Akio Sobue won at Asian On-Road Championship round two in Hong Kong

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Mike Garrison

0 June 29, 2017, 1:01 p.m.

By Mike Garrison
LiveRC.com

Race Report from AOC - By Carl Hyndman:
www.aocrc.com

AOC Hong Kong: Infinity’s Sobue Triumphant
Dates: June 23- 25, 2017
Track: TRC Raceway, Hong Kong

What an amazing event at the Hong Kong stop of the 2017 Asian On-Road Championships held at TRC Raceway. There was so much great racing in every class, and fortunately lady luck was on our side as the skies stayed sunny and the entire event went off without a hitch on the last day.

In the premier Modified class, it was to be a showdown between Infinity teammates and fellow countrymen Akio Sobue and Naoto Matsukura that would go blow for blow to the final lap of the last main. Akio had the advantage and worked it in his favor drawing first blood by taking the first main from the TQ spot on the grid, with XRAY’s Hagberg in second while Matsukura was forced to take tenth due to a mechanical problem before finishing the first lap after he rolled his car running the curbs near the finish line. But, with a battle unfolding throughout the hair-raising five minutes, and time ticking off in the second main, things turned on Sobue who fell victim to a broken rear belt on his IF14 and thus handed Matsukura the much needed win to force a showdown in A3. And that’s just what happened, with the duo separating themselves from the rest of the field and racing nose to tail for the entire third main. Sobue had his own plans though and never really wavered, holding his lines and staying smooth enough for Matsukura to never make a serious attempt for the pass. It would be Sobue’s victory with Matsukura in second and Hagberg left to take the final spot on the podium.

In Super Stock 13.5, things were even more unpredictable. Michael Lo seemed to have things in control when he TQ’d, but as the mains unfolded crashes plagued the ORCA powered Awesomatix and he posted results way down and even finished the third main with a DNF. Ian Lee, on the other hand, started out with a tenth, but came out swinging for the second and third mains with wins to grab the overall title. Naoya Morita was second overall by winning the first main, but sixth in A2 and third in A3 put him in second overall, leaving Keith Chui in third overall with a fifth and two seconds (tie-breaks are awarded to the driver with a higher finish in the score tally).

In the Front Wheel Drive class, Kit Chau made it look easy and used his TQ spot to put some serious distance between himself and the others in the first main for the win, but had to fight in the next two mains to sweep all three. Rex Chan couldn’t find a way to shed his bridesmaid status and posted three seconds for second overall, leaving Naoya Morita to take the last spot on the podium.

The F1 class is always a fun one, mixing scale realism with open- wheeled racing. Like the Front Wheel Drive class, the winner, in this case Jimmy So, used his TQ spot to continue his winning streak on his way to the overall win. Wai Shing IP earned second, while Will Ho was third in the field.

Stock 13.5 GT saw Edward Wong take the TQ, but in this case it was a curse and he could only watch as Kit Chau go on to take the first two A-mains and secure the title. Wong didn’t fair too bad in the end settling for second, leaving CY to take the bronze.

We would like the thank Siu Hung "Jackie" and all the staff at TRC Raceway for hosting and opening up their home to us and allowing us to bring AOC to their wonderful facility. Cheers Hong Kong.