Hara to compete at Reedy Race with Yokomo YZ-2

0 Jan. 6, 2015, 7:53 a.m.

1/6/2014
By Aaron Waldron

LiveRC.com

From Atsushi Hara (via Facebook):

It's no secret that Yokomo touring car racer Atsushi Hara can get it done in the dirt - he won the 2008 IFMAR Worlds in nitro off-road and is a former Japanese national champion. Along with posting these photos during a test day with Yokomo's Shin Adachi at Champ Stadium in Machida, Japan, Hara announced via Facebook that he'll be returning to the Reedy Off-Road Race of Champions later this month, competing in the combined invitational class with a Yokomo YZ-2 to accompany his Sworkz 4WD entry.

Not only is fellow former Japanese National Champion Shin Adachi the lead developer of Yokomo's off-road program, but he's working with Hara at Sworkz as well.

A privateer for the 2WD class during his stint with HB-HPI back in the 2000s, Hara was among the first top-level pros to make the switch to mid-motor buggies in all conditions. Now he'll be behind the wheel of Yokomo's latest 2WD racer, a mid-motor chassis created specifically for high-grip surfaces like turf. As you can tell by the dirt on the tires, however, Hara and Adachi were certainly running on clay to prepare for OCRC Raceway at the end of January.

With the IFMAR World Championships for 2WD and 4WD coming up in Japan later this year, it's no surprise that drivers who typically share time with other disciplines, like on-road and nitro off-road, will be spending more time at indoor off-road tracks this season. Yokomo is looking for their first off-road title since 1997.

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