The past few weekends have been very busy affairs for myself! Last weekend I attended the 2017 Japanese nationals held at the world famous Yatabe Arena. I flew out a few days early to run some laps on the carpet indoor track. The surface is a little different to the carpet I was use too and the traction was high. Also the temperatures inside the building were high and humid, making keeping electronics cool a crucial part of this race.
We added as many fans inside the car as we could to keep the air circulating on an attempt to do this and with the help of the esc log, I was able to actively keep running checks on the temps to make sure we were ok.
High traction + high horse power + hot humid tent like building = performance and durability test!
The race itself was a 3 day event. The track layout changed before the meeting but with some many fast Japanese drivers being able to run at Yatabe at all times, it was going to be a hard race!
Actually one of the most difficult things for me during the event was the complete lack of understanding about what was happening during the races. I really need to learn Japanese! But I found myself just trying to drive laps, not knowing where I was, who was leading or even when I had finished! This actually affects your race craft quite a lot not knowing when to maybe push or relax!
In 2wd I suffered due to this a little more as the track was very fast at a low 14 second lap, with 10 cars on the track, it made it interesting, that’s for sure! The layout was fast and jumps were in positions that sometimes was difficult to judge. I had some bad qualifying rounds at the start which hindered my chances of TQ and I would end up starting Third after taking a round TQ towards the end.
The finals were very much a follow the leader. No where to really pass and with the two guys in front being very solid, I had to settle for third overall!
In 4wd though it was a different story. I had some good qualifying rounds but would just get pipped to TQ by our young and fast Yokomo team driver, Kaito! Being one of the best drivers coming out of Japan at present, this young lad is very quick. We would have a great battle and he showed great nerve to take the TQ spot. I would though put in the fastest overall run, being the only driver to go sub 14 seconds on a lap time and post a 22 lap run.
One thing that was great was that in round 1 I had an issue 2 minutes in, the cars acceleration and deceleration was acting strange. Normally in this situation you are scratching your head looking for the problem, but I was able to again use the log to see what that problem was. The sensor lead had failed and the esc went into sensorless mode. A change of sensor lead and everything was perfect again! I really do love this live log system!
So, going into the finals, I knew I had the faster car and that if I could apply some pressure then I had a good chance.
Leg 1: I was able to push through and take the win from Kaito.
Leg 2: was also looking good, while shadowing Kaito and feeling good, a driveshaft would fail and cause the car to veer wildly to the right every time I broke. I was still able to limp round to second, but it was a missed opportunity.
Leg 3: the decider between myself and Kaito. Doing the same as leg 1, I would get into the front and not look back. Being able to enjoy the last few minutes of the race and feeling very comfortable with the car and electronics package I took the overall win and the Japanese national champs!
Thanks to Scorpion for the support and awesome product!
Next up a BRCA national and then the euros!
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