FEMCA Championships down to final 20

The big day has arrived at the 1:8 Offroad FEMCA Championships in China, proceedings getting underway with the 1/4 finals which have seen the entry now whittled down to the final 20 who will battle it out in the Semi Finals for one of the 12 starting spots in the evening’s title deciding 1-hour Main final.

In the first of the 30-minute 1/4 finals, it was Singapore’s Liu Man Yet who took his OS Speed powered Mugen MBX-7 to victory.  Setting the fastest lap of the race he had an 8-second winning margin over the HB of Taiwan driver Chun Chi Chen.  Starting from 7th on the grid, having bumped up from yesterday’s 1/8 final, China’s Lin Le Hau completed the Top 3 to keep his HongNor in the event after claiming the final grid spot for the first of the Semi Finals.  Having bumped up from yesterday 1/8 Final, Chinese National Championship runner-up Lien Sheng Chang saw his event come to an end.  Lining up last on the grid, the SH Engines owner made a great start running second early on.  Slowly dropping back down the order he would eventually retire with a broken car just before half distance.

The second 1/4 Final encounter was won by Li Cong despite the Chinese driver having some difficulty with traffic.  Driving his Novarossi powered Kyosho, he took the lead of the race 8-laps in after which he would never again be headed.  Starting from 6th on the grid, 13-year-old Thai talent Witchapoom R took his Agama to second spot.  Securing the final bump up spot to the Semi final was 4-time former Chinese National Champion Hu Wei Ping.  Starting from pole, the S-Workz driver had a bad start which left him 7th at the end of lap 1 but setting the fastest lap of the race he was able to work his way back up the field to make the all important Top 3.  For newly crowned Chinese National Champion the race would see the end of his FEMCA challenge as he would retire his Z-Car from 6th position with 7-minutes left on the clock.

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Lower FEMCA finals complete – 6 progress

Today’s action at the FEMCA 1:8 Offroad Championships was made up of the lower finals with the 1/8 Finals bringing proceedings to a close and determining the 6 drivers who will progress through to tomorrow’s main title deciding day.  In the 1/8 Even Main it was Singapore Mugen driver Yeo Seong Leng who took his Ninja powered Mugen to the win.  Staring from 4th on the 10 car grid he took just 3 laps to find his way to the front of the field only relinquishing his lead when he made his fuel stops.  Finishing 15.763 seconds behind on the 30-second lap Fengtai Raceway track was Taipei driver Kuo Luang Yang who was at the controls of an Alpha engined S-Workz. Completing the Top 3 and therefore the final driver to progress through to tomorrow’s 1/4 Even Main was Z-Car driver and SH engines owner Chang Lien Sheng, the Taianese driver having earlier in the day finished runner-up in the Chinese National Championships which were ran alongside the FEMCA event.

In the second of the 1/8 Mains it was newly crowned Chinese National Champion Wu Chin Yi who dominated proceedings. Starting from second on the grid, the Taiwanese driver set the fastest lap of the race and took his Z-Car to the win a full lap clear of the Mugen of pole sitter Dan Hoisuk.  The Top 3 was completed by Chinese Hobao driver Tang Bi who benefited from a late and costly mistake by John Ho.  Driving a Kyosho, Ho was running a comfortable third and holding the final bump up position when he made a bad landing and collected one of the track piping pegs.  The impact broke the front right suspension arm forcing him into retirement at the 25-minute mark allowing Bi to progress to the Main finals day.

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Choi Top Qualifier at FEMCA Championship

A delighted Dani Choi claimed his first ever international race TQ honours this evening in China when the Korean topped a exciting final round of qualifying at the FEMCA 1:8 Offroad Championships.  The Sweep tyres team driver took his Kyosho to a third TQ run around the Fengtai Raceway track after mixing it with Atsushi Hara and Meen Vejrak in the dying moments of the 10-minute heat.  In the end tyre issues cost Vejrak a potential second TQ run on the final lap leaving him to post the 4th fastest time while a series of mistakes dropped Hara back to third behind Kyosho’s Dai Hiroki.

‘Can’t believe it’ was Choi’s reaction to the result.  Going into the final qualifier tied on points with Hara he said he just tried to ignore Scotty Ernst’s commentary but towards the end of the race he found himself battling with two world champions.  Running the same set of Exagon tyres he used to TQ the penultimate round of heats, he said his MP9 was really good and the hardest thing was actually trying to stay calm as he ran wheel to wheel with Hara and Vejrak.  Looking forward to Saturday’s Semi Finals, Choi said with his buggy performing so well and also being extremely good in terms of tyre wear, his tyres after two 10-minute qualifiers still looking like new, he said the plan is just to fully rebuild the buggy and for the race itself keep calm.

