October 20, 2019

Sawada & Kiyoyi complete OneTen double

Jin Sawada survived a big scare in the early stages of the 8-minute main final when the Japanese driver rolled his IF14, to come back and win the 2nd round of the OneTen series hosted by RCI V2 in Shanghai. Losing almost half a lap on the small technical track, the incident dropped the pole man down to 4th and left Rocket Zhang in the lead. Fighting his way back to the front, Jin managed to get back into the lead with two and a half minutes to go and would go on to extend his lead to over 5 seconds by the end of the race. Rocket would hold on for 2nd with Motor King completing the top 3. Discussing the incident, Sawada put it down to running with more power, thanks to the increased voltage, and lower than normal traction. Losing the back of the car slightly it clipped the small yellow curbs, sending his car into the wall and needing to be marshalled. Following the crash, he said his car was feeling really good and he could go about his recovery drive, which he admitted added some excitement to what was a rather processional race.

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October 20, 2019

Pole position in Shanghai for Sawada at OneTen Rd2

Having taken Q2 and again Q3, Jin Sawada has confirmed his second TQ starting spot in 2 days. Running faster in each consecutive run, behind, it was a battle between Rocket Zhang and Motor King, the latter managing to pull together 2 fast runs in Q2 and 3, even taking 2nd in the 2nd qualifier. Both drivers breaking into 24 lap runs in Q3 and with both scoring a 2nd and a 3rd, the fight for who will start directly behind Jin in the 8-minute main is between these two drivers. Gary Huang continues to not be content with his car, feeling he should be faster both he and pitman Gavin are starting to run out options to try. With no changes planned to his Infinity IF14, Sawada will only change the charge of his battery from the usual 8.2 volts to 8.4, to account for the longer race.

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October 20, 2019

OneTen Rd2 first qualifier goes to Sawada

Round 2 of the OneTen Series presented by Infinity kicked off this morning with a single controlled practice followed by the first round of qualifying. In a continuation of form from yesterday, the top 3 in Modified remained the same as in the opening round of the series yesterday with Jin Sawada fastest in the 4 minute qualifier. With 4 rounds of qualifying in total to set the grid for the single 8 minute main later in the afternoon, it was Rocket Zhang who was 2nd fastest, followed by Gary Huang in 3rd. Jimmy Qian and Masaaki Kiyoyi completed the top 5. Asked about his first run, Infinity driver Sawada said that he ran a new tire today, which with 2 runs from this morning’s practice was smoother to drive despite the track being slightly looser than yesterday.

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October 19, 2019

Icon RC TC7.2 CF shock towers & alloy spool outdrives

Icon RC have announced the release of new 3mm carbon fibre low profile shock towers as well as v2 aluminium spool outdrives for the Team Associated TC7.2 touring car. Starting with the shock towers, ICON RC 3mm low profile Associated TC 7.2 shock towers, CNC-machined from high-quality 3mm carbon fibre, these shock towers have been designed to achieve the lowest possible centre of gravity and to be used in conjunction with the latest generation of ultra short shocks, like the popular Axon dampers. The new 3mm option allows for more flex with track tests having shown better drivability and more corner speed in high grip conditions such as carpet or black indoor tarmac, with a small lack of steering and agility compared to the 4mm option. The shock tower sets includes a front and a rear shock stay.

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October 19, 2019

Opening round of OneTen Series goes to Sawada

Having dominated every session since arriving in Shanghai, Jin Sawada wrapped up the overall win in Modified at Rd1 of the 2019/20 series with victory in A2. This time not having the same problem off the start line, the Infinity driver took the final by nearly 6 seconds in front of a much improved Rocket Zhang, the Serpent driver going on to win A3 from a fast closing Sawada, who started A3 almost half a lap behind the Chinese driver having been put to the back of the grid by race director Rick Wang to give the others a fighting chance. Gary Huang was consistently 3rd in all mains and secured the final step of podium.

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October 19, 2019

A1 win for Sawada in Shanghai

Unsurprisingly the opening Modified A-main has gone to Jin Sawada, the Japanese Infinity driver recovering from a difficult getaway to put his head down and win the 4-minute encounter by 5 seconds from Rocket Zhang in 2nd and Gary Huang a further 5 seconds back in 3rd, having lost a lot of time a crash at the end of the race. Asked about his difficult start, Sawada noted that the area on which he was gridded was dirty which made his car difficult to get off the line and meant his tires were dirty for the first couple of laps. Admitting that it was tricky to negotiate the lapped traffic he had no problems while doing so and will hope for the same result again in A2.

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October 19, 2019

Sawada & Kiyoyi to start from pole at RCI V2

Jin Sawada will start the opening round of the OneTen series presented by Infinity from pole position having taken all rounds of qualifying this afternoon at RCI V2 in Shanghai. The Infinity driver secured his first pole position in the series at the end of the Q2 where he went faster than his Q1 time by a second, while Rocket Zhang and Gary Huang swapped places to end up 2nd and 3rd, repeating that result again in Q3 and ensuring thats how they will start the final. Commenting on his qualifying the Japanese driver said he was happy to make his first TQ after 9 attempts in the series. Commenting on his car he mentioned that he removed 30 grams to bring the car down to the minimum weight of 1320 grams, which he said improved the reactions of the car. Looking to the final, and a full 10 car grid on such a small track, Jin admits that it will be very difficult to avoid contact with lapped traffic, but he will keep his head down and remain focussed on trying to take the win.

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October 19, 2019

Sawada clear up front at OneTen in Shanghai

The opening qualifier for the first round of the new 2019/20 OneTen series presented by Infinity has been completed and it was Jin Sawada who set the pace. As he had done all through free practice on Friday and in controlled practice this morning, the Japanese driver was in complete control. Leading the charge for Infinity, as reigning champion Akio Sobue was called up to test the new IF14-11 in Japan this weekend, the young driver was pleased with his car however as temperatures had risen he felt the traction was lower compared to the morning. Ending the run some 4 seconds up on 2nd placed Gary Huang, it was RCI local pros Rocket Zhang and Motor King in 3rd and 4th respectively.

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