HPI Racing - 2002 HPI Challenge World Finals

please be patient, this page has many pictures!

Monday was the final official day of the visit, and it was the long-awaited "VIP Tour" - a day just for the overseas racers and their guests to relax and do some siteseeing. It was also our final day at the Hotel Concorde Hamamatsu, so we had to say goodbye to our large rooms, pack up and head down to the lobby to check out and load all of our gear onto the bus. It was also our last chance to get pictures of the lobby and cool Japanese Western-style toilets, so the racers

Tomoko as usual was right on time with a new bus (we'd had a new bus every day, and two different buses on Saturday), but this one was special - during the 2002 World Cup, this was the very bus the English football (to Americans, "soccer") team had used during their visit! The window next to every seat was signed by an English player and featured their picture as well. Looking up, you could see more signatures and pictures as well! Of course, the only person really excited about this was Greg - being English, he couldn't help it! The Scots, Greeks and Austrians didn't really pay attention to who was who (they have their own teams to cheer for) but it was still a nice change from the other buses we'd been on.


Signatures on the ceiling	Greg's happy about finding Beckham's seat	Cool tour bus!

After a quick stop at a Circle K for breakfast the bus with all of its racers and their cargo was on its way! The first stop was a ferry that would take us across Ise Bay so we could visit the Ise Shrine.


Circle K! Note the 3 garbage cans (burnable, trash, recyclable) and tiny delivery truck	Traveling along the western coast on the way to the ferry	Pretty coastal scenery

Long sandy beaches	The map of the tourist spots in the area - Japan has many great places to visit!

The ferry was quite large - big enough to fit our bus and a few others, at least, although it was occupied with cars, mostly. A few motocycles were on board as well (one of them a Buell, strange to see that in Japan). Imaizumi-san sprang for first-class passage so all the people on the tour could sit in relative luxury on the upper deck of the ferry. Because the ride was about 50 minutes, it certainly was a welcome break from the bus! Walking around the outside edge of the deck provided a lovely view of the bay, the open sea and small fishing villages along the coast.


Meeting our ferry boat	First-class ferry travel	Fishing boats crowded some areas of the bay

Group picture!	A small island on the way to Ise

After landing on the opposite side of the bay, we headed straight way to the Ise Shrine. This shrine is considered the holiest shrine in Japan and is located in Ise City, in the Mie Prefecture. The shrine is widely believed to be about 2000 years old, although the main buildings of the shrine are rebuilt every 20 years to allow the site to be purified and the materials of the building to be renewed. Local carpenters use Japanese cedar logs cut some 8 years before each rebuilding in a process that was last done in 1993, the 61st rebuilding of the Shrine. The shrine buildings use no nails in their construction, depending on the exact fit and complex joints used to build each structure.


The main entrance to the Ise Shrine	Group picture time! this picture provided by HPI Japan	We had our very own tour guide with a flag!

One of the many small bridges at the Shrine	The trough where you are supposed to cleanse your hands before approaching the main Shrine	Walking around the torii, or ceremonial gates, is considered unlucky

Beautiful, old trees graced the site (click this link for the wallpaper-size picture)	Very meditative scenery (click this link for the wallpaper-size picture)	Bamboo sheathing protects trees in the middle of the path (click this link for the wallpaper-size picture)

You can understand why the priests chose this area to build the shrine	The steps leading up to the Shrine itself - pictures of the shrine are not allowed	Another group picture! this picture provided by HPI Japan

If you would like more information about the Ise Shrine, try these links: Sacred Places, another Ise Shrine visitor's web gallery, and Japan Atlas architecture. Although Shinto is a declining religion in modern Japan, millions of visitors each year visit the Ise Shrine.


Walking back to the entrance	The shrine sells charms blessed by the priests to raise money this picture provided by Nick Nickolakopoulos	2002 is the Year of the Horse, this is the ceremonial horse to symbolize the year

Huge koi pond	Huge koi!	Flowers for the Imperial family

Walking back over the main bridge - stepping the cracks is also considered unlucky	Another view of the main bridge this picture provided by Nick Nickolakopoulos	The Isuzu River, right next to the Ise Shrine

After visiting the Ise Shrine, the group moved into a small section of shops for lunch at a Japanese restaurant. While some of the tables were set aside for traditional dining (sitting on the floor, low tables, etc.), our hosts were kind and led us to a section of restaurant with high tables and chairs.


Traditional Japanese dining this picture provided by Nick Nickolakopoulos	Visiting the shops outside the shrine

After eating and doing a little shopping and browsing, everyone gathered on the bus again to go to the Ise Sengoku Jidai Mura, or Ise Warring States War Village. This is a theme park done in the style of medieval Japan from the late 16th century, reproducing the Azuchi-Momoyama Period of Japanese history.

