1998 Japan Touring Car Nationals

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The HPI Racing team and support staff A shot of the excellent scale track - yes, that's real grass! Yoshioka's Pro 2 Prototype car
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Yoshioka and Oscar Jansen with their second and third place trophies Mio Hakamata, who made the B-Main with an HPI RS4 Pro Darren Westman prepped and tuned the motors for the team

Over the weekend of October 3-4 the 1998 JMRCA Japan Nationals were held in the city of Gunma, Japan. Over 150 drivers from around Japan arrived to compete to see who would be the best driver in Japan.

HPI/Team Orion driver Daisuke Yoshioka and Team Orion's Oscar Jansen raced in the weekend-long program, with Daren Westman of Team Orion USA helping tune and prep their motors. Daren was nearby to make appearances at the Tokyo Hobby Show, as was Shawn Ireland (HPI GM) and Tatsuro Watanabe (President of HPI). Oscar was involved in the hobby show as well.

Yoshioka and Oscar both made the A-Main after the qualifying was finished. The finals were a triple-main format, which is a very good test of the driver's consistency. With constant pressure from Masami Hirosaka (multiple world champion - the total is currently SEVEN), Yoshioka finished fifth, third, then first in the A-Main races. Masami won the other two mains, giving him the overall win.

This gave Yoshioka a solid second place. Looking over the A-Main results gave Oscar third place (Oscar finished third, sixth and third again). The prototype RS4 Pro 2 was the car both drivers used, proving that this car has great possibilities in it! While we didn't win, we think that coming in second and third behind a seven-time IFMAR World Champion is a pretty good showing in the first race for the RS4 Pro 2!

Both HPI drivers used Team Orion Super Touring Modified Motors in their cars, powered by Team Orion V-Max Plus RDS-Matched Batteries. Oscar used LRP speed controls and electronics in his car. Other drivers at the races included Barry Baker and Mike Swauger, both flown in from the U.S. to compete in the Japan Nationals.