Set to start on pole position for the other Semi final having qualified second overall, Hara said he just made too many stupid mistakes in Q6 after which he then started to overdrive.  Annoyed with himself for his first crash he said it just got worse after that but in terms of the buggy he said it was the best feeling he had with the Mugen since the start of the event.  Having brought a 50/50 mix of AKA and HB tyres, Hara said he had to switch to HB’s tyre in the final qualifiers as he had run out of Impacts but he said the red compound Grid Locks worked really well.

Qualifying third overall Nitro Touring Car World Champion Vejrak said extending his wheelbase improved his MBX-7 for the low traction but unfortunately bad tyre gluing let him down.  With the front left tyre going first he said he was still able to control the buggy easily enough but when two more of his Procircuit Hot Dice tyres came undone it was impossible to stay in control.  This led to the talented Thai star to get out of shape right in front of Choi causing the the Mugen to end up on its roof.  Asked about his Semi-final plans Vejrak joked that better gluing of his tyres was his main goal!

Finishing second in Q6 was enough for Hiroki to out qualify Kyosho legend Yuichi Kanai and secure 4th overall. Running in the second fastest heat grouping he was surprised by the result as he had made a few mistakes.  Happy with his Reds Racing engined MP9 he said he plans to stick wit the same set-up for his Semi half hour Final.  Ending qualifying with his worst run of the six rounds, posting only the ninth fastest time, Kanai ended qualifying fifth overall but driving well this week he should be competitive in his Semi final in which he starts 3rd behind Top Qualifier Choi and Vejrak.

Ending qualifying with another Top 5 finish, despite his engine being too rich, Chavit Saliguppa secured 6th overall which will see him in the same Semi as Hara and Hiroki.  Completing the Top 6 in the final qualifier was 17-year-old Wataru Takashiro who after a tough start to qualifying yesterday was delighted to be able to turn things around today and qualifying into the Semi finals with 11th overall.  The Japanese driver will be joined in the Semi Finals by his father Manabu who posted his first Top 10 time in Q6 to leave him 14th overall.

For the host Nation qualifying saw Hu Wei Ping ensure that at least one Chinese driver will be represented in the final.  The S-Workz driver who will be hoping to secure his 5th Chinese National title in the morning matched his best run of 11th fastest in Q6 to secure 15th overall.  Unfortunately for Li Cong the only Chinese driver to post a Top 10 time, he missed the cut by a single point with Thai driver Akarachai Boontham securing the 16th and final direct Semi final qualifying position.  Ending up 17th Cong will starting the even 1/4 Final from pole position.

Round 6 Top 10 Qualifying times
1. Dani Choi (KOR) – Kyosho/Alpha – 19/10:26.067
2. Dai Hiroki (JPN) – Kyosho/Reds – 19/10:30.773
3. Atsushi Hara (JPN) – Mugen/OS Speed – 19/10:32.078
4. Meen Vejrak (TH) – Mugen/OS Speed – 19/10:35.435
5. Chavit Saliguppa (TH) – Mugen/OS Speed – 18/10:04.837
6. Wataru Takashiro (JPN) – Kyosho/OS Speed – 18/10:04.874
7. Charlee Phutiyotin (TH) – Mugen/OS Speed – 18/10:08.951
8. Ryan Lee (KOR) – TLR/Alpha – 18/10:10.633
9. Yuichi Kanai (JPN) – Kyosho/RB – 18/10:12.211
10.Manabu Takashiro (JPN) – Kyosho/OS Speed – 19/10:23.628

Final Qualification Top 16 (Semi Finalists)
1. Dani Choi (KOR) – Kyosho/Alpha – 465 pts
2. Atsushi Hara (JPN) – Mugen/OS Speed – 463
3. Meen Vejrak (TH) – Mugen/OS Speed – 460
4. Dai Hiroki (JPN) – Kyosho/Reds – 457
5. Yuichi Kanai (JPN) – Kyosho/RB – 455
6. Chavit Saliguppa (TH) – Mugen/OS Speed – 452
7. Sheng Chie Huang (TW) – HB/Alpha – 447
8. Charlee Phutiyotin (TH) – Mugen/OS Speed – 444
9. Witsarut Rumlarp (TH) – Agama/Bullitt – 444
10.Ryan Lee (KOR) – TLR/Alpha – 443
11.Wataru Takashiro (JPN) – Kyosho/OS Speed – 441
12.Tommy Chung (UK) – Kyosho/Novarossi – 438
13.Trin T (TH) – Mugen/OS Speed – 433
14.Manabu Takashiro (JPN) – Kyosho/OS Speed – 430
15.Hu Wei Ping (CN) – S-Workz/S-Power – 430
16.Akarachai Boontham (TH) – Mugen/Alpha – 427

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Choi tops penultimate FEMCA qualifier

Sweep team driver Dani Choi has topped the fifth round of qualifying at the FEMCA Championships in China, a result that leaves the Korean tied with Atsushi Hara in the qualification ranking with just one round remaining.  Topping Q2 yesterday, Choi took his Kyosho to the top of the time sheets in the penultimate qualifier ahead of Meen Vejrak who rolled his Mugen right in front of the timing loop as he was about to finish his qualifying, losing over 4-seconds as he waited to be marshaled.  Japan’s Dai Hiroki completed the Top 3 for the round which saw Hara finish 4th after a bad tyre choice.

