2012 Tamiya TCS North American Finals Coverage: Japan Trip Winners

Japan or Bust! That is exactly what was on the line at this past weekends 2012 Tamiya TCS North American Finals; the chance to win a free Japan trip to race in the Tamiya Worlds. So what exactly is TCS? Tamiya Championship Series is a multi-stop race series that holds regional races all over North America in which you’re only allowed to run Tamiya cars, that ultimately culminates to the finals that are held at Tamiya’s own SoCal track in Aliso Viejo, Ca. Now in its 18th year running, the TCS series is running as strong as ever. I’ve had a chance to race in TCS a hand full of times and I can tell you from personal experience that it’s tough to win at the Finals! The tech officials do an excellent job of making sure that everyone is running equal gear so that it really comes down to who is the better driver. Something as minor as hitting a dot, running a wide line or worst case scenario, being involved in a crash, will make it that much harder to catch the leaders if everyone’s speed is equal. This years Japan classes were the Mini, F1, GT2 and GT1 Past Champions (a first for Tamiya this year). When all the racing was in the books, it would be Mihai Gutuescu winning the GT2 class, Rod Canare in the GT1 class, Gordie Tam in the Mini, and Anthony Fung taking the F1 win. A big congrats goes to all the winners who put in the hard work that definitely paid off and will all be representing the USA at the Tamiya Worlds. Good luck in Japan! – Joel Navarro

 

Check back for race video of the mains that will be posted soon!

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