Atsushi Hara and HPI R40 win the ROAR Fuel Sedan National [Archive]

StevePond

08-10-2003, 10:21 PM

In its first major outing, the brand new HPI R40 200mm competition nitro car, at the hands of factory ace Atsushi Hara, takes top honors at the highly competitive ROAR Fuel Sedan Nationals held at Revelation Raceway in Southern California over the weekend.
Hara reportedly powered his R40 with an over-the-counter engine bought from the shop just days before for the final. Although Hara struggled with fuel economy, running out of fuel before finishing two of his qualifiers, he held it all together when it counted.
Top qualifier Josh Cyrul running the new G4 set a blistering pace early, but he fell prey to the fuel economy gremlins, running out of gas on at least one occasion during the final.
Billy Easton running Nitro TC3 was a late threat, running consistently faster laps than Hara, whose tires were so worn by the end of the main that he was nearly driving on the plastic rims. Easton ran out of time, finished 2.6 seconds back as Hara kept up enough pace to stay out front, while preserving enough of his tires to bring it home for victory.
Congratulations to Atsushi Hara and HPI for their win at the nationals.

JimmyMac

08-10-2003, 10:27 PM

Just curious, but since when is Hara allowed to compete at a Roar National event since he's not american? Or is he now a Roar member? But congratulations non-the-less!!

stefan

08-10-2003, 10:36 PM

You need to live here for 6 month that's all.

Btw, some don't consider the Carolinas to be part of the USA and you went to Nats, didn't you?:D

FSU427P

08-11-2003, 01:15 AM

Wow, HPI must be for real this time. I must admit, I was very weary about the R40 when I first saw it here on the forums. It looked to me like a knock off serpent 705, and thanks to contless other "mid-level" HPI cars of late, I figured the R40 would be just the same. Looks like it will be a real contender. It's about time HPI got back to their roots.

NMT_RACER_BOY

08-11-2003, 09:32 AM

sweet!
congrats HPI!!!

X-garage

08-11-2003, 10:05 AM

Alritght..now it's time to get rid off NTC3 and MTX3 and go for HPI!

ob-4forever

08-11-2003, 12:41 PM

lol i'd keep the mtx3 dude!

i saw the car on the site in CAD form and it looked pretty nice...i will stick with my RB Concepts X12 powered NTC3 though...

tallyrc

08-11-2003, 12:56 PM

and i'll keep my NTC3 and "consistently faster laps"

atm92484_3

08-11-2003, 01:02 PM

It looks like HPI Racing is back. :cool:

TexRacer

08-11-2003, 01:50 PM

Guys the Funny thing here is HPI has NEVER been a racing company.Their RACER series stuff isnt for racing but simply a HOPPED up car.
Can you compete on a local level with the Pro,Pro 2 and Pro 3?
Of course.But this was NOT THEIR starting design.Racing that is.
The "4" series of cars is HPI's 1st stab at TRUE racing design with the help of one of the top 3 onroad guys in the World.
Congrads to HPI on a fine outing and thanks for trying the Racing industry.

atm92484_3

08-11-2003, 02:37 PM

The Pro 2 was aimed at racing IMO. Same with the Nitro RS4 series. The only problem is the rest of the RC world moved on to more modern designs while HPI stayed behind with their beloved RS4.

TexRacer

08-11-2003, 02:54 PM

Actually they werent.Expecially the Nitro Rs4 series.
Even HPI admits this in saying this is the 1st series of cars tested on a track with ALOT of R&D compared to being designed on a Computer.Understand Now?
Les
Like I said.Im not saying they couldnt be raced.
But thats why the Pro3 needed $300.00 in hopups to compete.lol.
The Pro 2 with $50.00-120.00 worth of hopups wasnt bad but the CG was still too high.

So this is the 1st true series of cars designed on a track and NOT just a computer.Hope that helps.
Les

codeman

08-11-2003, 03:36 PM

I'm sure Atsushi could win with an HPI PRO 3 as well; oh wait he has! :rolleyes:

Just because a pro driver wins with a kit doesn't mean the same kit you buy out of the box from HPI will give you the same performance. Why do you think companies hire big-name drivers? Marketing .. to MAKE their kits look good.

