Pro 4 racing update: Hara takes second in Cleveland!
HPI team driver Atsushi Hara qualified third and finished in second place at the carpet Cleveland Indoor Nationals during Thanksgiving weekend (November 28-30), using a prototype Pro 4 outfitted with the latest development parts!
Early qualifying rounds were frustrating as Hara had to work around traffic and pull off a fast time. An electrical problem in the third qualifier meant that he had to pull off an amazing run in the fourth round - which he did, qualifying third in the A Main, among the world's best carpet touring car racers!
In the A Main, Hara made up ground after a first-lap incident, pulled off two consecutive "impossible" passes on in the extremely tight sweeper/chicane section, and in the final minute was making up ground on the leader when the tone sounded to end the race.
After nearly a week and a half of intense, non-stop carpet testing and racing, our team drivers have come back with plenty of information on carpet setups and racing!
JMRCA 1/10 GP Nationals - HPI R40's in action!
Japanese HPI Factory Drivers Daisuke Yoshioka, Akira Ema and Atsushi Hara at the JMRCA 1/10 scale GP Nationals. Akira took a strong second place with his Nitro R40 - Click here for a race report!
Check out our complete race report here!
HPI heads north for the annual Chicago show!
Check out this year's coverage of the 2003 Chicago Show!
First Pro 4 race: 4 in the top 10 at JMRCA Championships!
With testing still under way on the all-new Pro 4 touring car, HPI Japan team drivers went to the JMRCA 1/10 scale Touring Car Championship just to see how the development car stood up against the world's best. Japan is a highly competitive touring car market, with dozens of the world's best drivers and where many of the top racing manufacturers are headquartered. Where better to test the function and durability of the upcoming Pro 4 than the 2003 JMRCA touring car national competition?
HPI team drivers put all four of the prototype Pro 4 test cars in the top 10 at the end of qualifying, showing just a glimpse of the potential of this brand new chassis! HPI driver Atsushi Hara finished second after the triple A Main battle - surprising since he started from 6th on the grid! Daisuke Yoshioka came in third, new team driver Yoshinari Maeda was 7th overall and Masayuki Murai finished 9th in points.
With just four team drivers in attendance, the Pro 4 put all the HPI drivers in the top ten, more than any other manufacturer! Although the team didn't win, this is just the prototype chassis: further development and improvements promise to make the car even better!
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Hara's car (2nd) |
Yoshioka's car (3rd) |
Maeda's car (7th) |
Murai's car (9th) |
We look forward to a successful testing period with the Pro 4 before it is officially released, providing our team and yours the best results possible!
HPI Monster Trucks on the Monster Garage!
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Did you catch the latest Monster Garage episode on the Discovery Channel? The episode, labeled "El Camino/Figure 8 Race Car", featured Jesse James of West Coast Choppers and his Monster Garage crew converting a vintage El Camino Super Sport into a real Figure 8 race car! It also showed off the capabilities of the Savage monster truck in the hands of the Monster Garage team members! HPI staff members brought six Savage monster trucks to Jesse's garage in Long Beach, California, a few weeks ago, bringing out Jesse's neighbors and even the Long Beach Police Department!
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HPI is all about DRIFT!
HPI staff members had the chance recently to attend the D1 Professional Drift Grand Prix Series event at Irwindale Motor Speedway in Southern California! The weekend event was sponsored by Yokohama Tire and featured several full-size drift cars brought over from Japan, as well as a scaled-down drift course that featured Nitro 3 and Micro RS4 cars for spectators and members of the media to play with. This wasn't the first-ever drifting event, either - there have been several held at the track in Irwindale, and some of the events have been filmed for video release in Japan! Check out the pictures below for a taste of the action!
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HPI sponsors a full-size JGTC racer!
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HPI Racing is proud to sponsor the JGTC (Japan Grand Touring Championship) Cerumo Toyota Supra GT! Visit the official team page for race reports and pictures, and don't forget to see the official JGTC series website for details on all the action!
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Micro racers can also get our Toyota Supra GT Body!
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#7616 Toyota Supra GT Body (WB 140mm) - US retail price $16 Available Now!
HPI sponsors the Great Lakes Challenge
report by Ted Hammer of the One-Eighth Racers of Toledo
We had a great turnout at this year’s Great Lakes Challenge held in Toledo, Ohio on August 2nd and 3rd.
Saturday’s entries ended up at 114 racers with 2 more racers showing up on Sunday morning. 41 entries in 1/8th 4wd Open, 19 entries in 1/8th 4wd Masters and 34 entries in 1/10th Sedan. 1/10th 235mm and 1/8th ARCA oval classes were also run.
