TRANSLATED FROM THE TRUST-POWER.COM :"Round 2 of All Japan Dirt Trial Championship.
Date: 04/19
Location: Mobility Ohmuta (Ohmuta City, Fukuoka prefecture)
Finished: 2nd place (0.3 seconds away from 1st)
Compared to the rainy weather in Rd1 (where we got 1st place), Rd 2 was very hot and sunny.
The track is located in the property of Mitsui Mitsuike Coal Mine Company which also has a enjoyable view of Sea of Ariake.
Even though track is located in southern tip of Kyushu Island, there was a larger number of cars entered, 140 cars.
As usual, we walked through the track to plan the driving strategy before the race. We all wore rain boots since the dirt track was sprayed with water to prevent the area from becoming dusty.
On the 1st run, we chose the Bridgestone’s type 480 “dry” tire. We took 1st by 1.1 second lead.
Before the 2nd run, we walked the track again. We have noticed dirt condition became hard and dry, which means it will become a high speed track.
When the 2nd run started, as we expected all the cars are getting faster times compared to the 1st run.
This time we chose the type 461 “stiffer” tire. At first, car seemed to be going faster and cornering well by power drifting. But after several turns, the car started to tail slide during the braking and under steering on certain turns. This caused us to finish 2nd place which was 1.1 second slower than the 1st place.
To prepare for the Rd 3 in Hiroshima, we really need to find the best suspension and tire set up combo. But since the weather and the track condition is not always the same, we are not certain that all the data from our testing will be use full. These things makes the sport of Dirt Trial difficult and interesting.
Anyways, Rd3 is coming up very soon, so we need to prepare and do our best in Hiroshima".
