2013 News

I wanted to share some thoughts about my 2013 experience and how much fun I had racing around the world. I am thankful to have a family who supports me and especially my Dad and Mom for always encouraging me to live my dreams. I also want to thank Ai, my friend and mechanic who knows what I need to win races. My sponsors, without you, I cannot realize my goals and dreams and I thank you for supporting me and giving me the opportunities. And to all my friends, old friends, new friends, this is what this hobby sport is all about and I am so lucky to know all of you around the world, thank you for your friendships. And finally, I want to thank God for giving me everything, without him, I would not be here and it gives me peace to know he is there with me all the time. I missed about 30 days of school last year :) Actually, I dread missing school because catching up with school work is really hard. We’ve (My Dad, Ai and I) traveled all around the world and last year we made 3 trips to … [Read more...] about 2013 Reflection

I was really looking forward to this race as the Yatabe Arena is perhaps the best race facility in the world. Masami was really nice to pick us up at the airport and the hotel was nice too. I love Japanese BBQ! Here is my race report: I raced two classes at this race and there were many good international drivers not to mention very good Japanese drivers racing. In the modified touring class, I had a relatively good free practice session but my overall times were a bit off. Because my teammates Andy and Shin was also there, it was good to share setup information. HB TCXX Chief designer T-Hara was also there and Hiro flew in from the US. When control practice started, I was put into the second fastest group which had some really really good international drivers. I felt I was on pace but the car just did not feel perfect. When qualifying started, the first 3 rounds was disastrous, the car just did not feel right. But then T-Hara identified possible problems and once … [Read more...] about AOC JAPAN YATABE (November 21-24)

I don't usually race off road but last time I raced, I really enjoyed it and found it so fun! So when SMP track relocated and held its opening race, I was keen to join. The new track had high traction astro turf and was very different from the previous track. Special thanks to Stephen at Team C for supporting my off road racing. Here is my race report: The track was brand new astro turf and had some really interesting jumps and layout. The turn out was not so many but China’s number one off road driver Lin Le Hua flew up to Shanghai from Southern China for this race. So I was looking forward to racing him as well as 3D, another local shanghai off road specialist. I joined all 3 classes and Ai was there to help me with preparation because for a one day race, racing all three class was kind of crazy! Well, except for the 4WD buddy class which I did not TQ, I managed to TQ and win all three classes (2WD, 4WD Buggy and 4WD SC Truck). I had a lot of fun, it was different but I really … [Read more...] about N-SMP OPENING RACE – Shanghai (November 17)

It was with mixed emotions going into this race as this was the final race at my home track RCI. RCI was a high grip indoor asphalt track which really helped my driving improve and through the two years, it hosted many local races as well as international race such as this year’s AOC opening round. I will miss this track, and my pit room but I am also very excited about RCI Version 2 as many here have called it. RCI V2 will be a newly built indoor CRC Carpet track right next to a newly built astro turf off road track. If all goes well, I was told the new track will be completed in January. Now the race report: As this was the final race, many top Chinese driver came. Fei Zai Wei and Feng flew over from Southern China to participate and others flew as far as from Beijing to join us. China’s former National Champion Motor Wang of TOP racing and my fellow HB China teammate Rocket Zhang were also racing. To keep this report short, my TCXX setup worked great and my pace was fast, I … [Read more...] about RCI Farewell Race – Shanghai (November 9)

October 5-13, at the Keitune Raceway, Chiba – Japan Well, I just got back from the Worlds and I have to say, I am a bit disappointed with my results as I felt good all week with my driving and felt I could have made the semis this year. Some bad luck also this time but we take from this race some real positive things and 2 years from now in Brazil, I hope to do much better. I want to thank ALL my sponsors for supporting me all year as well as at this race. In particular, my thanks to Mugen Seiki for their support and encouragement; Matrix tires and Cristian’s personal commitment for giving me the best tires to compete this time; and most thankful to Malick from Novarossi for coming all the way from Italy to show support to ALL Novarossi drivers. Results might not be as good as I wanted, but I had a lot of fun and it was great to see all my friends again, especially Team USA and Team Taiwan buddies. Here is my race report: Control Practice: We had some bad weather so practice … [Read more...] about 2013 IFMAR 1/8 GP ON ROAD WORLDS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Only a week ago, Atsushi Hara announced that he will be leaving Team HB and that news was a shock to me. When I heard he was coming to the FEMCA race, I was wondering what chassis he would drive and he decided to drive a Mugen. Because he left HB, no one knew who would pit for him at FEMCA except me, because my Dad had arranged for Ai to assist Hara for the race week. I had school so I could not race or help in the early rounds, but I planned to travel to Beijing for the finals to help Hara in the finals. Ai and I practiced that morning on Finals day on pit stops and we felt pretty comfortable with working together for Hara. As you know, Ai and I have been working together for almost 3 years now and we know how each other think so we knew we could do the job. When the race started, it was clear Hara had a great start and our first stop was very slow but precise, Ai and I wanted to make sure we did not rush things. Our stops got faster and faster as the race went on but … [Read more...] about 2013 FEMCA 1/8 BUGGY RACE (August 18-24, 2013)

Hiro Seiko, makers of fine RC option parts and accessories have signed JJ Wang to its factory team. JJ will be using Hiro Seiko colored screws for his EP touring car. This is what JJ had to say: “I want to thank Atsushi Lee, owner of Hiro Seiko, for his sponsorship. I have always liked Hiro Seiko colored screws and they will add color to my car and hopefully to my results!” … [Read more...] about Hiro Seiko signs JJ Wang

I was invited to Taipei, Taiwan to race at the 2013 New Taipei City Asia Invitational Championships held in New Taipei City. This was a really fun race and I have never been to a race with so many media coverage as well as spectators. Special thanks to Richard Yang, of ASIARC, for his invitation. The event was held at a beautiful and big track in Taipei Ban Qiao area and two classes were held, Modified Touring Class and 1/8 GP On-Road. The organizers wanted me to race the 1/8 class and invited Shimo San and I as the only two foreign drivers. They also paid for Ai to go to Taiwan to mechanic for me. We had to arrive on the 7th of August because the organizers planned a press conference on Chinese Father’s Day which was the 8th at the New Taipei City Hall with scheduled appearance by the Mayor. The press conference had quite a few media and cameras all over. All invited drivers had to give a short speech which was prepared for us by the organizers. Shimo was really nervous and … [Read more...] about TAIWAN 1/8 NITRO GP INVITATIONAL RACE ( August 7-12)

I made a decision last minute to join the Beijing Masters Touring Cup, a warm up race for the FEMCA ISTC touring car championships that was going to be held in late August. I just got back from the US and was still in Nitro mode but fellow Chinese Thunder Power driver Rocket wanted to go up to Beijing to race so I decided to follow along. It turned out to be a really fun race but one that I struggled in qualifying due to problems encountered. But at the end, I did ok considering this was a last minute race for me and my preparation was limited. The race organizer Max Lim really did a great job trying to make something different, the entire race event had a film crew using cool video equipment and recording some footage that is normally not seen at rc races. TOPRC TV’s owner and producer GS also came to this race to do a feature of me, titled “The Traveling Racer”, so I had cameras in my face almost the entire time. The video production is shown on RCFANS, a local china … [Read more...] about Beijing Masters Touring Cup (August 2-4, 2013)