Foreword | Thursday | Aquarium/Shopping Trip | Qualifying | VIP Tour | Extras

And on to the main events!

Another round of demonstration races featuring Hara, Murai, Myrberg, Yoshioka and Yokoyama began after the last round of qualifying. These included a friendly race between the five drivers, and also a one-on-one race of Hara and Murai racing two Savage 21 monster trucks against each other!

The team guys waiting to take the stand		Hara gives Yokoyama a friendly tap
		Andreas in blue, Yoshioka, Yokoyama, Hara and Murai
	Taking the big air!	Savage 21 monster trucks race on the track

MICRO BEETLE CUP
The first class to start off the main events was the Micro Beetle Cup class. Just one overseas racer was in the A Main, that was Ohio's Michael Collins, who had previously held the TQ spot, and was looking to do well in the final race. This being just a one-race shootout, anything could happen, though, and unfortunately for Michael, it did.

The A Main race began very well for Michael, taking advantage of the first-turn pileup of the lead cars to jump into second spot (from eigth spot) almost immediately. After several laps, it was clear he wasn't being challenged for the lead, while the TQ car was working his way through the pack after recovering from the first turn crash. Halfway through the race, Michael and the first place qualifier were starting to work their way through traffic when suddenly the race computer went down and the race had to be stopped. With Michael in first place with only a minute or two left in the race, the race officials decided to restart the race after the Nitro races to give racers a chance to recharge their batteries.

In the restart, Michael didn't have the same luck he had in the first race and was caught up in a jumble of Micro Beetle cars in the first turn, and came out almost dead last. Again the race had to be stopped after just a couple of laps, and for the second restart the same first turn crashes happened again as all 15 racers used their third chance for a good start to their best advantage. Michael again came out on the losing end, this time with his belt stuck between the chassis and his battery, ending his race before he could turn a lap. The TQ driver also had terrible luck, finishing just two positions ahead of Michael after 5 minutes. It was very bad luck for Michael and quite unfortunate, especially as the other racers looked on, tried to help and hoped their races would have a little more luck.

NITRO TOURING
In Nitro Touring, the USA hopes hinged on Todd Marshall, who was qualified 10th overall after not running his third qualifier. Dereck Butterfield of Southern California finished in 3rd in his B Main race and Timm Wooley in 5th, boosting the confidence of Team USA after the Micro races. Matt Hall, helper extraordinaire, pitted for Todd during his 15-minute race and got the car started while Todd psyched himself up for the race ahead. For the first few minutes of the race, Todd was battling for 6th and 7th place, a good jump up from 10th qualifier.

Somehow, though, it seems a part on Todd's car loosened itself up about halfway through the race and prevented his car from moving - unable to make a quick trackside fix, this setback took Todd off the driver stand and out of the race. Attila from Hungary was qualified one spot ahead of Todd and finished in 9th also, the pace of the Japanese drivers apparently just too fast during the 15-minute race.

SUPER NITRO
After Kris Ritchie of Scotland took the win in Super Nitro B Main and Timm Wooley of Florida took third, I'm sure some of the overseas racers were hopeful their turn would come to take a win or podium spot as well. Dereck Butterfield also finished fourth with Tim Potter in sixth. With Todd in the A Main of Super Nitro, and this time starting from 6th position, the rest of Team USA was hoping that he'd have better luck in this race than he did in Nitro Touring.

Starting from the middle of the pack, Todd was able to avoid the first turn danger zone and after the racers settled down after a few laps, he starting slicing and dicing with the rest of them, trying to move up in the order. Battling for 5th spot let the leaders pull away - the high speed sweeper corner at the end of the straight was the site of a couple of traction rolls before Todd calmed down enough to take the turn a little different, actually catching up and passing a couple of cars in that area. The 5-minute marks came and went, along with two rounds of pit stops for all the racers. Matt Hall did a fine job with the fueling as well as communicating with Todd on the stand. Having a pit person who knows Nitro cars is critical for a long Nitro main!

At the end of the race, Todd was in 5th place, just a couple of seconds behind 4th and only a lap behind the 2nd and 3rd place drivers. After coming all this way and wrenching on his cars for 3 nights in a row, it was a very respectable finish, plus Todd ended up with the second fastest lap time in the whole race!

At the start of the single A Main race, it was a repeat of the second Micro A Main as the cars bunched up at the first hairpin and gathered up Michael as well. With all the pressure on the line, it was pass or be passed, kill or be killed and after three minutes of trying to catch up with the leader Michael's car had some problems and he had to pull off the track. It was a very tough day for Michael as he started packing up his stuff, and quite a heartbreaker. Kris, however, finished in 6th, the same position he started in, so at least his dad Kenny wouldn't be able to say much about this weekend's performance!

