Groskamp sets early pace in Japan

Jilles Groskamp set the early pace on Day 2 of practice for the 1:8 Onroad World Championships in Chiba, Japan.  After two of six rounds which make up today’s schedule at the Keitune Racing Speedway, the Team Shepherd driver set the fastest three consecutive laps with a time of 49.207 followed closely by Serpent’s Yuya Sahashi (49.249) and the Mugen of Pre Worlds race winner Takaahi Shimo (49.286).  An event that marks the debut for HB in what many view as the Formula 1 category of R/C, Hideo Kitazawa took his R8 to the fourth fastest while Teemu Leino was the second fastest non-Japanese driver, the Finn posting the 6th fastest time ahead of 200mm World Champion Meen Vejrak.

Having found a good base set-up on his Maxima powered Velox V8 in yesterday’s four practice rounds, Groskamp said his focus today is all about bodyshells.  The reigning European Champion is pleased with how close his chassis set-up is and that the fine tuning is all in the bodyshells and their preparation and positioning.  The Dutch driver said the shell is so important now to the overall set-up of the cars and with it very easy to break a body on this track he said its important to run as many bodies as possible so as to know how each one reacts should he require a spare.  Apart from that Groskamp said he is also running a different engine each round, the last one being a little rich on the low end,  just to ensure they are all ready to go should the weather see a sudden change in the timetable which might mean qualifying gets underway earlier than expected.

The older of the two Sahashi brothers, Tadahiko taking his 977 to the 5th fastest time, Yuya said a change of body resulted in him finding some extra pace in the second of today’s run.  Having run Protoform’s R18 in the first run he switched to a Blitz which he said while it made for a more difficult car it produced faster lap times.  For his next practice he said he will switch back to the R18 which is overall easier to drive, something that will be important for the 10-minute qualifiers.

Having finished 4th in Miami, then driving for Kyosho who have since left the class, Shimo was overall pleased with his early practice runs.  Mugen’s big bet for the World title, especially with reigning World Champion Robert Pietsch missing the event due to illness, he said he is working to a step by step plan and so far those changes are gradually improving his OS powered MRX-5.  Describing his run to the 3rd fastest time as ‘quite OK’, he added that there is still run for improvement.  One of those improvements he is looking for is to get the car to get more steering from the front end rather then using the throttle to steer the rear end.

Making his 1:8 World Championship debut, Leino described his early runs with his OS powered R8 as ‘pretty OK’.  Having debuted the car at the KM Cup here last month, along with fellow HB team-mate Andy Moore who is also making his Worlds debut, he said they have a good base set-up but they are continuing to use every run to try something new to build up as much data as possible. Moore, who did a full test programme in Thailand with the car, prior to arriving in Japan, said his first practice was going pretty wheel before he broke a front wheel.  Changing swaybar and springs in the second he said the changes were not good.  As a nitro novice having made his 1:10 debut at the 200mm Worlds in Thailand where he made the Main final, the former Electric Touring Car World Champion said everything is totally different in 1:8 adding that the cars are really good fun to drive.  With a slightly smoother driving style to some of the more seasoned 1:8 drivers he said the clutch set-up to suit that is ‘so crucial’ but having been in the Top 10 yesterday he is happy with how things are going so far.

Driving KM Racing’s new K8 Chassis, Vejrak tried a different set-up for the second practice which gave him a much more stable car but at the cost of a little steering.  Describing the set-up as ‘good for the final’, the Thai ace will try to make his OS powered car a little more aggressive for the next one.  Running a Protoform R18 he said he is happy with that and doesn’t plan on changing away from it for now.  Setting the 8th fastest time, team-mate Keisuke Fukuda described his Picco powered K8 as ‘not so good’.  The former 200mm World Champion and runner up in Miami is struggling with a lack of steering.  Changing the set-up to try and find the steering he is after he said it makes the rear end too lose and he needs to find a better balance.

A late entry for the event, Atsushi Hara said things are ‘getting better and better every run’ as he took his Mugen to the 9th fastest time.  Having only signed a last minute deal to drive for Mugen in this event following his shock departure from HB, Hara didn’t have the opportunity to test on the track prior to his arrival for the event.  A legend of the sport who has enjoyed success across the spectrum of classes, he said of all the cars he has raced 1:8 Onroad feels like the one with the most understeer.  Looking for more off power rotation he said as his pitman Kenji Osaka, the 2001 World Champion, gets back his feeling for the class they are able to improve the OS powered MRX-5 small steps at a time.  Having back to back tested Protoform’s R18 and a Blitz body the former 1:8 Offroad & Electric Touring Car World Champion said the he prefers the rotation he gets from the R18 adding in this class the body shell plays such a big part in the overall set-up.

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‘Race Control’ – Day 2

While the original schedule reads that it should be Day 3 of the 1:8 Onroad World Championship, today is in fact the second day of action at the Keitune Racing Speedway, Icihara, Japan.  Heavy rain all day Saturday resulted in no track action on the opening day with the first half of yesterday’s practice also effected by a wet track.  With a number of no show entries, race officials used this opportunity to reschedule a more compact timetable that will see three qualifiers run per day rather the traditional 2 meaning that today can be used to gain back the track time lost over the past two days.  Today drivers will each get 6 rounds of 8-minute long practice runs.  While a slightly damp start to the day, the first cars on track at 7:00, it is hoped that a full day of dry running can be completed although there is some talk that we might get a little rain later in the day.  In terms of the Typoon Fitow, race officials are monitoring its progress and for now plan to continue as though it will miss the area.

