May 25, 2018

Track Focus – Tamiya Raceway

Track Name – Tamiya Raceway
Country – USA
Location – Aliso Viejo, California
Surface – Asphalt
Direction – Anti-Clockwise
Previous Reedy Races hosted – 10

Unfortunately 2018 will go down in the history books as the last year the Reedy Race of Champions took place at the world famous Tamiya Raceway in California, USA.  Covering an area of only 170 ft wide by 70 ft deep, it might be small in size but when it comes to driving on it it has one of the biggest respects of drivers from around the world with it widely regarded as one of the greatest tracks ever on which to race and overtake.  It is for this reason it has become the spiritual home of Mike Reedy’s famed race format with this the 11th time for it to host the race. Built in 1994 as part of Tamiya’s then US headquarters, when the building was sold a number of years ago the Reedy Race had to find a new home but after a separate deal to sell the plot of land on which the track is built fell through the race returned in 2014 immediately rejuvenating interest in the race, the track’s simple but entertaining layout the key draw for the heads up racing format.  After years of the land remaining for sale, anyone who has experienced the track hoping the sale of the land would never happen unfortunately it has and now along with celebrating the 21st anniversary of the Reedy Race this weekend will also be a final farewell to an iconic track.  While not the final race it will host, that honour going to it’s creators Tamiya and their Tamiya Championship Series in August, as of September 1st the track will be no more and instead the site will become a self storage facility, so winning the 2018 RROC will be one drivers will want more than ever.

Such is the draw of the track, the last chance to race the RROC at Tamiya Raceway has even brought Barry Baker out of retirement for the weekend.  The ‘Fabulous One’ won the first RROC at the track in 2002 and repeated that again the following year.  As a four time Reedy Race Champion, Barry said, ‘I just love it. When I arrived here it felt like home. Myself and Jilles (Groskamp) were standing next to each other and we both said ‘we love this place’.’  He continued, ‘I was not missing the last race at Tamiya track and if Mike was alive he would have wanted me to race. That’s why I came out of retirement’.  With a food storage container as a toolbox, he said, ‘I have nothing left just my radio and when I turned it on and it read 7.4Volts I said we are good to go racing. I have to thank Randy from 1UP Racing for building me a car and Eric from Protoform for stepping in with bodies’.  Asked what the draw of the track was, he replied, ‘there is something about the track that is magnetic. Everyone wants to come here. There are guys from Europe who are paying their own way to get here because their sponsors wont send them, thats how much they love this place’.

Reigning Champion Marc Rheinard, the race’s most crowned champion with 4 of 6 wins coming at Tamiya Raceway, said, ‘for racing this is for sure my of my favourite tracks.  You have the world famous kick and its size makes very close racing. Even you have a bad start you can come back.  He concluded, ‘I think it will be hard to find a new home that can match this track in terms of suiting the Reedy Race format.  It is going to be extra important to win it this year’.

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March 18, 2018

Ryan Lutz clean sweep at 2018 SIGP

Ryan Lutz has taken an expected win in the 1/8th nitro buggy class in Xiamen China, but he didn’t have it all his own way. Looking at the results one would think the race was a procession but at various stages of the 1 hour main there was plenty of excitement at the front of the field. Yusuke Suguira looked to have the faster car throughout the race, especially in the early part, but too many mistakes meant he couldn’t capitalise, while in their own league, behind the leading pair Kaja Novotny took home 3rd after a long and exciting battle with Wataru Takashiro who ended up just off the podium in 4th.

While Yusuke would crash early and drop to 4th, such was his pace that he got back up to 2nd and after a quicker pit stop was right on the tail of Lutz, the American when asked about it saying ‘I was worried before the first stop, but then I saw that Yusuke had to make an extra stop’. Knowing he had more pace he didn’t want to push, commenting that ‘slow and steady till the last lap’, the Tekno driver pushing hard to put a lap on Sugiura in the closing stages. Feeling his car was again too soft, despite this he made very little mistakes which brought him the win and with it the cash prize of RMB20,000 (US$3,160).