In other main events in Electric Touring Expert, Werner Spannbruckner took first place in the B Main, with Vaggelis Papachristo of Greece in second and Kim Ki Heung of Korea in third. In the C Main, Ong Kok Thye and Ooi Eng Chuan of Taiwan took first and second with Nick Nickolakopoulos from Greece in fifth spot. In the D Main, Huang Chun Tsang of took third, with Chai Kok Chin of in fourth.

ELECTRIC TOURING SPORTS
The mains for Electric Touring Sports went all the way to an I Main, with 88 drivers in the class! Just Werner Puchas, fresh from his Concours Challenge win, was in the A Main from the overseas contingent, but he was determined to have a good race. Cheered on by his friend Werner Spannbruckner (who had just won his B Main in Electric Touring Expert), Werner (Puchas) finished in fourth spot, just a second and a half behind third place!

Also in Electric Touring Sports from overseas: Alistair Penn, 10th in the B Main, Hsaio Kai-Fu, 3rd in the C Main, and Tim Potter, 5th in E Main. With a field this large, just getting in the top half of all the racers present is still quite an accomplisment!

Award Presentations

By the time the racing had finished, the sun was already over the horizon and many of the racers had packed up. With a table full of awards and game giveaways, the racers stuck around to cheer on their friends that had won and see who would be taking home the giveaway prizes.

The winning cars	Every winner took home a trophy

Game giveaway? That's right, the time-honored Japanese game of Jan Ken Pon would come later, after the awards ceremony.

	The winning cars

Every main event winner took home a trophy	Bomber announces the names

But first, the prizes! The winning racer in each class would go home with a cool, very heavy HPI Challenge World Finals trophy, and the top three in each A Main went home with a brand new HPI kit as well as nice globe trophies!

Kris picks up his B Main Super Nitro trophy	Werner accepts his B Main Electric Sports trophy	Bomber Yamamoto, ladies and gentlemen! This guy is energetic!

Not to be left out, the Concours Challenge finalists all got on stage and accepted their awards. The top five racers each took home an HPI pit towel, while winner Werner Puchas of Austria went home with an HPI hauler bag, pit towel, Microlon paint spray, RC Magazine towel and more!

The winning cars	Every winner took home a trophy

After the Concours Challenge prizes were handed out, the A Main prizes were passed out.

Micro Beetle Cup A Main top three Note that the little guy who won can barely hold his prizes!	Nitro Touring A Main top three	Super Nitro A Main top three
Electric Touring Expert A Main top three	Electric Touring Sports A Main top three	A short interview by Bomber Yamamoto to embarass the happy winners...

Jan Ken Pon!

After the awards ceremony, the prize game began. A little bonus "thank you" from HPI Japan, the name of the game was "Jan Ken Pon", otherwise known as Rock, Paper, Scissors to Americans! The object of the game was easy - an HPI representative would get on the stage and play with the crowd. Anyone who beat the HPI rep (by holding up paper when the HPI rep showed rock, or rock when the HPI rep showed scissors, etc.) would remain standing, everyone else had to sit down. The winner after two or three rounds of the game would win a selection of prizes donated by HPI, RC Magazine (one of the two big Japanese R/C magazines) and other sponsors. Bomber Yamamoto explained the game while Oe-san, HPI Japan's President played the first game with the crowd. Then it was Yoshioka's turn, then mine. Greg Hill of HPI Europe was next, then Yoshioka again.

Oe-san gets ready to give out the first prize kit	Tomoko-san explains the rules for everyone	Yoshioka-san gives out the second prize
Yoshioka gave out the last kit, a Pro 3 Hara Edition - it was down to these two!	Werner ties Yoshioka and wins!	Crazy Werner...lifting Bomber up to celebrate the win!

Hara was the last HPI rep to take the stage and play against the crowd.

What's in the box? Speculation ran rampant amongst the crowd	Hara holds up the winning symbol - scissors!	After two rounds of Jan Ken Pon, this little guy won...
	...the car Hara had been running all weekend, complete with motor, speedo and battery! What a prize!

Pack It Up, Pack It In

Now it was time to say good-bye to all the racers and thank them for making the weekend a great success. Although there were a few problems (what big race doesn't have a couple of issues), everyone stuck with it, pitched in and help out to make the 2003 HPI Challenge World Finals a great weekend of fun and racing excitement.

HPI Japan sales manager Masayuki Murai took the stage for the last time to speak to the gathered racers in Japanese, and afterward Tomoko-san translated his words for the Europeans and Americans, thanking them for racing and wishing everyone a safe trip home.

And that was it!

The weekend was over. The overseas racers packed up their gear and clambered aboard the bus, ready for a long night of sleep and relaxation. The Americans headed to Denny's to see what was different about the menu, while I headed to the Red Tiger Chinese restaurant in Nagoya, a tasty change from McDonald's and unagi over gohan.

In the morning we would gather aboard the bus once again, checking out of the Hotel Concorde Hamamatsu, to start our traditional VIP tour!

Foreword | Thursday | Aquarium/Shopping Trip | Qualifying | VIP Tour | Extras