October 4, 2015

Chassis Focus – Ryan Maifield

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Chassis –TLR 22 Development car
Motor – Orion 6.5
ESC – Orion R10.1
Battery – Orion 4000
Radio/Servos – Airtronics/Spektrum
Body – JConcepts SC2

Remarks – Current Reedy Race Champion Ryan Maifield is running an all new 22 development car made specifically for carpet racing. Like others, the new chassis is wider to allow the battery to be mounted sideways which allows the motor to be move significantly further forward. Along with the new lower 3 gear transmission there is the new front and rear wishbones. Finishing off the car, Ryan is running the all new SC2 body from JConcepts for use with the new lower transmission car.

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October 4, 2015

Chassis Focus – Naoto Matsukura

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Chassis –Kyosho Ultima RB6 WC
Motor – Much More 6.5
ESC – Much More Fleta Pro
Battery – Much More 4500
Radio/Servos – Sanwa/Xpert 3402
Body – X-Gear Prototype

Remarks – Home track favourite Naoto Matsukura is running an updated WC version of the Ultima RB6 from Kyosho. Featuring a wider chassis that allows the battery to now also be mounted sideways to allow for different mounting position options. The motor has been mont 12mm further forward and the car has a much lower rear drive train, ideal for high traction carpet conditions. The rear upper camber link mount has now also been made from aluminium which replaces the weaker kit plastic version. Finally, the 4-time onroad World Champion is using a prototype body shell and front winglet from sponsor X-Gear.

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October 3, 2015

Track Focus – Yatabe Arena

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Track Name – Yatabe Arena
Organisers – JMRCA
Country – Japan
Location – Tsukuba (70km East of Tokyo)
Direction – Anti-clockwise
Surface – Astro turf
Previous events hosted – 1995 1:10 Offroad Worlds, 2000 Electric Touring Car Worlds

The 16th running of the IFMAR 1:10 Offroad World Championships takes place at the World famous Yatabe Arena with the Japanese venue’s second hosting of the bi-annual event sparking much debate and divide within the offroad racing circles. With the World’s best drivers having fought it out for the sport’s greatest prize on dirt since the championship was first held in 1985, 30-years on the week long event will be run without a bit of dirt in sight.  After receiving a proposal from the Japanese hosts seeking to use an artificial surface, the sport’s governing body IFMAR accepted, allowing the Yatabe Arena to create the first astro turf World Championship track.  With many purists opposed to allowing an Offroad World Championship to be decided on a ‘touring car track with jumps’,  7-time Offroad World Champion & legend of the sport Masami Hirosaka sees a place for both dirt and astro turf tracks in the sport.

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The Electric Section Chairman of FEMCA (Far East Model Car Association) and the legendary face of track owners Yokomo, Masami said the key reason for creating an astro turf track was to ‘bring something new’ to the Offroad World Championships.  With artificial track surfaces popular in Europe, the multi-round carpet surface Euro Offroad Series establishing itself as a competitive high profile championship, Masami feels this track type has great potential bring the sport to new places and help it grow grow adding its ‘very easy maintenance’ and much easier to bring astro or carpet to a shopping mall than dirt.

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Originally built in October 1989,  the track is this time round housed in the newest extension to the facility which was erected in 2011.  Covering an area of 21.5m deep by 38m wide,  the track has been extensively redesigned since the Warm-up race held in June.  A track that was widely viewed as lacking obstacles, the new track design is a combination of driver and industry inputs with Masami saying ‘reactions from the internet’ also taken into account pointing out we ‘couldn’t ask just one person to design the track’. The biggest noticeable addition is the large tabletop which was built for the Warm-up race but left out as the JMRCA didn’t like the size of it. The other change is the roller which has been redesigned giving it a better angle which JConcepts’ Jason Ruona has now officially named as the ‘ high elevation roller’. One somewhat contentious addition to the track is the ‘washboard section’.  Made of five widely spaced rubber strips, drivers are expressing concerns over the height but Masami said the height was intentional so as to make the cars run more offroad than touring car ride heights.  Another key change is the moving of the main straight from in front of the drivers stand to the opposite side.  The timing loop has also moved to the straight which Masami said should leading to ‘exciting final laps’. One of the key people reasonable for ensuring the preparation of the track for the 150 drivers was facility manager Hiroshi Suzuki. Following the Warm-up race the track had to be completely taken up so a touring car carpet track could be laid which then had to be removed to make way for the Worlds track.  Under the astro turf are are two layers of wooden sheeting running criss-cross the depth allowing all the piping, strips and corner dots all to be screw securely into place.

