Tamiya TT-02F Asahi, Chiba Japan Race report and set-ups

I'm still buzzing about the Tamiya TT-02F project that I launched earlier in the year. It's had a great response and I get lots of questions about the project, and lots of positive comments from people that have been racing the car. 

The TT-02F has reached a milestone in Japan:  The 13th September was the date of the first sanctioned TT-02F race in the country . The location was at the GB circuit in Asahi, Chiba. 

Dubbed Civic East Japan due to the overwhelming preference for Honda Civic shells, the event remained open to alternative front-wheel-drive scale bodies.

There were six official entries, plus one more car whose owner unfortunately didn’t quite manage to finish building it in time, but still brought it along to the circuit.  There was a small exhibition booth, and it actually attracted quite a bit of attention from people taking part in the other classes too. It was really great to see so many people interested in the TT-02F! 

Seeing a full grid of TT-02Fs battling on track highlights the appeal of the platform. What started as a simple, accessible modification of Tamiya’s standard TT-02 chassis has evolved into a viable club-level racing category, with the Civic-heavy lineup evoking the look of a compact touring car championship.

As it was the first event, drivers were figuring things out as they went along, trying different setups and sharing information and ideas with each other. I was told it turned out to be a really enjoyable and worthwhile day.

The racers were all ready to take part.. so here is a video of the final,

On track, the cars demonstrate remarkably stable handling and fluid direction changes. Some great battles ensued and the top three all got special trophies.

The joy of the TT-02F concept lies beyond individual podium finishes. Seeing how these Japanese hobbyists have taken to the TT-02F concept and made a competitive field of cars with their own distinct identity. Hopefully this will push this affordable Tamiya-derived class forward in the country.

Here are the set-ups for the Top three cars..

FIRST PLACE! S.MORITA (Castrol Civic）

Second place T.MIYAGAWA （Peugeot 106 Maxi）

Third Place  K.SATO （ADVAN Civic）

Thank you again for all the support in Japan and special thanks to Takao Komaki & Kazushige Sato for organising this event. (Apologies if I missed anyone). Importantly thanks to all the people who took part in this event, I am keen to see how it develops.

If you are interested in building a TT-02F

Here is the main TT-02F Article with free download links (Click here) 

Here is the facebook community page. (Click Here)