YIDM 2012 through my lens, pt.1

Ever since I returned, all my friends were desperate to know, how was my experience at YIDM. Since I had no time to post any pictures during the competition, i at least can share them now.

   

Without a doubt, YIDM is the BEST rc-drift event there is so far (no offense, D1-10 crew). Event hosted more than 100 people in numerous categories, including japan-only drivers, D1 drivers, and world class with asian qualifiers and overseas invited drivers. A total of 15 foreign drivers were participating, from countries like Austria, UK, Norway, Netherlands, Malaysia, and of course, Russia.

Event was held at the Yatabe arena in the suburbs of Tsukuba. Hotel was rather far from the arena, so Yokomo team was very kind to arrange a shuttle bus for all overseas drivers (3500Yen worth taxi ride from the Hotel was pretty expensive to be honest). 

I arrived 1 day earlier to have some practice on the given surface. I was told it was going to be asphalt, but I have never seen such smooth and such slippery asphalt in my life. That confused me and made me go wrong on my setup for the first couple of hours.

Parking near Yatabe on the day before the event. Soon to be crowded...

... and turned into this

I have never seen anything like this in my life. Being able to touch something I only saw in youtube videos and have been dreaming to see for years is an incredible experience. All of them were gorgeous.

Inside the arena, the view from my place. People only start to gather and try to wake up. That day we woke up at 6 o clock to catch an early Nozomi train from Osaka. 3 hours in Nozomi, 1 hour in Tsukuba express, and then straight to the track for practice.

This is the practice track. probably 8-10 times bigger than my local track.

One thing I noticed - they really like long straights in Japan. Something we try to avoid at all costs. But it makes the track a lot more hard and challenging to drive.

They also had a small practice track which didn't help at all. It was covered with dust which gave different grip, and generally, it was too small. However, it is super fun to ride at. It also had a small Ebisu-like bump at the front-left entry which was working really cool.

Upstairs, there was a small carpet track (still bigger than SPB arena). Did not have a chance to try it out, since i needed different chassis for that. Found Kawabata-san practicing his runs.

Nothing more to tell about pre-runners day. I was completely into settings and did not take pictures at all.

Then, day 2 came. Staff changed the layout during the night. Track became simpler, but not so obvious.

Basically, it is a long straight line with a switch, and 2 turns. We started on the right from the line, immediately going into the corner. This was needed to find the ideal entry line. Then, the judging zone started. We entered a damn long straight at ridiculous speed to make a switch and literally fly into the big loop. The key is to hold the Ideal line, and not deviate to any side from it - you can see the markups on the board. Long straight - full throttle. Boost sound - great. CS action - great. Steering too much - bad: Only straight or CS.

They lined up the bodies to show the ideal line. Entry corner should be tight. Far entry is bad.

 Then, a superfast and consistent switch. "Nevermind the line", they say. You can hit the curb, unless you don't loose the angle.



After that - a long loop. It is ideal for a wall ride, but they say "wall is not important". Speed, sound, CS action, middle line - top scorings. Then, brake hard to the last, very slow turn, and finish. That's it.

No clipping points, no straightforward scoring zones. Drive nice and consistent to get more points. Very subjective.

 Then, an opening ceremony followed. D1 drivers lined up to be presented by Manabu-san.  And that's how it all began.

7 minutes of practice on the competition track, and then 2 qualifying laps. That is INTENSE! They also had 1 hour practice at the end of the day which was shortened due to the long local finals. In any event, I think that was not enough.

Inside, arena started getting crowded.

Things were getting pretty serious. There were even more tables behind the track.

The best part about the event and Yatabe itself, is that you could buy almost anything you need, right on the spot, with fair discounts. To my biggest regrets, by that day, after 1 week in japan, I didn't have any spare money for another rice cake, let alone RC parts.

Competition day 1 - 7 minute practice n the morning, long awaiting, qualification at lunch, long awaiting, practice in the evening. That's it. Day 2 - 3 minute practice in the morning, qualification at lunch, long awaiting, and finals in the evening.

My lousy 97 points bought me a place in finals, even though i did not make it to the top 8.

In finals, I was paired with Takahiro Kawakami, my mate from D1-10. I was hoping that I would be able to battle him properly, but I lost. Let's see if I can battle him again in June :-).

Some of the overseas drivers did not make it to the finals, the rest (except Edwin) were kicked out in the top 16 runs. Japan Power!!!!

Best 16 on one stage. Very intense moment.

Team Russia is a bit too much to say. I have first met my mate at D1-10, and this is the second time we saw each other. Very awkward. 

Team Malaysia. Great guys with great driving skills. Looks like my autumn trip is booked to Kuala Lumpur for YIDM qualifiers. I would never think, RC could take me to such exciting places.

So, the competition ended. I finished 14 overall, which is a good result, but not the best I can show. I have to practice more, especially on large open tracks.

Takahiro, 2nd place.

Tatsuhiro, 1st place. Their battle was so intense, that they had 5 sudden deaths. Very tight battle.

 This is it. I hope you enjoyed my small review, and as always, I would be glad to answer any questions you might have.