2014 News

The past weekend, Jang-san from Muchmore brought the Muchmore Racing Touring Series to Shanghai. But due to the fact that I have school exams this week, I did not get to run on the new layout. I got about 4 to 5 packs of battery late Friday night, and a few more in the morning of Saturday. The car was working fine; I just needed a little more track time. It was a one day race so the schedule was pretty tight. Qualifying was okay for me, I finished 2nd in the opening round. The car had some understeer with new tires but it was a safe run. I took the second round with a faster time than Q1. My car was a lot better and I was starting to have more confidence in the car. So it was a showdown to see who would get the overall TQ. A late tap on the board cost me the TQ run, but I was overall happy with the car. The finals worked out pretty good for me. I started 2nd on the grid and challenged Motor Wang for the win. I took the win in A1. In the second main, I had a slower start but … [Read more...] about MTS ASIA CUP – Shanghai, China (Dec 12-14)

This year the final round of AOC attracted over 200 entries. I had to go to school on Thursday so I arrived in Japan late at night. Thanks to Hara-tune for picking us up. Friday was scheduled for free practice, but because of so many people, the schedule was really tight so we had limited practice. My car felt pretty good in the beginning due to the fact that Hara-tune already found a base setup for me the day before. I just had to get used to the track layout and the track condition. Once I had more confidence in my driving, we had to make a few adjustments to the car to suit the constant changing track conditions. The car got better each run and my lap times were on pace. I think it was a good start for me. The next day we had 45 minutes of free practice early in the morning followed by 3 rounds of qualifying. We ran a set of new tires in the morning to make sure everything was all right but it seemed like we did not have enough traction. We made a few small adjustments with the … [Read more...] about AOC FINALE RACE – Yatabe, Japan (Nov 21-23)

My goal this year was to reach the semi-finals, because 2 years ago, I missed it by one position after qualifying rounds and failed to advance from the quarters. This year (Huge Racing Track) was perhaps the most difficult track in the world to race on due to its ultra high traction. I knew going into the Worlds the traction would be even higher than pre-world and would be very challenging. Click here to download the MTX-6 setup sheet We arrived a day early but could not practice on the IDP days so we went to RC Addict to break in our engines. When first day of practice started, the traction was similar to pre-world and Ai and I felt pretty good about our setup. However, as the day went on, the traction got funny and our setup started to not work. I cannot explain the changes of the traction, it was just weird and I think those who have raced on this track before would tell you the same, it was completely different from months ago at the warm up races. Anyway… we had to … [Read more...] about IFMAR 200MM WORLDS – Bangkok, Thailand (Nov 7-15)

My expectations for this year’s electric race was fulfilled as I made the top 20 in what was a very difficult race for me as well as Team HB. As most of you know, the team had been developing the new car for over 6 months prior to the Worlds and really we did not have enough time to test. I signed up for the 12th scale Worlds but because of school, I could not make the race and flew into Florida the day before ISTC event started. The team also arrived about the same time and it was the day before ISTC that we received a completed prototype of the new car PRO5. So basically, Andy and I ran the car at the Worlds for the very first time! Overall, the car performed well for me. RACE REPORT: I did well at the US Nationals on this track but the layout was changed and getting the complete PRO5 for the first time the night before the Worlds, I really did not know if we would be competitive. Haratune and I discussed the setup the night before but we simply needed to put the car on … [Read more...] about ISTC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – Florida, USA (10/6 – 10/12)

I have always liked racing in Taiwan and so this was a race I was looking forward to. The organizers invited Masami Hirosaka to attend this event so it was great to have the chance to race against a legend. The track condition for the weekend was very different from a few months back during the Mugen Cup. Overall, I felt less traction and high winds, so strong it made the straights difficult. KO’s Engineer Okumura San also attended the event to support all KO drivers, about 58 drivers showed up. RACE REPORT: This was a one-day race, so it was a bit rushed. 3 rounds of qualifying taking the best round, no bump ups. I lost TQ to Masami by 0.8 secs, but I blew it because in the rocket round I lost 1.5 secs when I made a mistake coming into the pits too fast. Oh well…. In the 40 minute final, my car was working great but we had to take a more conservative approach in fuel strategy so we actually had plan to pit 2 extra stops compared to other drivers. But given my … [Read more...] about 2014 KO PROPO GRANDPRIX TAIWAN – (September 13-14)

