Hara takes damp 4th FEMCA Qualifier

Atsushi Hara took the fourth round of qualifying at the FEMCA Championship in Beijing as day 2 of qualifying got off to a damp start at Fengtai Raceway. Despite the slippery conditions, the Japanese ace backed up his Q1 topping performance to record a new fastest 10-minute run of qualifying finishing 12.5 second clear of overnight provisional TQ holder Dani Choi with Yuichi Kanai a further 7/10th off the 2008 World Champion’s pace.

‘Really slippery’ was how Hara summed up the conditions adding that it actually suited his driving as the track was a lot more consistent because now the surface was ‘slippery everywhere’.  Choosing AKA super soft Impact tyre he also made two set-up changes to the Mugen.  Changing from a 2.6 to 2.7 rear swaybar he also moved the rear upper camber links to the outside position which he said made the MBX-7 easy to drive on power.  Having test a 2.9 swaybar earlier in the event, which he found to be two hard, he said a 2.8 would probably be the best choice only he doesn’t have one!  For the penultimate round of qualifying Hara said the weather will determine what if any changes he will make but if it stays damp he plans to continue with the same set of tyres adding that they got better and better over the 10-minutes of Q4.

Choi said he went to a softer spring all round on his Kyosho but when he got out on track the surface wasn’t as wet as he expected and the rear of the MP9 was too soft.  Switching to Sweep’s Square Armor tyre in super soft compound he said this worked really well.  While it didn’t make the car any faster it did make it a little more consistent and easier to drive.  Planning to change to a harder rear spring, the Korean said any other changes will be dependent on the weather conditions.

Running super soft AKA Impact tyres on his RB powered Kyosho, Kanai said they gave him ‘perfect grip’ for the conditions adding that he didn’t in fact find the conditions that slippery.  Not planning to make any changes for Q5 he said that would of course depend on whether there was a big change in track conditions between rounds.

Setting the fourth fastest time, Chavit Saliguppa said it was good run except for a crash when he was coming into the pitlane for his fuel stop in which his Mugen got stuck costing him some time.  The Thai driver ran super soft AKA City Blocks which he said worked well adding that he plans to leave everything as is for Q5.  Fellow countryman and Q3 pace setter Meen Vejrak took his Mugen to the 5th fastest time.  The Nitro Touring Car World Champion said his run was really pretty good except for an incident with traffic while setting the lead pace dropped him back down the order.  On the tyre front Vejrak ran Procircuit’s Marathon tyres.

17-year-old Wataru Takashiro completed the Top 6, the Kyosho driver enjoying his best run so far a fact he put down simply to better driving.  Having missed the opening day’s practice, the talented Japanese driver has had to do much of his testing in the first day of qualifying.  The only driver along with Hara to post a 30-second lap for the round, he is confident he can now build on his Q4 run in the final two qualifiers as both he and his car have got better and better each round.  Running HB Megabyte tyre he plans to run them again in Q5.

Having TQ’d qualifying for the Chinese Nationals which took place this morning at the Fengtai Raceway track, Hu Wei Ping backed up his success with a strong FEMCA Championship qualifier posting the 13th fastest time in Q4.  Chasing his fifth Chinese National title, the finals of which take place tomorrow, the S-Workz driver said it was a difficult FEMCA qualifying run as it was actually raining during his heat but he was very happy with the result among the international field.  11th fastest in Q3 yesterday, he is hoping for another strong run saying the main change he plans for his next outing is to try a different tyre having used VP-Pro’s Blade EVO tyre in Q4.

Round 4 Top 10 Qualifying times
1. Atsushi Hara (JPN) – Mugen/OS Speed – 19/10:02.825
2. Dani Choi (KOR) – Kyosho/Alpha – 19/10:15.376
3. Yuichi Kanai (JPN) – Kyosho/RB – 19/10:16.104
4. Chavit Saliguppa (TH) – Mugen/OS Speed – 19/10:19.482
5. Meen Vejrak (TH) – Mugen/OS Speed – 19/10:21.120
6. Wataru Takashiro (JPN) – Kyosho/OS Speed – 19/10:26.121
7. Charlee Phutiyotin (TH) – Mugen/OS Speed – 19/10:27.063
8. Dai Hiroki (JPN) – Kyosho/Reds – 18/10:08.180
9. Tommy Chung (UK) – Kyosho/Novarossi – 18/10:08.528
10.Liu Man Yet  (MAL) – Mugen/OS Speed – 18/10:11.951

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