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TCS USA drivers venture to Tamiya World Championships

On November 17th 2004, three deserving TCS North American Champions gathered at LAX to make their way to the 2004 Tamiya World Championships. They were Ian Aquino (GT-2 Champion), Neil Rabara (F-1 Champion) and Ling-Kang Tong (GT-1 Champion). There they met their guide who would take them to Japan to meet the best the world of Tamiya TCS had to offer.

History of TCS and Tamiya Worlds

In 1995 Tamiya America established an R/C racing league known as the Tamiya Championship Series, TCS. The purpose of this league is to promote radio control auto racing using Tamiya brand radio control car kits. Unlike other racing series, the TCS series offers variety due to the many chassis types manufactured by Tamiya. Whether you fancy Formula 1, GT sports cars or the average touring sedan there is a class for all skill levels and the thrill of competition is present in all to enjoy.

The 2004 regional races this year spanned the months January-August and those races were hosted by long time participating hobby stores. These host sites included; Trackside Hobbies, Hobby Town USA Newark, CA, Hobby Town USA Memphis, TN, Toys for Boys RC Raceway, Burien Toyota, Hobby Works, and R/C Outfitters. The culmination of which took place at what is known as the TCS North American Finals held at the Tamiya America R&D test track in Aliso Viejo California.

This year our three skilled and deserving racers took home a national title as well as a paid trip to Japan for the purpose of competing at the 2004 Tamiya World Championships. Other parts of the world also send champions. Champions from the Tamiya Euro Cup also made their trek to Japan. These champions represented Belgium, Holland and Denmark. The Tamiya Asia Cup produced champions that represented Singapore, Korea and Thailand. And who can forget the Australians, they produced three champs as well from the country that brought us Elle McPherson and the fierce Kuala bear. Japanese drivers also have to earn their way to the world championships. Tamiya Japan puts on regional races throughout Japan and their top drivers from all regions get to race against the world.

The Tamiya Worlds Track venue

In 1995 the Tamiya World Championships took place at the outdoor Tamiya Shizuoka track located only minutes from Tamiya corporate headquarters. In 1996, 97 and 98 the venue moved to the new Tamiya outdoor track in Kakegawa. For the last few years the venue has moved to an indoor facility known as Twin Mesa where the track is on a carpet surface. This venue has proved to be fun not for just the racers, but for the spectator as well as Tamiya staff members put on a fair were all facets of Tamiya's product could be enjoyed and seen demonstrated.

The Trip there

The trip spanned 7 days. The first day was spent just getting to Japan. Our fearless heroes spent 11 hours on a 747 plane were they met Tamiya Japan staff upon their arrival. There they ventured through crowded train station passageways where they caught up with a bullet train that would take them to their final destination, Shizuoka City, hometown of the Tamiya Corporation.

Friday

Friday was the one and only day that all participants would get to dial in their machines. Before our racers made their way to the track they were first treated to a special meeting hosted by the Tamiya International Division. There they got to meet their counterparts that represented the Tamiya Australian TCS as well as the Euro and Asia Cup Champions. All facets of the weekend's festivities and rules were explained in detail and everyone was wished good luck.

Practice was run in a controlled fashion. Racers got 4-minute tee times and they practiced with the same group, as they would qualify with the next day. This served two purposes. The first reason was it got you used to the time line and the second got you used to the racers in your respective group.

Unlike American TCS qualifying rules, the Worlds rules were different. Your fastest lap would determine where you would qualify for the main events. In this case since there would be 4 rounds of qualifying, your two best times would be recorded. After five rounds of controlled practice, Ling, Neil and Ian all had good times. Thankfully they were not in a position, as we would normally call "hurting". Their cars and skills put them well in the top ten after Friday practice.

Saturday: Qualifying Day

On Saturday 3 rounds of qualifying would be the order of the day. Since there was 150 racers total participating at the Worlds, the race program was run quickly and efficiently. Ling, Neil and Ian all went through compulsory tech inspections. They had to make sure their cars were at legal weight and they had to make sure their cars had all legal parts and gear. Just like the IFMAR Worlds, once a driver chooses a chassis and body, they were stuck with that choice as both the body and chassis were tagged. For several years now the Tamiya Worlds have implemented spec power and power plants. F-1 and N-1 (our version of GT-2 or GT-3) were handed out Tamiya Black canned Sport Tuned motors and they had to use Tamiya labeled batteries. Both Ian and Neil choose to use Sanyo 2400 NI-CD's while Ling choose to use the new Sanyo 3600. Ling was given a handout Tamiya Type RZ 23-turn stock motor. Unlike American TCS the racers were not allowed to use their own connectors or were allowed to hard wire the battery. The stock Tamiya connector had to remain intact and used. The motor however was allowed to be hardwired.