I would bet you can make an RS4 3ss win a title; oh wait .. thats been done as well; but you sure as heck wouldn't consider the RS4 a 'race' bred vehicle.

Either way, I'm not knocking the R40 it looks like a sweet kit; especially from a maintenance point of view (one thing I love about the NTC3) looks to be strong, and packs all the latest trends in TC design.

You just cannot say a car is awesome because a pro driver did something with them. I mean, OFNA is a big threat this year in 1/8 scale buggies; not because they have a newly designed kit (which they never really will, as they just market and re-brand everything) but because they've hired a strongly competitive team to drive.

Personally, I think OFNA branded kits are a heap. Havn't seen one I liked. OB4, LD3, Hyper 7 .. don't know about their monster truck offering though but I don't care about those anyways :)

Go by actual kit quality, not whose driving it. You're not looking to by Haras kit, you're looking to buy a certain brand.

X-garage

08-11-2003, 04:57 PM

Does anyone has pictures of the race?

I really want to give a lot of credits to HPI in designing and trying to bring a new concept to RC racing world. I think the rest of 2003 and 2004 HPI will come back BIG!

X-garage

08-11-2003, 05:21 PM

Originally posted by TexRacer
Actually they werent.Expecially the Nitro Rs4 series.
Even HPI admits this in saying this is the 1st series of cars tested on a track with ALOT of R&D compared to being designed on a Computer.Understand Now?
Les
Like I said.Im not saying they couldnt be raced.
But thats why the Pro3 needed $300.00 in hopups to compete.lol.
The Pro 2 with $50.00-120.00 worth of hopups wasnt bad but the CG was still too high.

So this is the 1st true series of cars designed on a track and NOT just a computer.Hope that helps.
Les

$300 hopups to compete! That's an over saying funny openion. HARA won the NATIONAL with only a top deck on his PRO 3!

JimmyMac

08-11-2003, 08:02 PM

Funny Stefan... I had to go to the Nats... it was at my home track! haha. How come you didn't show? Give up on Electrics since Race City closed down? Nice track... too much politics I guess.

X-garage

08-11-2003, 10:48 PM

http://www.hpiracing.com/graphics/r40/roarnats/r40_nats2k31.jpg
http://www.hpiracing.com/graphics/r40/roarnats/r40_nats2k34.jpg
http://www.hpiracing.com/graphics/r40/roarnats/r40_nats2k36.jpg
http://www.hpiracing.com/graphics/r40/roarnats/r40_nats2k32.jpg

FSU427P

08-11-2003, 11:00 PM

Yeah, I saw those on HPI's site earlier. They were right, his tires were all but shot by the end of the race.

C0NTENDER

08-12-2003, 08:41 AM

Originally posted by codeman

I would bet you can make an RS4 3ss win a title; oh wait .. thats been done as well; but you sure as heck wouldn't consider the RS4 a 'race' bred vehicle.

Where in the world are you getting your info. The RS4 3 SS has never won any titles.

puribong

08-12-2003, 10:23 AM

good work HPI... car looks sweet.

RC-ZOMBIES

08-12-2003, 11:37 AM

Congrats to HPI... Hope the new Pro4 wins many races as well.:)

KronicRacer

08-12-2003, 01:29 PM

Originally posted by C0NTENDER
Where in the world are you getting your info. The RS4 3 SS has never won any titles.

he's prolly talking about the qualifying win over in england a few months back...

TexRacer

08-12-2003, 02:01 PM

X-Garage.You dont think it was really JUST a top deck do you?
Try a different chassis shorter than stock,try different diffs and outdrives,try upgraded bearings,try different rear shock tower,steering assembly and different rear hubs.
FAR from stock and a TOP deck.
Ask anyone with a Pro 3 that races half way serious and they have ALOT in their cars.I am one.
Pro 3 was NO where near stiff enough nor track tested.
Pro 4 will be ON.

RC-ZOMBIES

08-12-2003, 02:07 PM

Originally posted by TexRacer
X-Garage.You dont think it was really JUST a top deck do you?
Try a different chassis shorter than stock,try different diffs and outdrives,try upgraded bearings,try different rear shock tower,steering assembly and different rear hubs.
FAR from stock and a TOP deck.
Ask anyone with a Pro 3 that races half way serious and they have ALOT in their cars.I am one.
Pro 3 was NO where near stiff enough nor track tested.
Pro 4 will be ON.