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Track Focus – Keitune Racing Speedway

Track Name – Keitune Racing Speedway
Owner – Mr. Toru Kijima
Country – Japan
Location – Ichihara (70km S/E of Tokyo)
Direction – Anti-Clockwise
Surface – Asphalt
Previous key events hosted – 1:8 Japanese Nationals

On the drive up the narrow road between the tall trees and bamboo plants the last thing you would expect to find is an onroad r/c track, but on a plot of unused farm land in the middle of a forest is the Keitune Racing Speedway.  Host of this year’s 1:8 Onroad World Championships, the track was built in 1996 by Toru Kijima after his bank brought the site to his attention and a deal was agreed to rent it from a farmer who was no longer working the land. Situated a little over an hours drive South East of Tokyo City, the track has amassed a membership of 1,500 drivers since it was built with 1:8 Nitro and 1:5 the two most popular classes that use the venue.  The track has in addition to holding 1:8 Japanese Nationals also hosted the 1:12 and Pro 10 Nationals in the past.

Operated full time by Mr. Kijima as a private business, the track layout is fast flowing but its curbs are punishing with the sweepers either side particularly challenging for drivers. Get them wrong and its pretty much game over.  Kijima, who is the official time keeper for the event & also Japanese agent for MyRCM timing software, predicts fast lap times of 16-seconds around the 318 metre long track.

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Video – Free Practice Rd5

New World Champion to be crowned in Japan

1:8 Onroad is set to crown a new World Champion this week with the news that reigning World Champion Robert Pietsch has not made the trip to Japan for the 19th running of IFMAR’s longest running World Championships.  The German has been forced to miss the chance to defend his title due to being struck down with pneumonia.  Having attended the Warm-up Race at the Keitune Racing Speedway back in May, the Mugen driver struggled while fellow Mugen driver & World title favourite Takaaki Shimo using O.S. dominated with many rumours circulating since then that Novarossi were struggling to get their engines to suit the specialised track.  Having received an e-mail along with a medical cert from Pietsch, his fuel sponsor Jarb Ratanarat of Maxima said its a real shame the strong advocate of onroad nitro racing can’t attend as he feels despite his showing at the Warm-up race  he believes he would have had a real chance at a second title.  The event has already had shock withdrawals with Lamberto Collari, who had his run of 4-consecutive World titles ended by Pietsch in Miami 2-years-ago, announcing a month ago he would miss the event over fears of health risks from the radiation off the Fukushima Nuclear plant. The general feeling from within the pits is that the 9-time World Champion’s decision was heavily influenced by his sponsors.  Capricorn team-mate Dario Balestri, a podium finisher in Miami, along with former 200mm World Champion Daniele Ielasi are two other high profile Italians who while appearing on the original 127 person entry list have not turned-up.  1999 World Champion Adrien Bertin is the only former Champion racing in the event.

While the event has lost some key drivers the event has attracted one of the all round legends of the sport, with Atsushi Hara confirmed as a Mugen driver for the event.  The Japanese former World 1:8 Offroad and 1:10 Electric Touring Car Champion, made his 1:8 Onroad World’s debut 2-years ago and made the final finishing 5th overall.  Having recently departed his long time HB team, Hara has teamed up with 2001 World Champion Kenji Osaka who will act as his mechanic for the next week, this being one of the terms of him signing the late deal to race for Mugen.  Making it clear that Shimo is still Mugen’s No.1 driver for the event, Hara has had just two days of testing and the first of those was spent breaking in OS engines but himself and Osaka worked well together.  Airing his disappointment that Pietisch and in particular the Italians are not at the race he said he hopes this doesn’t detract from the event and in particular the success of who ever becomes World Champion.  Thankfully the race is not totally void of Italians, a nation that is the heart of nitro racing, with National Champion Raiola Carmine and Hot Race tyres owner Nicola Marrone both racing and Edourdo Picco here to provide engine support.

Unfortunately yesterday’s (Saturday) opening day of the event was washed out by heavy rain and again a wet start today means drivers have lost one & a half days of practice, although we are glad to report that shortly after our arrival cars finally got to do some initial laps.  Talking to European Champion Jilles Groskamp after his first 7-minutes practice run the Shepherd driver said the traction was ‘ok’ feeling pretty close to what it was when they tested here last month.  Commenting on the track layout he said its hard to do clean laps due to the high curbing.  While the sweepers at either end of the track look the same the Dutch ace said the positioning of the curbing was different with the right side allowing you to run closer to the inside adding that if you hit the blocks they have positioned in the corner its going to be pretty much game over.

Running 12 cars heats today which should allow drivers to get four 7-minutes practice runs in, it getting dark at 17:00 local time, IFMAR official are hoping to revise the timetable for the rest of the event so as to make up the lost track time.  Speaking to IFMAR IC Chairman Sander DeGraaf he said there is still a threat of further bad weather with Typhoon Fitow heading for Japan and the direction it takes will effect how they plan the rest of the event.  Should the rain stay away he said the plan is to give drivers back the lost day of practice tomorrow and then due to the slightly lower entry of 108 drivers run 3 qualifiers per day over 2 days rather than the originally scheduled two 10-miute qualifiers per day over 3-days.  Either way it is early starts for the drivers with the first group of the drivers due on track at 07:00 due to how early it gets dark, not helped by the fact that the track is situated inside a a forest containing some rather impressive bamboo trees.

This is the first time the World Championships has featured a controlled tyre although multiple brands are available.  Matrix, Contact, ZAC Project, Hot Race and ULTI have all supplied the race organisers with tyres. In an attempt to quash any rumours of tyres being treated with additive the tyres are being trued on a line up of Hudy tyre truers (preset to 69mm for fronts and 76mm for rears) by event staff in a controlled room where drivers pass through for their runs and also collect their fuel.  In the past the fuel has been provided by a single supplier but has been opened up with Cosmo, Maxima, Klotz, Nasa all providing handout fuel.

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