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HPI Proceed had a great show with 4 Proceeds in the Top 10 of 1/8th 4wd Open class. Unfortunately Josh Cyrul was a little quicker in the three qualifiers run on Saturday. “Delta” Dave Campbell qualified second about 2 seconds back. Other Proceeds qualifying in the 1/8th 4wd Open class were Eric Matousek 6th, Billy DeBenedictis 7th, Ted Hammer 8th, Brent Gottfried 15th, past Great Lakes Champion Troy Torbeck was at 17th, Danny DeBenedictis 18th, Chris Nichols 19th, Mikey Wannett 29th, John Barcik 30th, and Mike Wannett 31st.
The 1/8th 4wd Masters Class was TQed by Proceed racers Lou “The Legend” Przybyla. Strong Proceed showings were turned in by Proceed racers Steve Lazarus 10th, Bill DeBenedictis 12th, Joe DeTomaso 14th, Steve Merker 15th, and Roger Williams at 16th.
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Do to some strange wet August weather on Sunday August 3rd, no qualifiers or mains were able to be run. At 2:30 PM the racing was called final and awards were passed out in the food court of the Woodville Mall. This meant that Saturday’s qualifying would be the final results. Winners in other classes were Dan DeBenedictis in 1/8th ARCA oval, Josh Cyrul in 1/10th Sedan and Lou Przybyla in 1/10th 235mm 4wd.
Again this year HPI help sponsor the Great Lakes Challenge. All Proceed racers received HPI Lola bodies and new HPI racing hats plus decals. HPI also added a .12 Pro Star engine for the Sunday raffle. With the help of HPI and other fine sponsors, the One-Eighth Racers of Toledo have been able to resurface the race site used for the Great Lakes Challenge this past week. Hopefully the new track will be used by future RC racers for many years.
Even with the wet conditions during the weekend, most everyone seemed to have an enjoyable weekend of racing. Hopefully we will see you next year on the first weekend in August for the 2004 Great Lakes Challenge.
For additional write ups check www.sgrid.com or in a future edition of International Remote Control Car magazine.
The new R40 Nitro Pro Touring Car wins!
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HPI drivers and personnel on hand to watch the victory |
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Yodo, designer of the R40; Hara, ROAR National Champion; Miura, Hara's pit man |
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Atsushi Hara 2003 ROAR National Champion |
HPI Team Driver Atsushi Hara drove his R40 1/10 nitro touring car to first place against the top competition in the USA at the 2003 ROAR Fuel Sedan On-Road Nationals. Hara drove to victory in the 45 minute A Main in classic style, starting at the back of the field and quickly working his way into the lead. In addition to winning the race, Hara's R40 also posted the fastest lap of the week during the final!
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With the top drivers from Mugen, Trinity, Associated, Yokomo and Serpent in attendance for this National event, the R40 proved that it is indeed a "Pro Level" car that can compete at the highest level of competition. Making the win even more impressive is the news that this was the first big race for the R40; as our team drivers get more experience with the car it will be even faster. If you're into competitive nitro touring car racing, take a look at the new R40 from HPI Racing!
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HPI Equipment used:
#823 HPI R40 kit
#75026 Front One-Way Diff
#72170 Aluminum Threaded Shocks
#51063 Shock Springs (rear)
HPI Pro Foam Tires
HPI Titanium Screws
HPI Titanium Turnbuckles
Super Chassis (coming soon)
Front and Rear Graphite Shock Tower
Hollow Gear Shafts
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Other parts:
KO radio equipment (PDS-2343FET servos and KR302F receiver)
Team Orion Fresh Kicks tires
Nova Rossi NS3 Race engine (bought at the hobby shop during the race!)
RD Logics header and pipe
AMBrc personal transponder
Team Orion receiver pack (5 x AAA)
Filmed at Revelation Raceway in Pomona, California
7.7mb - you need the latest version of Quicktime to play this movie
this links to a .ZIP file - if you cannot open it, select a PC or Mac utility
Read all about the R40 kit here!
Get Hara's race-winning setup!
HPI cars on "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" on Fox Sports!
That's right! On Friday, July 18, HPI sales team members David Kouche and Aristotle McDaniel appeared on national primetime television to demonstrate the Savage monster truck on "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" on Fox Sports!
Each weeknight on Fox Sports Net the topical sports stories of the day are discussed in an opinionated and humorous way by a quintet of personalities: actor Tom Arnold, former NBA star John Salley, former MLB manager Kevin Kennedy and host Chris Rose.
This group tosses around sports conversation from the fans' and players' points of view with a no-holds-barred approach. Blending sports and comedy with an irreverent tone throughout the two hours, BDSSP also takes a humorous nightly look at the sports happenings of the day, and features special guests with the guys in their living-room style set.