Well said.:)
I spent a ton of $$$$ to get the Pro3 competative... don't want to make that same mistake again.... that's why I won't get the Pro4 right away...I'll wait 3-4 months after the release and let HPI get all the production bugs worked out. and hopefully the Hara Edition Pro4 is in the works... that will be the car to buy.:cool:

Thad Garner

08-12-2003, 05:54 PM

TexRacer,

Options used

-Graphite shock towers
-Opt. chassis
-Alu shocks
-Shock springs
-Opt Gearing
-titanium screws
-body
-tires

That’s it!:p

The graphite upper deck comes with the kit. The chassis is not shorter it is the same dimensions as the kit. We were all using the kit steering assembly and kit rear hubs. Where do you get your information???
:confused: :rolleyes:

Thad Garner

08-12-2003, 08:21 PM

Sorry, I didn’t realize you guys were off topic.:D

TexRacer

08-12-2003, 08:22 PM

From Him at that race.
Les

TexRacer

08-12-2003, 08:33 PM

Now Im talking Pro 3.Not this Nitro Car or any other Nitro Car.
Also at races later than the one claimed.
The car was NO WHERE near stock.
Different chassis-Upper and Lower.
Diffs were NOT stock
OutDrives were NOT stock and more.
Thing is Im saying that the Pro,Pro2,Pro 3 were NOT track tested like this car and even HPI stated that these cars were NOT designed for all out racing.
The Pro4 Im impressed with and would LOVE to have one.
This car however is HPI's 1st TRUE stab at Racing.
So we wanna talk Pro4 like the post says or keep talking about a OLDER car?
Nitro Pro4 with Belt is great due to Weight Distribution when fuel gets low.The weight of one side of the car doesnt get low like Shaft Nitro Cars.
Electric Pro4 is a NICE design.Wanting to see it perform.

KingWillie

08-12-2003, 10:21 PM

Just some fuel for thought;
Josh Cyrul was kicking everyone's tail with the new G4, it was considerably quicker than everything else on the track. Why don't we ask Steve Pond if he could show the best lap times for Cyrul as well as Hara. Cyrul's Sirio is a thirsty power plant, this has cost him before, but he's got to race what his sponsors tell him to put on the track.
Could be due to one of two things either his car/engine combination was better or he is that much faster than Hara, hhhhmmmm which is it?

fastharry

08-13-2003, 01:16 AM

http://www.revrace.com/RaceResultsDisplay.cfm?File=ACF9FB.txt&ID=1092

I don't know,its late,but at first glance,Hara sure looks like he's got more 17 second lap times than anyone..

Squiz

08-13-2003, 08:28 AM

Can some body please tell me what pipe Hara was running??

Thanks

fastharry

08-13-2003, 08:33 AM

Originally posted by Squiz
Can some body please tell me what pipe Hara was running??

Thanks

RD Logics..

Squiz

08-13-2003, 09:06 AM

Thanks, by the way i know this isnt a right topic but... [edited]

If you KNOW it's not the right topic, then please don't post the question here. Find the right topic or section and post it there. :rolleyes:

xsp

08-13-2003, 10:31 AM

Does anyone have a clue, why Hara didn't use a ORION WASP Engine and Pipe???

Isn't he a Orion sponsored Driver? :confused:

KingWillie

08-13-2003, 11:52 AM

Originally posted by fastharry
http://www.revrace.com/RaceResultsDisplay.cfm?File=ACF9FB.txt&ID=1092

I don't know,its late,but at first glance,Hara sure looks like he's got more 17 second lap times than anyone..

Thanks fastharry, I went through the timing sheet and it looks like Billy Easton and Hara ran a couple of 17.3 laps with Cyrul having the most at 17.4. I'm not crazy enough to break it down, sure looks very close between the G4, R40 and whatever Preston was driving. Does anyone know what Preston was driving? Thanks again, Fast Harry.

