26th July 2009 Sunday (Day 5 – The Finals)
-- This daily report of FEMCA 2009 was brought to you by Jonathan Lane of Buggy Pitstop. --
So the last report of FEMCA 2009. We all woke up to be faced with a dramatic change in the weather, overnight it had rained very hard and actually continued up approx 10:00 am. You could almost hear all the finalists changed the set up discussing tyres etc!
Due to the weather the races started with a delay of only 30 minutes which considering severity of the rain was a endorsement of the drainage plan of the RCC track.
The track had dried out very well by the start of the first race which was the 1/16th B. The race length was shortened to 15 minutes in stead of 20 due to starting late. Car 9 Tossaporn A took the lead on the 7th lap where he lead for the rest of the race. People bumping into the 1/8ths were Tossaporn, Le Hua Lin, Chester Chua, Super Khoo, Mohammed. In the 1/16th A it saw Teguh, Chi Weng Chang, Jason Nagroho who already bumped up 3 times! Followed by Kuo Shiu Tseng and Ben Seet.
Up now was the quarters they were also shortened to 20 minutes, instead of the 30 minutes. They all raced with out a hitch with the track becoming more slippery and even more challenging!
The best result from the lower finals was Chester Chua of Singapore who bumped up from the 1/16th to the semi finals.
Before the semis I had chance to sit down with Hara and discussed his pit stop strategy, very simple really with 30% Nitro which would give him the bottom end he wanted he would not be able to do his usual 11 minute stop, had he had used the 25% Nitro with the best top end performance then a 11.5 minute stop would have been possible
The first semi B stated with all the drivers ready 40 minutes before the race was to start….all very keen! This semi saw defending FEMCA Champion Walker take pole and lead from start to finish. A flawless race by him and his pit crew. Further back it saw Glenn Phuah and Surikarn battle it out for the last guarantied spot, this was a battle and a half. But Glenn was able to hold Surikarn off for 5th place. People bumping up into the final were, Wayne Walker, Jason Dyckhoff, Dale Smulders, Meen V, Glenn Phuah.
In semi A it was a all Japanese affair with the top 4 all coming out of Japan. Hara got a fantastic start and held the leads from the go. He had such a lead that in his second pit stop his pit crew and a very quick look over the car and then let him go. Kenji Osaka had to fight for his 2nd position. After getting a bad start and dropping down to 15th he had a mountain to climb if he was to be in the A final. But that didn’t seem to bother him as by lap 12 he was in the bump up zone in 4th,3 laps later he was in second and pulling away from country man Yoshio Otsuka who was sitting in third. So after the 20 minute semi the people bumping up into the grand final are, Atushi Hara, Kenji Osaka, Yoshio Otsuka, Katsuya Fukushima, Zac Ryan.
Now all the cars were scrutinized and the cars were released all at the same time. This was so the drivers all got the same amount of time to work on their cars. After the times were checked the grid listing for the final was released and this is what it looked like.
Grid |
Name |
Location |
Reg# |
Sponsors |
1 |
Atushi HARA |
JPN |
158 |
HB D8-WE / OS Speed AH |
2 |
Wayne WALKER |
AUS |
024 |
Mugen MBX6 / JX Ninja |
3 |
Jason DYCKHOFF |
AUS |
107 |
Associated RC8 / Sirio EVO 4 STI |
4 |
Kenji OSAKA |
JPN |
059 |
Mugen MBX6 / Ninja JX |
5 |
Yoshio OTSUKA |
JPN |
060 |
Mugen MBX6 / Ninja JX |
6 |
Dale Smulders |
AUS |
025 |
Kyosho MP9 / OS |
7 |
Meen V |
THA |
133 |
KM PRC TH / XRay 808 / Ninja JX |
8 |
Katsuya Fukushima |
JPN |
061 |
Mugen MBX6 / Ninja JX |
9 |
Glenn PHUAH |
SIN |
101 |
Xray / OS |
10 |
Zac Ryan |
AUS |
028 |
Losi 2.0 / AXE Mamba |
11 |
Surikarn CHAIDAJSURIYA |
THA |
157 |
Xray 808 / Nosram VTEC |
12 |
Dani CHOI |
KOR |
072 |
Mugen MBX6 / Alpha + |
13 |
Andri HARTANTO |
INA |
057 |
HD D8 / OS Speed |
14 |
John AGUS |
INA |
041 |
Kyosho MP9 / JP Racing |
15 |
S WANGSANEGARA |
INA |
058 |
Xray 808 / OS Speed |
The drivers had 1 hour to do what they wanted to the cars before the final. This gave us a chance to talk to a few of the drivers. We spoke to the top two, Wayne Walker and Atushi Hara. Just wanted to know what tryes they will be running and there fuel strategy they would be using for the 1 hour final.
Wayne was using AKA City Blocks in medium compound and planning on keeping it safe by doing 7:30 minute pit stops. He tried to do 11 minute stop in one round but ran out on 8:40 so he thought he play it safe a do 7:30. As for Hara he was going to use Proline Revolvers in m2 compound. And would be doing 8:30 minute pit stops.
Drivers and the mechanics were all called into the pits for introductions and official photographs. In all areas things where getting hotter, the tension in the air was thick the air temperature was increasing and the pit crews were all vying for space and a good position in the pits.
The drivers all then had a 10 minute warm up, and then the cars where called out onto the grid and the drivers were all under starters orders. The start was very messy; Hara got taken out as they went into the first corner. Walker took the inside line and was able to get away from the carnage and took P1. Osaka got a good start and was able to jump into P2. Hara crossed the line in 12th after the first lap. Walker was pulling away but Osaka put down some fast laps to catch up. On lap 3 it saw the lead change as Osaka over took Walker as he landed a little funny and Osaka went around the out side coming down the back straight. By lap three Hara was in 8th and closing down the P1. 4 Laps later Hara was on the podium sitting in third place and putting some very consistent lap times down. Osaka was still in the lead followed by Walker. On lap 17 Osaka dropped down to third bumping Walker into P1 and Hara in P2.
Lap later Hara overtook Walker for P1. That’s all Hara needed as he lead for the rest of the race. On lap 30 Walker was in P2 a few corners behind Hara. As Walker came down the straight on lap 31, he didn’t slow down! And smashed into the pit wall. We later found out that his battery was disconnected. Nothing broken, just the shock came off.Lucky escape for the defending champion, by this time he was a few laps behind and re joined the race in last place. That didn’t dishearten the defending champion as he put some fast times down to reel in P1. But after a few to many flameouts it didn’t seem possible so he retired on lap 52.
By this time Hara had lapped the whole field and look set on winning. On lap 42 Dyckhoff jumped into P3 and was chasing down Osaka in P2. Lap 57 he over took Osaka and started to pull away. But after a 57 second lap he dropped down to 4th. 12 laps later he fought his way back into 3rd and started the fight with Otsuka. It was some great racing to watch but in the end the Mugen of Otsuka came out on top. So after an amazing 1 hour race and 90 laps done Hara set the fastest lap of the entire race on his final lap! He did amazing 37.9; this shows how much of a champion Hara is.
So after countless laps liters and liters of Nitro FEMCA 2009 was over. The racing was excellent throughout the whole competition, many lasting friend ships where made. The Kuwaiti team endeared themselves to all with their team morale and general attitude. As usual the RC crowd all by and large all worked together and continued to participate in the true FEMCA Spirit.
The event was very well organized by RCC which will propel them into a top event status in Asia and who knows the world. Congratulations should be extended to them by all.
Here’s to FEMCA 2010 where ever it may be?
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