Coming into the Pre-Worlds after the previous warm up race I was curious to see how the new harder compound tires (F45/R45) would work on this track. When I got there, it was obvious that the track conditions had changed and the fastest lap time never got lower than 14.2 while I did a 14.0 a few months ago. The traction got worse or rather, much higher and tires would come off with a black layer of oil with a gummy, sticky feel. But… all drivers dealt with it as it was what it was. RACE REPORT: It was good to have Shimo there as I was no longer the lone Mugen MTX6 driver so there was someone to bounce ideas off of. But the track condition was such that every driver had issues and everyone had different setups so it was really just reference information from each other. My qualifying was disastrous, DNS x 1 and DNF x 2. Total 6 rounds of qualifying where 4 best are taken for points system, I pretty much was out of contention to make the semi-finals. But my final qualifying … [Read more...] about PRE-WORLDS BANGKOK THAILAND – (September 5-7)

This was my very first time racing at the electric Nationals and so I was very excited. The weather was extremely hot! Haratune arrived in Orlando the same time so we could meet at the airport. Practice went extremely well as we (Haratune and I) were quite pleased to see that some of our new upgrades worked great on this track in this condition. Compared to ETS in Slovakia, I felt really good about my car. Our lap times were actually quite fast compared with the top drivers, so I was happy. Race Report: Qualifying was all about tire strategy and after 3 rounds, our gamble seemed to work as I was TQ after 3 rounds. But in the fourth, I lost overall TQ to Rick from AE (Also my Reedy sponsor) as he used up his fresh tires to secure TQ. Rick drove well and going into the finals, it was anyone’s win (Paul, Rick, Andrew, Keven and Me). This was actually one of the most exciting finals to come and I started from P2. The finals was a disaster for me, I had some bad luck and … [Read more...] about US ELECTRIC PAVED ONROAD NATIONALS – (Orlando, Florida July 29 – August 3)

We all thought this was the Pre-Worlds so we planned it early on to be at this event. The HB Team of Teemu and Andy also thought it was the Pre-Worlds so they also came. It was actually a Warm Up race that Surikarn arranged for those who wanted more practice on the World’s track at Huge Indoor Track. We got there a few days early to test the new MTX6 as well as get use to the track. It was great to be able to share a pit room with Team HB and its always great fun with Hiro, Andy, Teemu and everyone on the team wherever we are. It was also great to see Hara this time. Thailand was very safe and this time we stayed near downtown so it was close to a lot of good restaurants and very convenient. Click here to download the MTX6 Setup! RACE REPORT: Practice proved to be hugely needed as this indoor track has the highest traction I have ever ran on. The track layout itself is not so hard, but because of the massive traction, everyone was traction rolling. The first 2 days … [Read more...] about IC WARM UP Race Thailand (July 15-20)

So right after the Byron race in Chicago, Ai brought all my nitro stuff back to Shanghai while my Dad and I flew to Vienna Austria to meet up with Team HB and together we drove to Slovkia to race at the ETS Finale race at Hudy Arena. A funny thing happened while the entire team waited 4 hours at the Vienna airport for Stefan’s lost luggage. After couple of hours at a café upstairs, the guys decided to move downstairs to a bar/casino to get drinks and watch the world cup on a giant screen. Unfortunately, the casino did not allow those under 18 to enter the premises, so I had to sit just outside the casino while everyone else was inside. But it was ok I guess because I could still watch the screen, you had to be there, it was pretty funny. Anyway… Hudy Arena and Xray factory, the entire facility is the BEST in the world. We got a factory tour and I was just amazed at all the modern equipment and overall efficiency of the factory, it was incredible! RACE REPORT: We … [Read more...] about ETS FINALE at The Hudy Arena (Slovakia : July 3-7)

This was my 4th Byron race and after last year’s poor showing, I was determine to do better this year. Special thanks to Cristian for sending me the NEW Matrix light rim tires which were fantastic! And Protoform for making the VRS-N body, it was absolutely fast through the high speed corners, best body for this track! Mugen was not able to send me the new MTX6 in time for this race so I used the MTX5 for the sedan class. We also brought two friends Fabio and Mihnea from Shanghai to race with us this year. Fabio will be a freshman at Rutgers coming Fall while Mihnea (Canadian) is 14 years old and lives in Suzhou, which is about an hour from Shanghai. Mihnea just started 1/8th scale racing less than a year ago, and he is a pretty good driver given the short time into this hobby. Click here to download the MRX-5 Setup! Click here to download the MTX-5 Setup! RACE REPORT: Qualifying went well for me as Ai did a great job with the car and I did not really have any … [Read more...] about BYRON NITRO WORLD CHALLENGE (Leisure Hour Joliet : June 27-29)