UF1 RC 
Wins: 4
Podium Finishes: 4
Pole Positions:
Races Attended: 7
Who did you feel was your biggest competitor this season?
Well, it was Mike R in the beginning for sure as he was leading the pints, but after I took the lead it was definitely Cuda. I knew he is one of the fastest guys in open class and he was earning points very consistently. Speaking of consistency, you Charles Lightfoot were a big competitor in the realistic class. Like I always say, you drive very smooth and consistent which I think is most important for point series racing so I was sure you will be in top five for sure.
I know when you first started the season you wern’t a big fan of the pit stops… Do you still feel the same way or have you gotten used to it?
Yes, I’ve got used to the pit stops now. However, I still think that the system can be improved. I heard that Tim and you are already thinking about changing the pit stops for next season so I’m looking forward to trying it out.
What was your worst day of the season and why?
It was definitely the round at Corona! Because I had to pit stop three times in all three mains for some reason. LOL It would have been much easier (and earlier) to lock the series win if that didn’t happen at that round.
What was your best day of the season and why?
The best day (round) was at the Tamiya track. The Tamiya track is the best on-road track in the US for me so I’m always super happy when I have a chance to run at there. Oh now I also remember that it was the first day that I started using tamiya car.
I know people have given you grief being a HPI guy and your driving a Tamiya, what do you want to say to these people?
I and Hayato are both getting the same question after the IIC to be honest. But actually we have no problem to use whatever we want as long as it’s fun rc categories like f1, mini, etc. I agree that we shouldn’t use other brand’s car for competition categories like touring, 1/12th on-road though. I know that some F10 users were wondering if the F10 is not competitive against other f1 platforms but I would like to mention that the reason why I use tamiya car was the looks of the tamiya f1 car only. I believe that you and some other long time F1 racers remember that how great I did at the first UF1 race at Tamiya track. I was using the F10 with no option parts (even no option tires) and beat all F104 in realistic class. Since then, I have participated some of the F1 race with F10 and won many times.
So will next year you and Hayato be team mates on team “Maximum Racing”?
I don’t know how it will be next season exactly. It may be “HUGE Racing”. LOL
You mentioned you will be running a new chassis next year, what can you tell us about that?
Yes I will most likely be running with the WRC chassis with Hayato next year. We saw the car at the IIC in Vegas and were impressed with the realism and the performance of it. We are very much excited to run the car in the next series. We are hoping that it will be ready by the winter series.
What motor, ESC, battery, tires ect have you been useing this season?
For the motor, I was using the LRP x12 21.5 motor at first three rounds and changed it to ThunderPower 21.5 motor. At the last two rounds, I was finally able to use the Reedy Sonic 21.5 motor. Reedy is my current sponsor so I was glad to finish the last two rounds with the Reedy power. For the ESC, I used the LRP SXX Stock Spec. For the tires, I used the Ride, Pit Shimizu depend on the track condition.
What advice would you give someone new into this series ? Setup, or just in general…
I don’t think I’m good enough to give advice to someone, but for new people, I really want to recommend to join the series as it’s the most fun rc racing series. F1 would be the perfect category for them because it’s the easiest class to get into. We don’t need a very expensive chassis, battery, motor, ESC to compete with other, and the driving is super easy with the right speed. I just really want more people in this category and want to make it glow.
I know you and I both feel the same way, that “scale looks” is just, if not more important then “performance” .. What would you do to help keep the UF1 series headed in that direction?
I always think that the best way to let the UF1 series headed in that direction is that make entire UF1 race environment realistic. Not only making the bodies realistic with realistic decals, I think it would be awesome if other part of the racing is more realistic too. For example, like starting grid order lineup, may be we can try the side by side lineup just like the real f1 so sometimes out side grid position is more advantage or disadvantage because of the grip condition. Also, I think it should be fun if we have top three driver press conference after the race.We can even decorate the race track to make it like real F1 race track?
I know a lot of people at the track have the same fantasy about winning the lottery and building there own track, ect…What would you do if you won $70,000,000 next week?
I would like to buy a house in Monaco and let my son start driving a kart. Spend huge amount of money for his kart racing and want him be a F1 racer like Vettel!! That will eventually make my wife happy too. LOL
