Arrowmax Asia Race Cup finale – Report
The Arrowmax Asia Race Cup finale was held at the Japanese Yatabe arena with 60 drivers signing in for the four electric on-road classes. In addition to some of the countries fastest drivers, the event also saw the attendance of drivers from China, Malaysia and Singapore as these countries also hosted rounds of the Arrowmax Asia Race Cup. In the premier Touring Modified class it was a four-way battle between four manufacturers. Akio Sobue (Infinity), Naoki Akiyama (Yokomo), Jin Sawada (Destiny) and Viktor Wilck (Serpent). The closest battle was in the opening A-main when Akio Sobue, the TQ holder, was put under pressure by Naoki Akiyama. The two would fight for five minutes but Naoki did not find a way past Akio who would bring home the win in A1. A2 and A3 then saw less action up front and Akio would be able to bring home the overall win from Naoki Akiyama and Jin Sawada.
In the JMRCA spec Boosted 13.5 class there was some dramatic racing as the overall results here open until the very last minute of the final A-main. It all started with the battle between Yokoyama Takeshi (Yokomo) from Japan and Stickking (Serpent) from Hong Kong. Both drivers would battle it out for the TQ, but it was Yokoyama who held the upper hand. In the opening A-main Yokoyama would bring home an undefeated win as Stickking scored a DNF after hitting a wall. In A2 things looked different though as it main saw a strong run by Stickking while Yokoyama suffered a big mishap that he was not able to recover from. Then, out of nowhere, Serpent driver Takuma Mizowaki put on a strong performance and took over the lead. With Stickking’s car having some power issues, he was luckily enough to hold on to 3rd while Tanaka Ayumu (Xray) snatched the runner-up spot. This meant the third final would bring the decision and it was a confusing one again. After opening a large gap on the field, Yokoyama made a huge mistake, traction-rolling his car and loosing the lead while Stickking had a bad start. This allowed Takuma Mizowaki, coming from P9 on the grid, to take the lead while Stickking tried to regain positions. In the end it wouldn’t turn out and Takuma Mizowaki took two final wins for the overall from Tanaka Ayumu and Stickking in 2nd and 3rd respectively.
The 13.5T Stock class saw the Yokomo duo of Hayato Matsuzaki, drift car designer and former World Champion and 14-times World Champion, Masami Hirosaka take control of the proceedings. Both drivers laid down a stunning performance with their lap times being in the boosted class range but it was Hayato who would hold the upper hand, as he dominated all three A-main legs to take the win from Masami on the runner-up spot. In 3rd, Yatabe local Miura Akimasa was able to put pressure on Masami, however the veteran racer prevailed to take the runner-up spot as Miura snatched the final podium spot.
In the 21.5 spec Formula class it was local racer Yamazaki Satoshi with a highly modified car, sporting many custom-machined brass parts, who dominated the race by taking the TQ and overall win. Behind him Stickking and local racer Takase Yoshiaki fought for the runner-up spot and in the end it was Stickking with the 2nd overall place from Takase 3rd.
Source: Arrowmax [arrowmax-rc.com]
