2007 IFMAR off road world championships - Japan

IFMAR 1/10th Off Road World Championships 2007 - oople.com

CLICK THE LOGO ABOVE TO GO BACK TO THE 2007 Worlds Report Page.

Media Partners: Petit RC - RACER Magazine - Rc-Car-Net.DE

Day three of the World Championships was the start of the serious stuff - with a full day of qualifying consisting of four rounds and one additional qualifier on wednesday before the finals.

Before qualifying got started the drivers got one practice round to get used to the conditions - a good idea since some drivers didn't get much practice with their own cars the previous day due to the terrible conditions.

The weather was a complete contrast from the early morning, with cloudless skies and bright sun drying the track slowly. It was still tacky and moist - and a little dangerous to marshall, but a lot faster. The lap times in the first practice were around 4-5 seconds faster per-lap, than the previous day.

Masami Hirosaka looked fast in practice and was one of the few jumping the triple in one - most doing the double-single and some single-double. In the first qualifier he had a bad time, making too many mistakes.
It was the same for Neil Cragg, who looked very fast but managed to find all the bad bumps on his way round the track.


Ryan Maifield took third in the first round	Billy Easton and Neil Cragg collide in Q1

The World Championships is the pinnacle of the sport, so it's no surprise that the rules are enforced strictly to make sure everything is as fair as possible.

Tyre Controls are in place to make sure everyone has an equal chance - stopping cheating but also stopping big teams from buying many tyres and being able to tune for any conditions. Each driver is allowed to buy up to 6 sets of tyres for controlled practice and qualifying (or 12 for 4WD since the fronts are also controlled in 4WD class). These have to be bought in the tyre control room and must be glued in front of the officials that sit behind a desk observing. A little identification label is applied to the wheels and then nail varnish covers it to stop any tampering.

After all this you have to leave the tyres in a numbered bag in the tyre control area over night - again, to stop tampering.

Cells are another thing that is being checked at the Worlds - they are of course compared against the list of homologated cells but also weighed and the weight checked against a list.

Round one qualifying was as follows:

Position	Name	Country	Lap / Time
1	Mike Truhe	USA	11 / 5:04.725
2	Travis Amezcua	USA	11 / 5:09.021
3	Ryan Maifield	USA	11 / 5:09.106
4	Hayato Matsuzaki	Japan	11 / 5:11.046
5	Hiroshi Suzuki	Japan	11 / 5:13.114
6	Lee Martin	UK	11 / 5:14.522
7	Ryan Cavalieri	USA	11 / 5:15.231
8	Masatsugu Ido	Japan	11 / 5:15.384
9	Jason Ruona	USA	11 / 5:16.336
10	Paul Bradby	UK	11 / 5:18.551

Young Hot Bodies driver Hayato Matsuzaki, driving the Associated B4, took the second round of qualifying ahead of Masami and Mike Truhe put in another good run to finish third in round. Hayato's B4 features Hot Bodies (D4) shocks and the alloy parts have been anodised purple to match the rest of the Hot Bodies line.

Position	Name	Country	Lap / Time
1	Hayato Matsuzaki	Japan	11/5:05.279
2	Masami Hirosaka	Japan	11/5:06.942
3	Mike Truhe	USA	11/5:08.976
4	Paul Bradby	GB	11/5:09.169
5	Mark Pavidis	USA	11/5:09.182
6	Satoshi Maezumi	Japan	11/5:09.303
7	Ryan Cavalieri	USA	11/5:09.767
8	Billy Easton	USA	11/5:11.168
9	Kiyokazu Suzuki	Japan	11/5:11.704
10	Craig Drescher	GB	11/5:12.895


Hayato Matsuzaki	Hayato's 2WD choice, the AE B4.


Hayato was using a new pre-production ESC from KO Propo - the VFS-1 C3.	Mike Truhe going over the triple

Masami was dialled in round three, pulling out the fastest time of the day up to that point to take the win with his Associated B4. Hayato put in another great time just barely behind Masami and Ryan Cavalieri took third.

Qualifying after round three.