Fast lap qualifying made for an interesting day. Ordinarily, one looks at the drivers overall run in the hopes that they are fast and consistent. In fastest lap qualifying we are just looking for that fastest flying lap. After three rounds of intense qualifying, Ian was 7th overall, Neil 5th and Ling 3rd. Not bad for guys who are used to qualifying under a different system. It looked like the two favorite chassis in the N-1 class was the TB-02 and the TA-04. Some racers choose the TT-01 as that car under the rules had a slight gear ratio advantage. All chassis types were regulated by rules that balanced out weight and gear ratio. In the GT-1 class the two preferred chassis types were the TRF 414 and the TB EVO 4. Just like the IFMAR World's weeks prior, the TRF 415 seemed to be favored more.

Interesting side bar

Did you know that both the current and 2002 IFMAR ISTC World Champions both started their careers at TCS? Well they did. Marc Rheinard and Surikarn Chaidisuriya both competed at the Tamiya World Championships in years past in the Mini Sports Class. This just goes to prove that the Tamiya Championship Series and World's is a great stepping-stone for world-class drivers in the international level. Now, since both Rheinard and Chaidisuriya both showed driving prowess in the Mini Class, we have to wonder where past our past American Mini Class National winners are up to. Dan Garber, Troy Crabtree, David Weir and Raymond Flores have all been North America Mini Sports National Champions. What are they up to and where are my future world champions? Well, Dan Garber is currently driving Tamiya cars in the Washington state area as a Tamiya America supported driver. Troy Crabtree is looking for another National title so he can make his way to the Tamiya World Championships, as is David Weir. Raymond Flores discovered college and girls after winning the Mini Tamiya World title in 1999. There is one thing Raymond can say. He beat the current IFMAR World Champ at the 1999 Tamiya Worlds. See if you can pick out a twelve year old Marc Rheinard in our picture gallery.

Sunday

On Sunday all racers would get one final chance to improve on their times. The 4th and final round of qualifying began at 11:00 am. Our heroes were not able to improve on their times from Saturday and as it stood they all did make the "A" main finals. Ling qualified 3rd, Neil 5th and Ian 8th.

Since all our National Champs made the "A" main final they had to gear up for three races that would determine the overall winner. Just like international competition and US competition the triple "A" main format was used.

Neil Rabara had a very good handling F201 car, but changing track conditions proved to be a handful for all. Neil's finishes were a 9, 9 and 2. After all three mains had been run Neil finished 7th overall.

Ian Aquino had a good handling TA-04 and could have used just a little more power to overtake some of the competition. Ian's finished were a 7, 6 and 5. Ian finished 7th overall.

Ling was the highest qualifying American as he had a good handling TRF 415. He proved that he could handle pressure in the second main as he fended off fast Belgium driver Gunter V.S. who would go on to be the overall winner. Ling's scores were 3, 2 and 5.

Overall our three National Champions did quite well. They all made the "A" main final and they all put up a good fight against the worlds best. They have much to be proud of as they are the first team in years to all have made the finals. Next year we hope to see all three at the 2005 TCS North American Finals as they will be invited to come back and go head to head with 10 years worth of National winners in what we call the "Past Champions Throw down". Martin Crisp of Canada has won the first two "Throw downs" and we are looking to our current champs to stop his reign.

The activities after the race

Even though the racing had ended the fun did not stop. All the international drivers were treated to some fine dinning every night. On Monday the drivers were treated to the Tamiya Corporate Headquarters company tour were they met senior staff and Mr. S. Tamiya himself.

The drivers were shown the original Shizuoka Tamiya track and later were driven to Kakegawa Circuit were they got to drive their machines for most of the day. All drivers decided to put the same power plant in their cars so they could have their own international grudge match. Ling was the exception, as he wanted to go as fast as humanly possible on the large Tamiya Circuit. All had a great time and new friendships were made.

To cap off the week all the drivers were treated to some shopping and tourist attractions. All drivers got a fun tour of Tokyo and the highlight was the Tokyo Tower where the entire city could be seen.

Wednesday proved to be a bittersweet moment as all international drivers said their good buys as everyone boarded their respective planes. It is no doubt that this experience was a memorable one by all our divers and we will have more in depth coverage in the weeks to come as we will have some in depth interviews with our trip winners and some insight to their experiences. For now we bid everyone good by and we hope you enjoy the images of this years exciting event.