2006 TCS North Ameri

Once again another year has come and gone for Tamiya Championship Racing! This year's North American Finals saw 129 racers from around the country and Canada competing for a national title. The three titles up for the grand prize to win a trip to Japan were GT-1, GT-2 and MINI. The 2006 title holders in the GT-1 class, GT-2 class and Mini class earned a trip to Japan by defeating their friendly rivals in head to head racing. Those three winners are: Mark Dawson GT-1, Keith Yu GT-2 and Troy Crabtree Mini. These three classes were not the only racing that was going on. TCS past national title holders got to compete in the now infamous "PAST CHAMPIONS THROWDOWN". Eleven past champions competed in head to head racing using Tamiya's TA-05 chassis with spec batteries and Novak 6.5 Brushless motor systems graciously provided by NOVAK Electronics. Finally, there was new fun added to the TCS North American Finals with the addition of Tamiya's new mini off-road 2WD buggies in a Tamtech Shootout that really drew in the attention of the crowd and the racers attending.

Saturday morning started off with a schedule of three qualifying rounds for all classes. The qualifying heats were 5 minutes in length for all classes and the format used for qualifying was the world standard IFMAR qualifying procedure. This format starts 10 cars in a heat race in a staggered start and each car is counted on an individual clock. From there the object of the qualifying heat is to go as fast as you can in five minutes. After each complete round of qualifying each driver is ranked from top to bottom using a points system to see where they stack in relation to each other. This system is called the Qualification Points System. The driver who drove the fastest receives 0 points; the person who is second fastest receives 2 points and so on till you reach the slowest driver. Being the top qualifier in a round is a big bonus. This system takes your best two Qualification Points to see what main event you will be racing. The object of course is to make the "A" main.

The TCS North American finals used four qualifying rounds to determine the main events and the two standouts in GT-1 were Mark Dawson and Juan Aveytia. These two drivers tied in Qualification points. The rules govern that the drivers with the two lowest points rounds be added together to see where they fall. In Dawson's and Aveytia's case they had a tie. The rules then govern that the third Qualification point round be used. They still tied. The fourth Qualification round point needed to be used. They still tied again. It came down to their fastest single run and Mark Dawson edged out Juan Aveytia by less than 3 seconds.

What transpired in the first A Main event was something out of a movie. In the last corner of the final lap Juan and Mark where racing for the last corner with Mark being ahead. Mark clipped a corner and when he corrected his car he shut the door on the charging NSX of Juan. They collided and they tumbled for quite some distance and luck went Mark's way as he landed pointing in the right direction and Juan was pointed in the wrong direction. Mark was able to finish the first "A" main with a narrow victory. Before this dramatic finish Juan made a fearsome comeback as he had trouble in the beginning of the race which let Mark run away, but the slowing NSX of Dawson and a super fast drive of Aveytia made for the spectacular last lap finish. In the second A Main Juan had a mechanical failure which gave the win to Mark and in turn sealed his overall victory.

In the GT-2 Class, Keith Yu of Canada TQ'd with a very consistent handling car. While Keith's car was not the fastest in a straight line he was the fastest around the track with a 350Z TA-05. Keith's TA-05 looked to go around the track effortlessly and without scrubbing speed. His two closest competitors were James Arluck of Northern California and Michael Steele of Canada. These competitors were required to use a Tamiya Spec Black Sport Tuned Motor and a Tamiya Spec GP 3300 Mah NIMH battery pack. This kept the competition close and made motor break in, battery charge rates and chassis tuning a huge factor in getting the most out of your car.

In the Mini class, the most popular class in the 2006 series, the spec rules were the same as the GT-2 class. All top ten drivers in the "A" main were all considered potential contenders for the overall victory. Three of them were past TCS national Champions in the Mini class, but due to rule changes in North American Finals throughout the years, the Mini class was not eligible for a trip to Japan. This year it was a different story. The Mini class was now again eligible to win a trip and these past national winners had one more shot to win a trip. Throughout the season it was debated what car would be best in Finals competition? Would it be the M03 or the M04? As it turned out the M03 of John Hicks proved to be the fastest Mini around the track as he secured the pole position in the "A" Main finals. It was overheard by two of the contenders who were expecting to be on pole say "Where did this guy come from?" I can tell you where, Northern California! John Hicks is one of our regional organizers and he has proven he can drive too. If it were not for some bad luck and one too many rolls, John was the man to beat in the Mini class. The beauty of the Mini class is its close racing. Due to the close racing and the door-to-door rubbing, someone is always going to get edged out. But the Mini's will be back again next year and we're sure to see everyone duke it out again. In the end it was Troy Crabtree that made a gamble with a M04 and secured the overall win in "A" main #3. The best part of Troy's gamble was watching his M04 lurch ahead at the start of the races; this was due to the M04 being a rear wheel drive. In all three main events Troy had to really check up on his attack at the start of the races. Congratulations to Troy and making his gamble pay off.

This year Tamiya America introduced a new fun class. This class was the 2WD mini off-road class, known as the TamTech Gear. These are a brand new series of cars that are ready to run and are the perfect for first time off-road racers and veterans alike. These off-road buggies are 1/16 scale and don't require a lot of room to hold a race. This year the class was open to anyone including Tamiya's own TRF drivers Jimmy Jacobson and David Jun. David Jun elected to enter both the Stock class and unlimited class. Alan Mok, a long time TCS racer, showed David Jun, the TQ holder, that he can set up a Mini Frog and drive it too once it came down to the Main events. Alan Mok clinched the overall victory in the first two of three "A" mains. Better luck next year David!

In the Unlimited class the rules were slightly different. Unlike the stock class were everyone had to use either the stock silver or option black sport tuned motor, these guys were allowed to throw the book at the power plant. Well, let me tell you, they did. These guys were also allowed to play around with tires. As long as they used the stock wheels, anything was fair game. Most drivers elected to build their own tires out of 1/10 buggy tires. While David Jun was the man to beat as he was the TQ in this class, Jimmy Jacobson had something in store for him. What was that you ask? He borrowed the tires of teammate Rod Canare and it was all down hill for Mr. Jun from there. Jimmy was able to secure final victory in "A" main #2 by passing David Jun in the last corner of the last lap. Once again, better luck next year David. Overall this class was as fun as the stock class and the perfect series for new and old. It's light hearted and above all else it's a lot of fun. Stay tuned to our TCS home page as a series race is being developed for all to join in on the fun.

Finally we leave you with the last class of the event. The infamous "Past Champions Throwdown". Martin Crisp of Canada has won this class for the past four consecutive years. Due to scheduling conflicts Martin was unable to come. So the question remained, who is the best of the best? Would it be any of last years' champs, Corey Lewis, John Houda or Edgar Fiallos? Could it be champs from many years past like Mike Alan, Doc Hickman or Dan Garber? In the end after 7 points races with one throw out round, Rod Canare would reign supreme! Rod Canare had the fastest cornering car in the field and he proved to be the best of the best. We have late word that Martin will be here next year to make sure Rod is kept honest. Thanks to all the past champs for putting on a good show!

This ends the 2006 season. We hope everyone had a great season and a great finale. The 2007 season will be here faster than you can say "I smell smoke!!!!" The 2007 schedule will be announced soon with some new venues, new rules, new qualifying and racing format and some new surprises. Stay tuned...