pitshop

iTrader: (56)

why isnt there a lot of interest on this race?
coverage was at rczone....

Masami wins again and its Surikarn's first race for HPI!






Sunday - Finals Day

The third and final day of the 2004 JMRCA All Japan Expert Touring Car Championship started with a damp track after some early morning rain. The race went ahead according to schedule though and at the start of the first A final the track conditions had improved a lot from early morning. The Kawaba track was now dry and lap times were not that far off from what was done in qualifying. The weather still looked a bit threatening with a cold wind and clouds.



The first final was won by Atsushi with a comfortable gap of 4 seconds to Masami who was 7 seconds ahead of Surikarn who managed a third place from his sixth position on the grid. After the first final the weather had cleared up and the second final was run under a clear sky even though it was still pretty cold. In the second final Atsushi had the chance of securing the overall victory but after a close race it was Masami took the win and set the stage for an exiting last final! Surikarn once again drove well and took third but around 10 seconds behind the first two. Going into the last A final both Atsushi and Masami were on 19 points after one win and one second place each. The driver who finished ahead of the other would take home the important title. Unfortunately the battle did not last long as Atsushi retired with a broken car early in the third A final. Masami took an easy win in this last final ahead of the Pro 4's of Masayuki Murai and Kazuo Muramatsu.



The end result is that Masami Hirosaka takes his fifth JMRCA Touring Car title in succession! An amazing achievement! Atsushi have pushed Masami really hard each year but has had more than his fair share of bad luck. This should take nothing away from Masami though as his consistency is just unbelievable. What really stands out this year is the domination of Masami and Atsushi. During the whole event they were constantly way ahead of the rest. It was clear from the beginning that one of the two would be the winner and again it was Masami who took the title.



This win will be a welcome boost to Yokomo and their updated SD shaft drive chassis as the popularity of their car has dropped slightly during 2004. This drop in popularity is no doubt in some ways a result of no real major race wins for Yokomo in 2004. This win together with the limited release of the exclusive SD World Championship Replica might well change this!



Finally, congratulations to Masami on yet another JMRCA All Japan Expert Touring Car Championship win!


Final Result:
1. Masami Hirosaka, Yokomo SDW / 20 pts
2. Atsushi Hara, HPI Pro4 / 19 pts
3. Surikarn Chaidajsuriya, HPI Pro4 / 16 pts
4. Masayuki Murai, HPI Pro4 / 15 pts
5. Satoshi Maezumi, Tamiya TRF415MS / 14 pts
6. Kazuo Muramatsu, HPI Pro4 / 12 pts
7. Hideo Kitazawa, Alex Racing Barracuda R3 / 11 pts
8. Daisuke Yoshioka, HPI Pro4 / 11 pts
9. Shinnosuke Adachi, Yokomo SD Rayspeed / 11 pts
10. Kiyokazu Suzuki, Tamiya TB Evo4 / 5 pts

SG_Racer

How can you call it an easy win for Massami when he is againts the finest drivers in electric touring cars....?

Just kidding man, Massami is by far one the best drivers including Hara and Surikarn now with a HPI pro 4 thats cool!

Matt Howard

iTrader: (6)

It was an easy win because Hara broke in the third main and no one was close to Masami and Hara all weekend. After Hara broke all Masami had to do was cruise home to his 5th japanese title in a row

desertracer

http://osion.mine.nu/2004EXP/A1.wmv
http://osion.mine.nu/2004EXP/A1Driver.wmv
http://osion.mine.nu/2004EXP/ah.wmv

Jack Smash

iTrader: (35)

Why do we need a video of Atsushi Hara going to the convience store?

desertracer

may they want to see if Hara is getting secret RC tricks from 7-eleven.

FW-05RR

lol that last video is funny

Solara

iTrader: (17)

And HARA was pointing his finger up high on the last second of that video...........I am sure that was the secret pro 4 aero dynamic concept that HPI/Erik and himself are planning to do on the PRO 4 in the future............supported by 7-Eleven's Submarine sandwich chassis design....LOL

Pro Models

Hey Guys,


Final A2 has been uploaded. Find the links below.

Enjoy !!!


http://osion.mine.nu/2004EXP/A2Driver.wmv

http://osion.mine.nu/2004EXP/A2Start.wmv (false start)

http://osion.mine.nu/2004EXP/A2.wmv

JDM_DOHC_SiR

iTrader: (31)

You should have seen the big fuss that was made about that false start... because the JMRCA Officials messed up when they loaded the Race program ...but they loaded the Qualifing program .
-Dave

Jack Smash

iTrader: (35)

Do we get a video of Masami eating nachos from the snack bar? I want to see if he puts jalapenos on his or not.

Pro Models

Wow.... I have never seen all that preperation on the starting grid before the start.... true F1 stuff

JDM_DOHC_SiR

iTrader: (31)

It comes down to one thing... Pressure to be the Best in Japan for this race.. ..

berger

iTrader: (1)

What wind motors were being used to make the duration of the race, any pictures of the drivers cars? Good videos so far though

edseb

How bout set ups for the drivers? Tires, inserts, motors, etc.