Position	Name	Country	Lap / Time
1	Masami Hirosaka	Japan	11/5:04.600
2	Hayato Matsuzaki	Japan	11/5:04.631
3	Ryan Cavalieri	USA	11/5:06.568
4	Jared Tebo	USA	11/5:08.900
5	Mike Truhe	USA	11/5:09.851
6	Shinnosuke Adachi	Japan	11/5:10.935
7	Marc Rheinard	Germany	11/5:11.000
8	Lee Martin	GB	11/5:12.324
9	Hupo Honigl	Austria	11/5:12.345
10	Brent Thielke	USA	11/5:13.219

INTERVIEW: Jared Tebo

Age: 20

2wd	Associated B4 FT	4WD	Associated B44
Servo	Futaba	Servo	Futaba
ESC	LRP	ESC	LRP
Motor	Checkpoint	Motor	Checkpoint
Cells	Checkpoint	Cells	Checkpoint
Sponsors: Team Associated, CheckPoint, Futaba, LRP, J Concepts, Upgrade-RC, RCID, Factory Team, HT Batteries, Smith Optics, Good Lord Jesus Christ.

How did you first get inerested in the hobby and how old were you?
I used to race Motorcross but got hurt so much, so I started racing r/c cars to reduce the injuries, that was when I was 12.

Which other classes do you race and which do you enjoy the most?
Modified truck (electric), Gas Truck, 8th Scale gas buggies. 8th scale buggies is my favourite.

What is your all time favourite r/c car?
The Team Associated RC10 GT (gas truck).

Do you race full time?
Yeah, I mainly practice during the week, and only race in big events, so I don't race every weekend. I do get non racing holidays, like Christmas.

Do you like Japan?
Yes, I wouldn't want to live here but it's cool to come just because it is so different here.

You've won 6 US national champion titles, what is your ambition for the coming year?
I'd really like to win the world championships, that'd be my ambition for this year, and my ambition for next year is to win the 8th scale world championships.

What has been the highlight of this year for you?
Winning the gas truck national championship for the 4th time in a row. And of course getting married in January.

What do you most enjoy about racing?
It's a tie really, I really enjoy the competition and racing, but it's like coming to see my family, we all see each other so much, the associated guys are cool.

Do you have time for any other hobbies?
I drive Motocross (How do you think I broke my leg?... ( I thought RC was instead of motocross) I came over a jump, fell off and broke my foot, that was in March. Ouch.

Who is your greatest influence?
My Dad, he used to work on my cars and always taught me to never give up.

Are you running any secret hop ups?
No, but if I was I wouldnt be allowed to tell you.

Have you practiced driving in the rain in preparation for this event?
No, I don't think that'll be a disadvantage though.

Which is your favourite track, both in the USA and internationally?
USA would be the Real RC - Pleasant Hill, Midouri. International, Furering Track in Sweden, the 8th scale worlds track from '04.

Which do you think would be a good track to host the 10th scale offroad worlds in 2009?
I'd say Brazil would be pretty cool.

What are your thoughts on global warming?
I don't know, I don't really follow much of that. It would suck though if the day after tomorrow happened.

Ryan Maifield took the final round of qualifying ahead of Masatsugo Ido of Japan and Ryan Cavalieri.

Position	Name	Country	Lap / Time
1	Ryan Maifield	USA	11/5:05.575
2	Masatsugu Ido	Japan	11/5:05.600
3	Ryan Cavalieri	USA	11/5:05.723
4	Steven Hartson	USA	11/5:05.954
5	Jared Tebo	USA	11/5:06.669
6	Hayato Matsuzaki	Japan	11/5:06.766
7	Billy Fischer	USA	11/5:08.088
8	Hiroshi Suzuki	Japan	11/5:08.491
9	Shinnosuke Adachi	Japan	11/5:08.670
10	Mike Truhe	USA	11/5:10.408

Overall qualifying after four rounds, with two counting is as follows:

Position	Name	Country	CHASSIS	Total	Run 1	Run 2	Run 3	Run 4
1	Masami Hirosaka	Japan	B4	308	132	153	155	142
2	Hayato Matsuzaki	Japan	B4	308	151	155	153	149
3	Mike Truhe	USA	XXXCR	307	155	152	150	145
4	Ryan Maifield	USA	B4	307	152	80	132	155
5	Ryan Cavalieri	USA	B4	304	148	148	152	152
6	Jared Tebo	USA	B4	301	76	139	151	150
7	Masatsugu Ido	Japan	X6	300	147	128	130	153
8	Hiroshi Suzuki	Japan	B4	297	150	143	133	147
9	Paul Bradby	GB	B4	296	145	151	0	136
10	Lee Martin	GB	B4	296	149	123	147	143

Masami is on top but on equal points with Hayato. Mike Truhe and Ryan Cavalieri are only a point behind. Defending World Champion Neil Cragg hasn't had a great time and some small mistakes cost him dearly.