Day1
The GP Touring and HPI Challenge classes were held on Day 1. The motors were limited to 23T and kit tires were used as control tires. The car for the HPI Challenge class was limited to HPI Sprint 2, which made it easy even for beginners to join. Being a perfect machine to be used in races with controlled items, the Sprint 2 is quite popular in races in New Zealand.
Drivers brought their Sprint 2 with their favorite bodies to the event to enjoy the race. Close battles already took place in qualifying of the HPIChallenge Class and, with Mondeo, Impreza, RX-7 bodies fighting against each other, it looked like a full-scale car race. Robert Maskell and Richard Wong who was wearing an HPI T-shirt competed head-on with each other. Through a fierce battle between experienced and young drivers, Robert Maskell won in the 1st and 2nd rounds to win the championship! Richard Wong came in 2nd by a narrow margin, displaying his promising future, and Troy Odea finished 3rd with solid performance.

Day 2
On Day 2, many drivers started showing up early in the morning. In the relaxed atmosphere, attention was focused on Daisuke Yoshioka as well as Andrew Abbot of Team Associated from Melbourne, Australia. With the existence of one of the top drivers in Australia, where RC racing has been advancing rapidly, Daisuke Yoshioka and local expert drivers looked quite serious. In the EP Turing Modified class qualifying, Daisuke Yoshioka finished 1st in the 1st round. Although Daisuke Yoshioka was troubled with
his setting using foam tires, he took advantage of the improved track condition and recorded the best lap time in the 3rd round to win TQ. In the finals, Andrew Abbot started from the 2nd grid and Josh Kemp (Australia) from the 3rd. Josh Kemp, who was racing with his Cyclone, is a popular driver and writer for "Racing with Josh!", a serial article in the Racing Lines. His articles, featuring his race report with the Cyclone, has been attracting many readers. Josh Kemp was working right next to Daisuke
Yoshioka in the pit and earnestly asking him about his Cyclone set-ups.
Daisuke Yoshioka remained strong in the finals. Starting from TQ in Round 1, Daisuke Yoshioka ran for five minutes without being touched by anyone and he also finished 1st in Round 2. In Round 3, Andrew Abbot left the scramble at the start, kept running fast without regard to Daisuke Yoshioka who was following right behind him, and finished 1st. In the end, Daisuke Yoshioka won the championship in the international race event in New Zealand where he participated for the first time. In the qualifying and final rounds, Josh Kemp, Darren Johnston, Robert Maskell and Ivan Ho engaged in fierce battle and spectators shouted cheers for the head-to-head battles at corners. In Round 3, Josh Kemp left the scramble at the start and finished 2nd, followed by Darren Johnston, which made Josh Kemp beat Robert Maskell and win 3rd overall. Josh Kemp will write about this exciting race in his next Racing Line article, which may contain a lot of secrets to Cyclone settings. Having fully enjoyed the race event with local drivers in the mild climate of NewZealand in January, Daisuke Yoshioka flew to Australia where the "Summer Nats" was held.

We sincerely appreciate all the support given during our stay in New Zealand and we are already looking forward to seeing everyone we met in New Zealand again in the near future.

M O V I E		HOBBY DIRECT/RACING LINES INTERNATIONAL A Final
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Daisuke Yoshioka CYCLONE Setup Sheet 　　The Hobby Direct / Racing Lines International 　 　　(2006.01.15)