Law and Ping won Chinese off-road nationals

0 Nov. 11, 2015, 8:48 p.m.

By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Race report from Felix Law:

2015 1/8th GP & 10th EP Off road China National hosted by FS Racing in Yongkang, Zhejiang.

This was the first time ever the city of Yongkang hosted a Radio control event. The city that is well known as “the Hardware Capital of China” made the effort along with the Help of FS Racing (An large radio control car OEM manufacturer) to build an amazing Track facility in a short period of time. In order to show case, the best of show, the organizer decide to build an On Road & Off Road track for this special event. With the 1/8th GP & 10th EP off road as the main event, they decide add in many other classes to make this race the best of show as the first ever national event for the city & grand opening of the track facility. With this been such important event, FS Racing even invited world champion Hayato Matsuzaki from Japan to join the Open Touring & 1/10th EP off road race to show case the skills from outside of china.

Due to the extreme weather condition within the week of the event, the off road track was never finished with the dirt intact. With rain continue during the week of the event, the organizer hosted a meeting to turn the dirt/clay off road track into a carpet track just before the start of the event on Friday. With the last minute decision of the carpet change for the huge 35sec per lap off road track, the organizer was able to collect many hotels used carpet to cover the loose & muddy track. On Friday morning, possibly the most expansive carpet outdoor track in the world was finally ready to be race on.

With a full day of practice on Friday, many 1/8th driver are having a hard time running on carpet, having no idea about the type of tires to use & setup to change, many drivers suffer from “traction roll” into the mud. Due to the limited supply of carpet, the only part of the track is cover was the race line. If driver make a small mistake, they will get stuck by the muddy dirt below. With 1/10thdriver able to quickly find the right carpet tires due to the availability, the 1/10th driver will need to endure the bumpy track. With the 1/8th driving on the same track, the track was super abrasive on the 1/10th chassis.

In qualifier of 1/10th EP, the special Guest Hayato Matsuzaki from Japan driving the all new Yokomo YZ4 was able to lay down a dominate run setting the fastest run in qualifier. With his best lap even faster the 1/8th GP, he clear put on a show for the spectator. 2nd behind was a young driver from Hong Kong Jonathan Yeung driving the Tekin power HB D413, with his consistent lap time, he was able to start second behind Hayato. 3rd was also a driver from Hong Kong driving the G force power RGT.

In the Final of 1/10th EP, all top 3 drivers quickly pull away from the field, with the battle of the top 3 going on, the lower position suffers from a big crash & got held back. On lap 2 on the far side of the track, Hayato made a mistake and crash. The Accident took his camber link out of his car cost him to retire from the race, while the leader Jonathan also suffer from an crash & got held up on the far side of the track without the Turn marsh, this allow G-force driver Felix Law cruise to the finish. With the track suffer from damage in qualifier, keeping the car in one piece was hard. It was ultimately a huge challenge for the small 1/10th. In the end, Felix Law gap 1st , Jonathan Yeung 2nd & Liu Shuo from Bejjing finish 3rd.

In Qualifier for 1/8th GP, the all-time favorite driver in china Hu Wei Ping happing some hard time in qualifier, with the HB Driver from Beijing surprise everyone with insane lap time, Liu Shuo was able to gap TQ with the first round of qualifier. 2nd was a father & son team driving HN name Zhan Wei. The Favorite was only able to qualifier 4th over all.

In the final of 1/8th GP, there was a huge accident result to the favorite driver Hu Wei Ping to dead last. 2nd qualifier Zhan Wei was able capture the mistake of Ping & get in front with almost a lap lead. Your TQ HB driver Liu Shuo also got stuck in between the fight for 2nd & 3rd in the beginning of the 30 min final. In the 15 min mark, the Sworkz driver Hu Wei Ping was able to recover his bad luck & charge hard up to 2nd place, while still being about 3 turns away from the leader, the HN driver Zhan Wei suddenly lost control of the car & hand the lead to Hu Wei Ping. After Zhan Wei car return to pit, we found out his receiver batt has disconnected from the receiver to cost the malfunction. With Zhan Wei is out of the race, Sworkz driver Hu Wei Ping continue his pace to finish 1st with 2 laps ahead of field. The HB Driver Liu Shuo who had the TQ was able to recover from many crash & finish 2nd while a local driver Xiao Xin gap 3rd.