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 Too close to call ! |
F-1 and Le Mans Class Race Results Ogawa clenches the title with M. Clauss only in hot pursuit, only seconds behind! The F-1 Le Mans class, with a total of 18 drivers entered was the first to kick off of the 5 classes. Yoshiyuki Ogawa and Michael Clauss, who both race to the top every year in Tamiya events, put on another spectacular R/C race performance. As tension mounted and spectators hovered in silent anticipation before the start of the first final race, Michael Clauss false started from the second position costing him an extra lap. Ogawa calmly took off from pole position and finished first with Matsushita only 0.4 seconds behind him. M. Clauss finished 7th in the first finals race, but quickly regained his stride in the second finals race with a 1st position finish. In the intense second finals race Clauss was able to hold the lead against the aggressive Kenji Horiguchi who had fought his way up from the 10th starting grid to finish in 2nd position. Clauss also managed to finish ahead of driver Hing-Hui Chu who poured on some impressive overtake moves in the 2nd finals as well. Ogawa finished 8th in the second finals race. As the R/C F1 and Le Mans class entered the final heat drivers Clauss and Ogawa each had a victory under their belt. However, the remarkably consistent top performance of Australian driver Andy Cooke who had managed to finish with the front pack in race one and two; as well as the top point rankings of Japanese drivers Horiguchi, Matsushita, Tomioka and Sakamaki, left the top echelons of the the F1 and Le Mans Class finals still up for grabs in the third finals race. But as anticipated, the third race wound up being a neck and neck dead heater between Clauss and Ogawa, with flawless driving of Ogawa earning him the title. Clauss took second, with Horiguchi and Cooke at third and fourth. |
 Qualifier Round Start. |
Mini-sports class Race Results Student Eisuke Miyoshi Takes "Big" Mini-sports Victory Of the 16 drivers who entered the Mini-sports Class championships with their M-chassis, it was college student Eisuke Miyoshi that took pole position. Also starting in the front grids were Japanese drivers Kazuhide Chiba and Hirofumi Okada who battled it out with Miyoshi in the beginning of the first finals race, but were eventually left in the dust as Miyoshi pulled far ahead of the pack with consistently superb driving. Miyoshi, however, lagged behind in the second finals race, apparently due to transmitter signal problems. Chiba seized this opportunity in the second race to take the lead, followed close behind by American driver Erik Anthony Wippler. Wippler clocked in a succession of best lap times, one after the other. Although he was unable to overtake Chiba, Wippler finished 2nd position, followed by Japanese driver Kazuo Ashizaki who had fought his way up from the 9th grid to finish 3rd position. The last finals race began with Miyoshi pulling steadily away from the pack. However, mid-way through Miyoshi's car spun out of control, knocking Okada's car upside-down. Miyoshi had a lucky brake as his car naturally flipped up right, and continued once again to pull away from the pack to clench the victory. He was followed by Wippler who once again recorded a series of best lap times. |
 Enter the Slick Zone ! |
Rally Sports Class Race Results Obstacle section throws everyone for a spin! Lucky Break?! Kentaro Tsurugi Outraces Rival Petluck Raywat The 14 drivers who entered the Rally class were forced to tackle a hairy obstacle section not included in the other classes. The obstacle section featured a bump stretch followed by a wicked table-top jump that led to a final slip zone. Approach strategies in this obstacle section were crucial for the 14 world class R/C Rally drivers who entered the race. As the drivers entered the first finals race Kentaro Tsurugi started at pole position followed by Petluck Raywat from Thailand and Robert Garcia Saez from Spain. Tsurugi, who looked as if he would take it straight from pole position to first place, had his car overturn in the obstacle section. Raywat flew through the obstacle section and pulled away with ease to seal a first victory. Raywat began the second finals race in similar top form, taking the lead from the start. However, Tsurugi continued to put on pressure towards the latter half of the race, taking the jump aggressively with full throttle continued to close the gap with Raywat after every lap. At one point Raywat and Tsurugi took the jump simultaneously, flying through the air neck and neck as spectators roared with excitement! During the final leg of the race, in complete reversal of the previous race's outcome, Raywats' car overturned to give Tsurugi the 1st position finish. The last finals race kicked off with the same mood of the first and second, yet another dead heat race between Raywat and Tsurugi as they battled in out for the title. Mid-way through the race in a strange turn of events, Raywat's car lost its tire and the championship was taken by Tsurugi. Garcia Saez from Spain, though well behind Tsurugi finished 2nd position and captured 3rd place in a solid race performance. |
 14 Tamiya GP Champions Race. |
Touring EX Class Race Results Shizuoka Tournament Winner Shinichi Suzuki Shows Locals and the World his Expertise as he Shuts out the Competition! 13 Japanese drivers who had previously entered in a Tamiya World Championships as well as special invitational driver Surikarn Chaidajsuriya from Thailand competed in the class that determines the Champion of Champions, the Touring Car EX Class. This was the only class that featured gear ratio regulations and standard sports tuned motor provisions. The result of these regulations insured intense fender to fender action that emphasized competitors' driving ability of setting ability to realize R/C racing at its purest. Results from the qualifications heats had Shinichi Suzuki at pole position, followed by Hideharu Seto, whose qualifying best lap time was a mere 0.04seconds ahead of Shinichi Suzuki, on the second grid. Chaidajsuriya started from the third grid and raced neck and neck with Suzuki throughout the first finals race. Suzuki's relentless pace earned him first position. In the second finals race Chaidajsuriya fell behind as Tsuyoshi Ishiyama shot up from 6th position to clock in record breaking lap times. However, Ishiyama was unable to overtake the infallible Suzuki who took a consecutive victory along with the world title. |
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Touring Car GT Class Race Results 41 World Class Drivers Enter Touring Car GT Class, 1 Elementary School Student rises to Head of the Class, and takes World Title! 33 Japanese drivers and 8 International drivers competed in this class. The number of drivers necessitated two sub-classes of final races, Main B and Main A. Qualification heats in this class were highly intense as drivers battled for grid positions in Main A. Of the international drivers that qualified for top starting position in the finals, Canadians Derek Hung and Martin Crisp stood out particularly with their aggressive racing styles. Crisp fought his way up from the 10th grid position, literally coming out of nowhere to take the victory for race 2. There were 16 drivers in the final races. The final race 1 was exciting race among Japanese drivers. Firstly Hajime Nakajima at 8th position in qualification became race leader using a surprising rocket start but soon after Kei Ogiwara took back the top position. Then Ogiwara continued his steady race and secured first prize at final race 1. Hideki Tamura was only 0.05seconds behind Ogiwara and got 2nd prize. Among foreign racers, German driver Marc Rheinard grasped 3rd position at the final stage of this race and secured that prize. The final race 2 was very intensive throughout. Winner of the final race 2 was American driver Martin Crisp who got 10th grid in the qualification. Another American driver, Derek Hung, got 3rd prize. Both North American drivers made an exciting atmosphere in the final race 2. The final race 3 started in strained mood but turned out to be an exciting race. The final race winner, Ogiwara, took lead at the beginning of race and smoothly controlled his machine through the finish line to become the winner. Ogiwara finally became a great champion! |
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