‘Unbelievable’ was how Choi summed up his second TQ run of the event at Fengtai Raceway.  Reverting back to Sweep’s Exagon tyre and fitting a harder rear spring to his Alpha engined MP9 having chosen too soft a spring for Q4, he was much happier with the buggy the combination giving him better corner speed. Describing the traction as being in between that of yesterday’s dry Q3 and this morning’s damp Q4, he said he expects it to be pretty much the same for the final run and so he will leave set-up and tyre choice as is.  While he is in with a chance of securing the overall TQ honours, he said Hara is one of the best in the world and so his focus for Q6 will be on trying a few different lines with a view to the final but added should Hara have any problems at the start of the 10-minute qualifier that plan could quickly go out the window!

Vejrak was understandable a little frustrated by his last corner roll.  Having made a number of mistakes at the beginning of the qualifier he said the second half of the run went really well and he was able to close the gap to within 3-seconds of Choi.  Running Procircuit’s Hot Dice tyre in soft compound on his OS Speed powered Mugen he plans to change to super soft for his final heat.  Having lengthened his wheelbase during yesterday’s qualifying and liked the change, the versatile Thai ace plans to further extend his MBX7 taking it out to the maximum length possible.

Repeating his P3 result in Q1 but this time in a faster time, Hiroki was pleased to be back up towards the front of the field having only been 8th in Q4.  Switching to a red insert in his super soft compound AKA Impact tyres he said he liked the change but for the final qualifier he will change the compound to soft.  Fellow countryman and Kyosho legend Yuichi Kanai also tried the same tyre combination.  While the opening 5-minutes went ok, the former World Champion said it was too soft giving him a very nervous buggy in the second half of the qualifier leaving him to post only the 8th fastest time.  For his final heat Kanai will revert back to the black insert which he used to good effect in Q4 when he was 3rd.

Hara said his main mistake in Q5 was his tyre choose.  Also changing spring to the standard kit version he said it was too hard for a track that was much drier than he had anticipated. With a hard spring and too soft a tyre he said this was the worst combination possible.  Reverting back to the springs he ran in the earlier qualifiers he will also change tyre for the Top Qualifier deciding run going to HB’s red compound Grid Lock tyre.

Setting the fifth fastest time, just missing out on a 19-lap run, Chavit Saliguppa said he had difficulties with his driving in the low traction conditions. Feeling the set-up on his Mugen is good, he plans to change tyre for his final qualifying switching from AKA City Block to Proline’s Revolver in M3 compound.  The Top 6 was completed by Taiwan HB driver Sheng Chie Huang.

Setting the 10th fastest time Li Cong became the first Chinese driver to break into the Top 10 at the first FEMCA Championships to be held in the country.  Driving a Novarossi powered Kyosho, the 29-year-old was delighted by the result.  Having moved his rear shock position and changed to a lighter oil along with running less front caster, he said the buggy was much improved.  Happy with the feeling he now has with the MP9 he will run the same set-up for the final qualifier hoping to consolidate his current 15th position as the Top 16 qualify directly for tomorrow’s Semi Finals.

Round 5 Top 10 Qualifying times
1. Dani Choi (KOR) – Kyosho/Alpha – 19/10:13.544
2. Meen Vejrak (TH) – Mugen/OS Speed – 19/10:19.136
3. Dai Hiroki (JPN) – Kyosho/Reds – 19/10:20.485
4. Atsushi Hara (JPN) – Mugen/OS Speed – 19/10:29.205
5. Chavit Saliguppa (TH) – Mugen/OS Speed – 18/10:00.291
6. Sheng Chie Huang (TW) – HB/Alpha – 18/10.03.048
7. Charlee Phutiyotin (TH) – Mugen/OS Speed – 18/10:09.711
8. Yuichi Kanai (JPN) – Kyosho/RB – 18/10:13.009
9. Tommy Chung (UK) – Kyosho/Novarossi – 18/10:13.093
10.Li Cong (CN) – Kyosho/Novarossi – 18/10:15.423

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