KronicRacer

08-13-2003, 11:58 AM

yea he is sponsored by orion, and a whole boatload of other ppl including HPI/hotbodies whom are his main sponsors... they prolly didnt have any wasps on hand or it was an hpi decision not to run the wasp, who knows it was an hpi pit decision on what the car was gonna be equipped with it seems.... http://www.hpiracing.com/setups/su-r40a.htm his r40 setup for this race.

Frank McKinney

08-13-2003, 12:49 PM

With the "engine of the month" phenomenon still going on he just used the fastest engine at the moment. There's usually not some political thing behind the decisions of what to use and what not to use. If it works and it's available it will probably get used.

KingWillie

08-13-2003, 02:49 PM

Frank, is this the car that was run in the International GP Touring Car Race in Taiwan that Itou won driving the KYOSHO?

Frank McKinney

08-13-2003, 03:55 PM

...uh, no...

The R40 is an HPI car, not a Kyosho. This was the first major race the R40 has been in.

xsp

08-13-2003, 04:00 PM

Originally posted by Frank McKinney
With the "engine of the month" phenomenon still going on he just used the fastest engine at the moment. There's usually not some political thing behind the decisions of what to use and what not to use. If it works and it's available it will probably get used.

Aha, fair enough. Didn't know, that it's up to the driver to use stuff from other companys. Thought they had to use the stuff from their Sponsors - marketing thing?

Thanks for answer though and send my congrats to Hara! He's a fine guy!

Will he compete with the PRO4 in the future?

Frank McKinney

08-13-2003, 07:18 PM

Originally posted by xsp
Will he compete with the PRO4 in the future? Definitely! :)

Racer Rob

08-13-2003, 09:31 PM

I am impressed. Looks like HPI finally did their homework.

KingWillie

08-13-2003, 10:51 PM

Originally posted by Frank McKinney
...uh, no...

The R40 is an HPI car, not a Kyosho. This was the first major race the R40 has been in.

uh duh... thanks for the thoughtful response Frank...is this an indication of the way HPI runs its business or just your own thoughtlessness....Let me put it so you may understand what I was asking, is this the HPI car which got it's butt kicked by the Mugens and Kyoshos at the race in Taiwan. There were HPI entries, I was curious if this was the car....thanks for your thoughtful response.:confused:

Typerspec101

08-14-2003, 01:22 AM

what happened to the Fusion R12???

stefan

08-14-2003, 10:33 AM

Frank McKinney

08-14-2003, 11:10 AM

Originally posted by KingWillie
uh duh... thanks for the thoughtful response Frank...is this an indication of the way HPI runs its business or just your own thoughtlessness....Let me put it so you may understand what I was asking, is this the HPI car which got it's butt kicked by the Mugens and Kyoshos at the race in Taiwan. There were HPI entries, I was curious if this was the car....thanks for your thoughtful response.:confused: Whatever you may think of my response to your question, I still answered it: "This is the first major race the R40 has been in." Maybe I should have put "first major US race" to clarify, or maybe I would have been able to answer the question better with more information like you just provided. Now, with the extra info from you, I supoose I can say that the car has only been available for 2 weeks in the US, maybe 3-4 weeks in Asia, however since I don't know when this Taiwan race was, and didn't even know that it took place, I could possibly be wrong. Maybe there were some R40's at that race, if it was recent enough, but I'm reasonably certain that HPI team drivers weren't present. Perhaps some customers had the car and they didn't know how to set it up yet and that could be why it didn't win in that race, who knows. It's more likely that the HPI entries were customers with Nitro 3 Type SS kits but I can't be sure since I know nothing about the race, sorry.

Is that thoughtful enough for you? ;)

RC-ZOMBIES

08-14-2003, 01:55 PM

Frank...

slightly off topic...since we can't post on the HPI forum....
I really like the new NSX GT....will you make it for 190mm like you have done for the Lambo and Lotus.... :) :) :)

1822

08-16-2003, 06:54 AM

fastharry

08-16-2003, 07:17 AM

hey King,to be honest,that question could be taken 2 different ways...

I took it the same way frank did the first time around..

