have them show up as a rival option in the menu.
Before starting it is recommended you grab the parts that can be found in the open world. Aside from these, all parts are purchased using points won from completing the Pocket Circuit races and purchased from the vendor in the building. If you don’t want to grab them all, you at the very least want to make sure you have the High Torque Motor Mark II, obtained by using Locker Key H5. This motor will get you through most of the early races with ease and is recommended in a number of the builds below.
Pocket Circuit Parts
- Metal Frame – Above the entrance to the Daidoji Hideout in Sotonbori. Grab with Spider.
- Metal Frame Plus – Ebisu Pawn Sotenboi, purchase for 980 yen.
- Michi-Michio (Decal) – Ebisu Pawn Sotenboi, purchase for 980 yen.
- Power Motor Plus – On the pig sign on the building in the northwest corner of Sotenbori. Grab with Spider.
- Cool Striker – Casino at the Castle, purchase for 40,000 chips.
- Devil Killer – Gambling Hall at the Castle, purchase for 5,600 pts.
- Dark Purple (Decal) – Gambling Hall at the Castle, purchase for 350 pts.
- Extra Balanced Frame – Yokobori Golf Center, purchase for 2,560 gp.
- Super Balanced Frame – Top floor of the Gambling Hall (Yotsudera Kaikan) Building, look off the south side where there is an item pickup on the building across. Grab with Spider.
- High Torque Motor Mark II – Locker Key H5 (On the top floor of the Gambling Hall (Yotsudera Kaikan) building, on the ground behind the blue counter)
- Killer Bee – Locker Key I5 (At the Castle, in the fighters lounge (available at Silver rank) on a towel shelf north of the bar).
- Super Slick Tires – Locker Key E5 (At the Castle, in the Gambling Hall go up the first stairs into the southwest corner, then look on the ground near the dividers (it’s sitting behind one))
- Sunshine (Decal) – Gambling Hall at the Castle Platinum Area, sitting on the tree in the middle of the room. Grab with Spider.
Recommended Builds by Race
Races are listed in the order they are unlocked, and you are required to win the prior races to unlock the next ones. Rival races occur on the exact same track as the normal races, so you can just use the same build against the Rivals as the normal races. The Rival’s names are listed beside the normal course name. Parts lists will only include parts that are needed, so if none of the “extra” parts are listed (stabilizer, wing) they aren’t used.
All races were completed using these setups with the Killer Bee car body. Note that there is some level of randomness to the races (one run you may get bounced out, another with the same parts you don’t) so if a build isn’t working multiple times in a row you can try making adjustments to individual parts.
Introductory Race/Kensuke
- Slick Tires
- Balanced Frame
- High Torque Motor Mark II
- Regular Gears
- Regular Battery
Rookies Welcome Race/Kanami
- Slick Tires
- Balanced Frame
- High Torque Motor Mark II
- Regular Gears
- Regular Battery
Rookie Race/Yusuke
- Slim Tires Plus
- Super Balanced Frame
- Speed Motor Plus
- Balanced Gears Plus
- Regular Battery
Standard Race/Kazuko
- Extra Spiked Tires
- Extra Metal Frame
- High Torque Motor Mark II
- Extra Balanced Gears
- High Capacity Battery
Pro-am Race/Shiori (Use Boost when going around the loop the first time)
- Extra Slick Tires
- Metal Frame Plus
- High Torque Motor Mark II
- Regular Gears Plus
- High Capacity Battery
- Light Suspension
Veteran Race/Toru (Don’t use boost)
- Super Slick Tires
- Super Balanced Frame
- High Torque Motor Mark II
- Extra Balanced Gears
- High Capacity Battery
- Light Suspension
Expert Race/Yuko (Use boost immediately after the wall if you want)
- Super Soft Tires
- Super Speed Frame
- High Torque Motor Mark II
- Godspeed Gears Plus
- High Capacity Battery
- Front Wing
Official Race/Saburo
- Super Spiked Tires
- Super Speed Frame
- High Torque Motor Mark II
- Godspeed Gears Plus
- High Capacity Battery
- Front Wing
CourStar Race/Tomoya (Don’t boost, jump at the start of the circuit is a bit finicky, and might require a couple of retries to not be bounced off course)
- Ultra Slim Tires
- Ultra Metal Frame
