End of Controlled Practice - IFMAR 2011 1/8 on road World Championships

Finally, controlled practice is over and top overall driver for the day is Atsushi Hara driving his O.S. powered Mugen MRX-5.
LiveRC is providing an outstanding coverage of the event with moving camera following the cars on the track as well as Barry Baker reporting with a camera from the pitlane, talking to drives and their mechanics before and after their runs.
Hara said he would try and go again for a one stop 10min run in order to double check he has the mileage to do so in qualifying. He came in 4:40 and then did a 5:20 run with enough spare fuel to run to the pitlane. With a 16.4 average laptime he should be safe coming in at 4:57 tomorrow, so his pit window is quite wide and safe. For anyone running 1/8 onroad cars this should look remarkable as with the current generation engines we barely manage 4:40-4:45 on a tank, at best.
We now have some clear photos of Atsushi's car. I cannot spot anything special or optional other than the Abec35 bearings and the front wheel axles which look different than stock, maybe titianium or aluminum. Intresting to see the choice of Mugen white springs at the back and softer grey springs at the front. Usually it's the other way around, so this might indicate that he has set up his car with plenty of steering, more than others might be comfortable with, and due to his driving style he can take advantage of this characteristic by maintaining high corner speed and being more efficient with the throttle.
Pictures from REDRC.NET

Again, the master of the class, Lamberto Collari has shown absolutely none of his potential yet, circulating around the track slowly, keeping his true pace well hidden from the competition.
We might be in for some great surprises tomorrow.
Either way it will be a very exciting day!