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While drivers will not get their first feel for the track until free practice tomorrow, defending 2WD World Champion Jared Tebo was positive about the new layout saying ‘it looks pretty good now that they added more obstacles’.  The Kyosho diver added ‘it looks fast but I’m ready to get on it’.  Asked about the addition of the rubber strips, the American said, ‘I don’t know till I get to run on them but hopefully it adds a spot where if you get reckless you’ll crash’.  Winner of 2WD at the Warm-up Race, Lee Martin echoed Tebo’s views saying ‘It looks good’ but adding he was ‘not sure about the strips, they could be good or bad’.  The Yokomo driver said the up face of the table top is a bit blind which could be a problem if a car crashes there but otherwise should be fine’.  Feeling having the straight at the back is better, he predicts the astro is going to need a few runs to break into the new layout.

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May 25, 2015

Record fifth Reedy title for Rheinard

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Marc Rheinard has claimed a record 5th Reedy International Touring Car Race of Champions title, the 18th running of the event being decided in the 36th and final race at Tamiya Raceway in California. Leading the points from the opening round right through the 3 days of heads up racing, the Tamiya star secured his first major touring car title for some time when he finished on the tail of outgoing champion Ronald Volker. Needing to win the race and have Rheinard finish 6th or lower, Volker could only manage second behind Yokomo team-mate Meen Vejrak, that win securing the Thai driver the final place on the podium.

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‘Finally a win again’, that was Rheinard’s reaction to the victory at a track the German rates as the best in the world.  Coming into the event sharing the honour of being the most crowned champion of the famous race together with Barry Baker, the 4-time World Champion said after opening the final day’s racing with a 9th place, this left him worried for the rest of the day.  Even after his win in the penultimate round when his only potential rival Volker finished third, that getting him one hand on the trophy, he ‘still wasn’t sure’ he was going to get the job done.  Getting a good start and patiently working his way to 3rd he said once he got in behind Volker he just cruised to the end but got a little concerned when Ryan Cavalieri started to close in case an attempt to pass might put him off.  Having claimed one of his two previous Reedy titles at Tamiya Raceway witnessed by the late Mike Reedy, the rc pioneer who created the World famous race format, he said ‘luckily it worked out’ and it was ‘nice to win big in touring cars again’.

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Volker said ‘overall I am happy how all my races went and to get 11 Top 3 finishes from 12 races I am proud of that’ and that he ‘delivered his best’.  Congratulating his long time arch rival on his win he said ‘even though he may have had easier heats than me in the end he delivered’.  Commenting on the deciding race the ETS Champion, who will go up against most of the field again next weekend in Luxembourg at round 5 of the championship, said after the race settled with Vejrak in the lead, him second and Rheinard third everyone cruised to the finish.  Needing Rheinard to be at the back of the field to have any chance of the title he said he also knew that Vejrak needed a Top 2 in order to get a podium finish so he didn’t risk challenging for a win that would have not changed his own overall finishing position. He said with the final step of the podium wide open going into last round he was very happy for Vejrak to secure the podium.

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Having finished 4th last year, Vejrak was delighted to go one better.  The 30-year-old former nitro touring car World Champion, having had a bad second race of the event, said he was glad to come back from that against a much higher quality field than last year and make the podium.  Having got to watch his main rival for an overall Top 3 he said he knew going into the last race what he had to do and he described his drive to his fourth win of the event as a ‘safe drive’.

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Missing out on the podium, Krapp was ‘super disappointed’ adding ‘I messed it up myself’.  He continued ‘fourth is ok for my first time at the track, the Tamiya driver being the highest placed first time visitor, ‘but I’m a racer and I want to make the podium’.  The German said in ‘Race 10 I messed it up’, referring to his off through the track’s famous kink in Round 10 that led to a DNF. Happy for his TRF team and Rheinard for taking the win he vowed to ‘come back stronger next year now that I know the track’.  Behind Krapp, Serpent’s Viktor Wilck, the driver he replaced at Tamiya, finished 5th overall with Japanese driver of the moment Akio Sobue completing the Top 6.

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