2005 - JMRCA

Japan Nationals in 2005
Brushed motors
NiMh batteries
6 cell packs
8 min runs

No warm up laps, not even a meter do the cars roll prior to start.
Tyres prepared and cars positioned on the grid and then each run starts.
Battery packs, charged till the very last minute, with warmers to have more punch

Just look at the equipment in the pits.

IFMAR 1/8 track Pre-Worlds 2013 (update 2)

The warm up race for the IFMAR World Championships in October 2013 is over and the winner is Shimo with his newly signed Mrx-5 WC Spec. This is not a real surprise as Kei-Tune Raceway is a track which Shimo knows very well and has had many victories in the past.
It is however interesting to see him adapt quickly to his new car.
Below are a set of photos from the race.

Winner and his beautiful O.S. Speed powered MRX-5 WC Spec.

Some other photos 

Masami on duty as referee. The fact that he did not compete does not cancel the speculation that he will compete in the Worlds in October 2013. The same goes for Atsushi Hara and his team.

And now some video action:

Race start procedure:

Focus on winner Shimo. Just incredibly smooth, quick and consistent.

Source: Facebook (Adriano Berton)
           : Youtube (Kurashige42)

IFMAR 1/8 track Pre-Worlds 2013 (update 1)

Quite interesting to see these two active at the track.. is HB into something?

On another note some more pics from today's action:

Adrien Bertin's car: (note that now the KM car features a wire front rollbar as per the the current norm)

Meen with his car:

Fukuda's KM Racing car features wheel hub carbon discs similar to those of the MRX-5 and Viper 977:

Current World Champion, Robert and his mechanic Felix in the pits:

Source: Facebook (KM)

Masami Hirosaka & 1/8 track

In 2011 we saw Atsushi Hara make an impressive, one-time, appearance at the 1/8 ic onroad IFMAR World Championshis. He qualified in 2nd overall behind current World Champion, Robert Pietsch.  The man behind this participation of Hara in 1/8th scale onroad is known to be his friend Mr. Kazuya Yurugi who runs the company producing mainly foam tyres, Zac Products.

Masami's car

 

This time around it seems that the same person has his sights on another legend, the one and only Massami Hirosaka.
Masami took part last weekend in the famous KoPropo Grand Prix. It seems he did rather well, running a Mugen MRX-5 and a very intersting power unit called STS. Have a look at the videos below and pay attention to the inside of the engine and the exhaust pipe..





Could all this be a hint of things to come and maybe see Masami compete in the upcoming 2013 World Championships in Japan? Rumor has it that Atsushi will participate again so lets see..

Source: 
1)Asiarc.info
2)haobike (via facebook)
3)rctech.com.tw
4)Team Silverstone WB/RC (via facebook)

TITC 2013 - ATSUSHI HARA WINS !!

I am a big fan of Atsushi and very happy to see him win big again.
Here are the first shots of his winning machine with which he dominated the event, getting TQ in all his runs, Lap record and two wins in the Amains.
At a quick first glance I noticed new central mounted floating servo mount, new low profile shock towers and short shocks with new shock caps.

On the occasion here are the cars of Satoshi and Marc from Tamiya. Satoshi's car features a new motor mount which places the motor further inside to the chassis. This was also spoted on Jilles' car and it is believed that TAMIYA were testing different configurations using parts from YOKOMO's BD7.

Source: rcfans.com

TEAM ORION VST2 PRO MOTOR

TEAM ORION recently introduced their new motor, the 2nd edition of the VST Pro line.
Although it retains the name, in principal it is a completely new motor. Entering a new racing season and with so many new motors in the market the VST Pro had to be replaced with something substantially better in order to keep the brand on top and from the first impression it looks like TEAM ORION have delivered a great new design.
The aesthetics are much improved dropping the dull looking mat look to a new nice shiny finish. A new aluminum endbell with double sensor plugs, clear timing markings and sensor plug covers are some of the new features but the most eye catching are the new solder tabs. The new design provides sufficient area to solder the motor wires and be able to apply some pressure thus achieving perfect contact between wire and tab.

The packaging is also very nice, using nice robust and soft materials, as if opening a box of expensive perfume. Very nice touch.

Once retrieved from the package its nice design and great finish is immediately observed. Through the motors I've used I always liked the design of the LRP X20 and lately the built quality of the ADVANCED ELECTRONICS motor I've been using with much success, but this seems to bring a new level in design and quality.

The package I received is final pre-production version and it included a magnet (armature) remover, solder tab cover and sensor plug covers.

 

 

Finally the inside detail of the endbell. Everything very neatly made.  I expect to test the motor in a few weeks if weather and time allow me to do so.