> News

Serpent Asian tour 2006 (24/01/2006)

By:: RICHARD KARL KEUR

After long time without racing we finally had a nice race to look forward to:

The World-Model Serpent Asian nitro tour 2006 at Hong Kong Aco track.

Over 120 entries in both 1/10 and 1/8 scale.
Racers from China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Macau and of course the fast local guys participated.

I was ready to race and together with Michael, Per-Ola from Sweden, Maximo Fantini and Fabio Domanin from Italy we left from Amsterdam airport directly to Hong Kong with our reliable KLM swan.

After a nice and comfortable flight we set foot on Chinese ground. Mr. Shiu and crew were present at the new airport of HKG and gave us a warm welcome.

We all couldn’t wait to fresh up at the hotel and after immediately go to the track to race the first laps. Upon arrival at the track I was amazed about the huge activity already.
Many drivers were present and racing their S710 and S950/960 on high grip track. Good to hear the high RPM sounds again!!!!

Time to start engines:
Immediately felt really good racing my S710 and first laps were ok and liked the layout of the track a lot.

Lots of on throttle combinations were you want lots of steer without resulting in grip roll.
I was probably the only one racing diff in front in kombi with new gear diff in rear (30.000 silicone oil).

Most drivers had the standard set up with red springs around and solid axle in front. I continued to race initial set-up as intention was to talk and share time with the racers, which I really enjoyed.

After day one Mr.Shiu and his wife invited us to a nice French restaurant. Think the French wish to have a restaurant of this caliber in their own country. After this day it took only 4 seconds to fall asleep as Michael informed the next day.

Day 2

Friday was another day of free practice and one of the craziest driving experiences ever. More then 20 drivers were trying to get fast laps at the same time. Everybody seems to do fine with here and there some minor crashes.

During the day I just tried 2 engines and trying to get the right gear ratio. Was very confident to begin the first official time practise on Saturday.

At the official registration all drivers received a lot of FREE souvenirs like 3 sets of Cheetah Club Tires and Protoform 200mm Bodies for 1/10th class drivers, Protoform Lola Bodies for 1/8th class drivers. All drivers also rewarded a Event T-Shirt, GRP foam gadget - model stand, GRP T-shirts, Serpent Lanyard, GRP Sticker, World Model Sticker and R/C Magazine Sticker as FREE gifts for their participations. Tornado had provided full sponsor of Tornado fuel for all participants during the racing days, too.

At night we joined dinner with the Shiu family again in the favourite restaurant of Mr.Shiu.
I can imagine; fresh gamba , fish, pigeon, pork meat dish combined with different side dishes.
The food and service were both great and my next visit I sure go again.

Next was a visit to the (basement) nightclub in the hotel. Me, Maximo Darting Bastardo, Fabio, Michael, Per-Ola and our mascot hit the dartboard.
Max showed is dart talent winning all matches.

Day 3

3 qualifications of 10 minutes each were planned on today’s program. All heats were fine and made a 36 laps in 10:01. Car and engine worked well and was confident to make Sunday’s main final.
Was impressed about the high level of racing and dedication of the drivers to find suitable set up for their cars. All drivers take well care of their equipment, how it should be, precise and clean.

After having a nice diner back in the hotel it was time to visit my pillow to be fresh for race day.

Race day

07:30 AM a shuttle bus picked us up followed by a city tour picking up the other foreign Thai and Indonesian teams. Everybody was excited and ready to race last qualy heat.

Final result in my heat:
The top 10 drivers who made it to the 'A' Final for the 1/10 200mm class after four rounds of qualify were:
1. Lau Chi On (HONG KONG)
2. Danny Dung (HONG KONG)
3. Chris Lee (HONG KONG)
4. Thongchai Suebsaithai(THAILAND)
5. Suruth Vataniyapramote (THAILAND)
6. Surasak Kerinsaguna(THAILAND)
7. Cheung Kwok Wai (HONG KONG)
8. Fabio Domanin (ITALY)
9. Richard Keur (HOLLAND)
10.William Lee(HONG KONG)

After a clean start and overtaking some guys who tried to see some other cars from the inside!!! I was 3rd in the second lap and was confident to progress during the race. But already in the beginning of the race the nut of the clutch spring came loose and damage engine and gear performance. Unfortunately I had to give up.

After being disappointed for 5 minutes I joined the crowd to see the rest of the race and enjoyed to see the local guys racing really good.
Lau Chi On was smoothly driving his S710 to victory and fast Danny Dung in second followed by Chris Lee who smartly raced and made the last spot on the podium.

The 1/8 guys are just amazing to watch on this track. Lots of grip and high speed through the tight corners. I assisted Michael and again enjoyed the high level of racing here.

The top 10 drivers for the 'A' Final for the 1/8 on-road:

1. Massimo Fantini(ITALY)
2. Chui Kai Leung (HONG KONG)
3. Suruth Vataniyapramote (THAILAND)
4. Michael Salven (HOLLAND)
5. Alex Chan (HONG KONG)
6. Choy Kam Man   (HONG KONG)
7. Wong Chun Ping (HONG KONG)
8. Samuel Chiu   (HONG KONG)
9. Ng Kwok Fai   (HONG KONG)
10.Tang Wing Hung (HONG KONG)

WINNER:   Massimo Fantini
Second:   Michael Salven
Third :   Samuel Chiu

At night we shared our racing experiences at the banquet and a enthusiast crowd clapped hands for the winners who received a nice trophy.

For the famous world-model lucky draw sponsor items from Kopropo, Serpent, Cheetah, Serpent, Mega, MAX engines were waiting for new owners.
After the spectacular draw I saw all people leaving with a big smile on their face!!

We all can look back to a great event and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr.Shiu, his wife, family and team to make this happen.
Your hospitality is highly appreciated and hope to see you in next year Asian tour again.

Also thanks to everybody who contributed to the race including sponsors.

Keep up the good Serpent spirit and have fun in coming race season.

See you at the track.
Best regards,
Richard

Myself and Per Ola with the race organiser Mr.Shiu.

Nice temperatures !!

Lucky draw with lots of nice prizes to win.

Main final 1/10 200mm sedan class.

great ambiente at the banquet