Starting with a blistering pace and pushing hard to not let Lutz dominate completely, Yusuke kept him honest in the first 10 minutes, repeatedly catching up only to lose time in a crash or spin each time. Feeling his car was a little nervous, without the crashes he believes he could have brought the battle to Ryan, this the Japanese driver’s only 2nd one hour final and his first time racing 1/8th outside of Japan, ending by saying it was ‘good experience for me for the Worlds’.

In what was to be a race long battle, in the second half of the main final Kaja Novotny and Wataru Takashiro really started going at it, trading positions in the pits and on the track. It wasn’t until the 46th minute that the Czech driver finally made the position stick as Wataru started to struggle badly with his car. ‘I’m happy I finished my first one hour final’ the Xray driver continuing ‘after 1st practice I didn’t even think I would make the main’. Wanting to thank his pit man Gavin Kwok for all his work this weekend, the Xray driver said that his JConcepts tires came good in the 2nd half of the race which made his car less edgy, this allowed him to move up to 3rd, having been quite a bit back on Wataru at the 40 minute mark.

Feeling he had a diff problem as well as an issue with his shocks overheating, Takashiro noted that traction was higher than yesterday and so made his diffs stiffer but it turned out to be the wrong decision, the Kyosho driver struggling to keep the car on track by the end. Saying ‘this race was not good for me but I know what to do to make it better’, ultimately it was a series of crashes in the S section that let Kaja past and pull out close to a 2 lap advantage at the finish.

Completing the top 5 was young Jonathan Yeung from Hong Kong, the Tekno driver putting in a steady and mature drive, despite flaming out due to being on his roof too long just before a scheduled stop. Recomposing himself he got his head down and put in the laps in what was a mostly solitary race. Two laps back, Taiwanese National Champion Chen Guanxian took 6th with Jade Lim from Malaysia a further 2 laps back in 7th. Zhan Wei, Scott Yang and Jeon Hanyoung from Korea completed the order.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

March 18, 2018

Chassis Focus – Ryan Lutz GP

Chassis – Tekno NB48.4
Engine – Blok 21aM
Tyres – AKA
Fuel – Byron
Radio/Servos – Futaba 7PX / Futaba S9373 SV
Body – Tekno
Remarks – Top qualifier in nitro, Ryan was able to use his 10 minute TQ practice before the A-main to test a number of minor changes. Seeing that the track is getting slick and dusty, he is inching more towards what he normally runs in the US.

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March 18, 2018

Lutz dominates EP Buggy in China

Completely dominating the Electric Buggy class here at the SIGP in Xiamen, southern China, Ryan Lutz took all qualifiers and the first two of 3 A-mains to wrap up the overall win early. In a league of his own, the winning margin after 5 minutes for the Tekno driver over 2nd place Yusuke Sugiura was 11 seconds in the first main, and 7 seconds over Sunpadow backed Kaja Novotny in the 3rd main. With the US driver sitting out A3, Sugiura would take the win in the final A-main to secure the runner up spot, while a disappointed Kaja took the final spot on the podium in 3rd place. Chen Guanxian, Jonathan Yeung and Chinese National Champion Hu Weiping would complete the top 6.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

March 18, 2018

Chassis Focus – Ryan Lutz EP

Chassis – Tekno EB48.4
ESC/Motor – Tekin RX8 Gen III/
Motor – Tekin Redline Gen II 1900Kv
Tyres – AKA
Batteries – Protek
Radio/Servos – Futaba 7PX / Futaba S9373 SV
Body – Tekno
Remarks – Wrapping up a convincing win in the EP class, Ryan’s only issue was the weight limit of the race which is different than with ROAR. Used to a limit of a 3200g back home, the S1GP required a minimum weight of 3600g, forcing the use of additional ballast. Ryan had been using the same set-up on his EB48.4 since qualify and the result shows a very consistent pace through out.

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March 18, 2018

Chassis Focus – Yusuke Sugiura

Chassis – Kyosho MP9 TKI4
Engine – OS Speed B2102
Tyres – AKA
Fuel – Klotz
Radio/Servos – Sanwa M12S / Sanwa BGS-XB
Body – Kyosho TKI4 Light weight
Remarks – Suffering a flame out in his semis due to running out of fuel, Sugiura will further fine tune his engine to get a better mileage. Very happy with how his Kyosho performs and still coming on top with the flame-out, the Japan Ace will use his EP final to test some minor changes, however he is convince that may not be necessary.

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