- Godspeed Motor
- Godspeed Gears Plus
- Regular Battery
- Medium Suspension
- Flat Wing
Invitational Cup/Masashi
- Ultra Slim Tires
- Ultra Speed Frame
- Godspeed Motor
- Extra Boost Gears
- High Capacity Battery
- Light Suspension
- Box Wing
Champions Cup/Keiko (This race is deceiving because you actually need a very slow and stable car to make it around the sharp corners)
- Ultra Spiked Tires
- Extra Rubber Frame
- Extra Power Motor
- Extra Power Gears
- Regular Battery
- Side Stabilizer 3.0
- Heavy Suspension
- Rainbow Wing
Expert Cup/Momozo (Beating Momozo awards Godspeed Motor Mark II)
- Ultra Slim Tires
- Ultra Rocket Frame
- Godspeed Motor
- Ultra Godspeed Gears
- Regular Battery
- Heavy Suspension
- Rainbow Wing
Ran (Rival Match) (The first lap is where you might have trouble being bounced on the hills, then it should be fine. Use Boost in the final lap after the hills)
You are required to win this Rival match to unlock the final 3 races
- Ultra Slim Tires
- Ultra Rocket Frame
- Godspeed Motor Mark II
- Ultra Regular Gears
- Regular Battery
- Light Suspension
- Rainbow Wing
Professional Cup/Ami (The first turn of the course can randomly bounce in lap 5+, but past that is normally fine)
- Ultra Low Profile Tires
- Ultra Rocket Frame
- Ultra Godspeed Motor
- Ultra Boost Gears
- High Capacity Battery
- Heavy Suspension
- Rainbow Wing
Masters Cup/Gou-ou
- Ultra Slim Tires
- Ultra Balanced Frame
- Ultra Godspeed Motor
- Ultra Balanced Gears
- High Speed Battery
- Heavy Suspension
- Rainbow Wing
Grand Masters Cup/Masaru (Use Boost after the jump. It might look like you’re losing at the start but should catch up when the other racers start slowing down)
- Ultra Slim Tires
- Ultra Metal Frame
- Ultra Godspeed Motor
- Ultra Boost Gears
- High Capacity Battery
- Side Stabilizer 3.0
- Heavy Suspension
- Rainbow Wing
Manager (Rival Match) (Use Boost right before the loop)
- Ultra Slim Tires
- Ultra Balanced Frame (alternate: Ultra Rubber Frame)
- Ultra Godspeed Motor
- Ultra Boost Gears
- High Speed Battery (alternate: Regular Battery)
- Side Stabilizer 3.0
- Heavy Suspension
- Rainbow Wing
For more guides check out:
- Substories & Requests
- Locker Key Locations
- Gold Ball Locations
- Master System Locations
- Trophy Guide & Roadmap
I couldn’t stay on the track with that setup against Manager. Always went off no matter how much mashing after the second grass, or on the occasion I did stay on, used enough meter to not stay on the next time it happened. I did manage to find a setup that worked to beat him by 1.5 seconds and only have one incident based on using the guide as a starting point:
Ultra Slim Tyres
Ultra Rubber Frame
Ultra Godspeed Motor
Ultra Boost gears
Regular Battery
Side Stabiliser 3.0
Heavy Suspension
Rainbow Wing
I spend all my points on parts, which i dont need. So now i dont have enough to buy parts for standart race. Am i fucked? Is there a way to gring points?
You can do Time Trials as well which give more points. I believe completing any race also gives a small amount, so if you’re really stuck you can just continually redo whatever the last race you’ve been able to complete until you get more.
The guide is missing information for Hammer, Katsuyuki and Akame’s rival matches, which have unique tracks for each Rival.
Here is the setup I used for Hammer:
Slick Tires Plus
Balanced Frame
High Torque Motor Mark II
Balanced Gears Plus
Regular Battery
Here is the setup I used for both Katsuyuki and Akame:
Ultra Soft Tires
Ultra Rubber Frame
Ultra High Torque Motor
Ultra Godspeed Gears
High Capacity Battery
Heavy Suspension
Rainbow Wing
For “CourStar Race/Tomoya”.
Swap frame to Balanced Frame and Flat Wing to Box Wing. That way there was not a single time i had to press Circle to not fly out of the course.
Where’s the ultra godspeed motor?? Can’t find it anywhere.
You get it after defeating Rival Ran
For professional cup / Ami I downgraded gears to ensure not to fly off. Extra boost gears were enough to win
Also the ultra slim tyres in Grand Master could be changed down to stop run offs
Also on Grand masters. Downgrade frame to rubber frame and ensure you boost after jump for the win.