But I also don't think you posted it as a trick question....

but you have to go easy on frank.....he's ALWAYS there for people,and he's NEVER rude,arrogant,or full of attitude(not even to me,and I'm a royal P I A to HPI).....

I know he just misunderstood the question....

me43

08-16-2003, 11:04 AM

Originally posted by stefan
Another reason might be that the Picco based engines suck :D

its not so much that the engine sucks,

its the carb.

and hara probly could have won with any italian engine

baker has set some records with a picco, and from what i hear, there not hand moded

so picco's can't be that bad(but i'lll never buy one:p :D )

atm92484_3

08-16-2003, 07:18 PM

Originally posted by stefan
Another reason might be that the Picco based engines suck :D

Not if you set them up right. I have a Wasp .12 rear exhaust offroad and after sealing the carb and backplate, the thing tunes like an O.S.

Nrctc3

08-17-2003, 11:29 AM

I'll be keeping my NTC3.

Im2lazy

08-21-2003, 07:02 AM

Originally posted by atm92484_3
Not if you set them up right. I have a Wasp .12 rear exhaust offroad and after sealing the carb and backplate, the thing tunes like an O.S.

Simply, the Orion lacks the horsepower that the latest offering from Novarossi has (the NS12). The Orion motor is better suited offroad, because it doesn't have enough rpms or HP to keep up with the 'bigger' motors. Also, many of these engines raced may have seen some touching up from a professional motor tuner (okay, most). Orion doesn't have someone that can go around doing this for team members (like Serpent often has with their KHM motors ... I think that is what they are).

Simply, the choice he made was so that he could keep up with the speed of the others on this really fast track.

Dust

08-25-2003, 01:10 AM

Hi every one. I work at Revelation. I sold Hara an NS12S3 the Saturday night before the championship on Sunday . The pipe that I sold him was an RD Logics pipe. part# 61210L. He didn't really have enough time to break it in. He ran a great race. I think that Easton would have won the race, but when he was ahead of Hara, he pitted. When leaving the pits (still ahead of Hara) he spun out on spilt fuel at the end of pit lane! This is where Hara passes him. And history takes its course.

Later

-Dust (Used to be Ngoinggone)

Kyo83

09-24-2003, 03:08 AM

Not trying to be funny or anything, I just haven't been keeping up, but where was Barry Baker and his every powerful TC3 while this was happening. Also congrats to HPI and Atsushi. I hadn't heard his name rolling off peoples tonges in a good while:p

X-garage

09-24-2003, 09:32 AM

You're funny!:D

Baker is a good driver, but for the present of him is not garantee that he will make a different.:D

Look at the big picture...150+drivers..and tons of NTC3, SERPENT and MUGEN....then HPI took the first place..that's not a fluke..man!

IanMan

10-01-2003, 11:01 AM

Folks, I've seen the car first hand, and it is truly a work of art. Top Quality materials, solid design, and far more user friendly then MOST other nitro sedans. HPI has finally done something which impresses me! If the PRO 4 is as nice as the R40, then you'll see alot more people buyin HPI products to RACE with. Now are they gonna be kind enogh to give these two new cars their own classes at the Challnge races? If they don't there's gonna be a whole lotta upset NRS4 and Pro 2 and Pro 3 owners at those events!

ttlocals

10-09-2003, 06:19 PM

The Reason Hara did not run a Wasp Engine and Pipe was because we did not realize he was going to enter the race until it was too late and we did not have one in stock (Our inventory comes in and goes out faster then most, rarely can anything collect dust in our wharehouse) plus he had not had time to order one prior to the event .

He actually just went and purchased the Engine from a local shop.

You have to understand that Team Orion is Multi National and have major divisions in Japan and Europe as well as the U.S. and Many drivers such as Hara are taken care of by their home division. Now that Hara is here in the US for an extended amount of time Orion USA will probably be more involved in his factory support.

You ask how I may know if this it because I am the Art Director at Team Orion Japan/Europe and USA.

Expect to be seeing alot more from Hara as he competes a lot more here in the States. He loves it here and totally digs our culture and he is a really cool guy and very approachable.

-C

HARA-ORION?

Does anyone have a clue, why Hara didn't use a ORION WASP Engine and Pipe???

Isn't he a Orion sponsored Driver?