Although we did not get to spend much time in the park, we did walk through the entire park, see a stage show about the ninja and browse a few of the shops in the park. The legendary ninja are said to originate from the Mie Prefecture, which is why there is so much attention focused on the ninja at this park.


This theme park definitely gets you in the mood for some shogun battles! this picture provided by Nick Nickolakopoulos	The Tenjo Tenka dou - the Heaven and Earth Road, or the large escalator this picture provided by Nick Nickolakopoulos	Keiko, our tour guide for the day this picture provided by HPI Japan

Ninja attack! this picture provided by Nick Nickolakopoulos	Ninja defend!	Ninja picture! this picture provided by HPI Japan

After the Ninja show we all took a bus to the top of the mountain and visited the Azuchi Castle. This is an actual medieval castle, built in 1579 by Oda Nobunaga, a very famous shogun until his betrayal by a vassal. Gold foil covers the 43m (141 ft) high roof. The castle was burned down after the shogun's death but rebuilt in the mid-20th century as a historical remembrance. You can get some information on Nobunaga here, with more information about Azuchi Castle and the personalities of the time available here. More information on Japanese castles in general is available here.


Azuchi Castle (click this link for the wallpaper-size picture)	Yet another group picture! this picture provided by HPI Japan	Another view

Leaving Azuchi Castle, we went through more areas of the theme park on our way out.


An ancient shop in the park - well, not really ancient, but a recreation of a typical shop from the period	Different small shrines you can donate money to	Souvenirs, anyone? The theme park's mascot is derived from the maneki-neko, or "beckoning cat", that you can see in some Japanese and Chinese shops

These kids all knew how to say "hi!"	But I think we got them in trouble

By the time we left the park, the light was fading and the sun was beginning to disappear over the horizon. With the weekend winding down, the organizers of the HPI Challenge series in Europe, Japan and the USA sat down together and hashed out some rules for future World Final events. While the individual series would have their own set of rules, we needed to discuss and begin to homologate a full set of rules that would apply to all future World Finals. This discussion included discarding handout ESCs, triple A Finals for all electric classes, weight minimums in all classes, allowable chassis in each class and more. Rules we will keep from this year's World Finals include spec tire/wheel/insert rules, no Stratus bodies in any class, no limits on gearing in electric classes and more. A complete list of all the new rules will be available on all three HPI websites by the start of the 2003 racing schedule.


This is another gymnasium along the highway	The sun sets over a farming community.	Japan is more mountainous than I thought

	A now-yearly tradition: Greg dozes at the end of the day!

With our arrival at the Nagoya Grand Hotel, now was the time to say our goodbyes to the kind and helpful (and ever patient!) HPI Japan people that had come along with us on the tour. Tomoko-san provided all the translation for the overseas drivers while Imaizumi-san organized the weekend for all the racers. Both did a terrific job with the help of the rest of the HPI Japan staff and the racers all bid them a fond farewell.

Now we were hungry - after checking into the hotel once again, it was off to the McDonald's nearby for dinner, then wandering downtown Nagoya for a bit.


Micky-D's	Flatscreen TV menus should be required at all fast-food places	The Panorama House - BIG buildings!

Natural Hotel?	Street scene	Jeansmate!

The last stop before heading back to the hotel was a pool hall that was across the street from the hotel. Todd and I were the only Americans who could stay awake to play some pool, the rest of the guys had to go to sleep! With most of the US racers needing to wake up early to catch the bus back to the train, we wouldn't be seeing them until hopefully we meet the 2003 HPI Challenge season

I've played some of the Brits in pool before, so I've known they're freakishly good, but it was Todd that laid the smack down on some of the Brits, first taking Greg and going 4-3 versus the three Scots!


Greg lines up his shot	Todd plays father and son Ritchie - Kenny at one table and Kris at another!	Pocky vending machine!

Finally it was time to leave the billiard hall and wander back to the hotel. It wasn't too late but it was time to start getting acclimated to US time again so the jet lag wouldn't hit so hard upon our return. Toss the change and hotel key on the desk, kick off the shoes, unfold the laptop and start banging out the race report. Tomorrow would be the last day in Japan for the Americans, and some of us knew that we'd never be coming back, so it was time to reflect and remember the memories that would have to last us a lifetime. Hopefully the racers remember this trip fondly - in my opinion, getting to the VIP tour at the end of the weekend is worth winning the trip to go to the World Finals in the first place!