Bonanni and Yoshihara Victorious in Inaugural MotoIQ Pacific Tuner Car Championship Race!
MotoIQ Staff Report
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| Formula D Star Joon Maneg was sure to be a crowd pleaser in his Lucas Oil Nissan S13 but he was plagued by mechanical problems which stymied his road racing debut. We really look forward to seeing Joon at events that don't conflict with the Formula D calender. Joon was running in TO class and looked really fast while his car was running. |
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| A hot turbocharger caused a master cylinder seal failure which resulted in a cascade of fluid transfer failures resulting in a catastrophic fire which heavily damaged the Lucas Oil car. Flaming gasoline made things pretty hairy but Joon was fortunately unhurt in the blaze. |
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| Adam Knapik showed some real speed in his turbocharged SR20DET powered Nissan S14, qualifying second in TO class only to suffer an engine failure during qualifying severe enough for him not to be able to make the start of the race. |
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| MotoIQ founder Mike Kojima in the MotoIQ/Jim Wolf Technology Nissan B14 Sentra was the only TU car capable of directly challenging Dai Yoshihara. The two were matched in speed during Saturday practice running closely in several sessions. Unfortunately the normally reliable Dog Car II suffered several mechanical problems ranging from a failed power steering pump and an oil fire before finally succumbing to a cracked piston. |
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| Kojima and TU class winner Formula D star Dai Yoshihara were very evenly matched, the Nissan Sentra suprisingly able to match the Spoon Sport Civic move for move. |
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| Robert Ramirez driving the Road Race Engineering Eclipse was suffering from engine issues during Saturday's practice and qualifying. He fixed the issues after qualifying and ran strongly during the race finishing third. |
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| MotoIQ Editor Annie Sam drove her heart out in the TU MotoIQ / Jim Wolf Technology Nissan NX2000 to finish second in TU. Annie was consistently within one second of winner Dai Yoshihara in lap times in her underpowered racer which normally competes as a NASA PTD car. NASA rules are more restrictive so Annie was only packing 140 hp vs the nearly 200 hp machines of Yoshihara and Kojima. |
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| Adam Knapik was going faster and faster with each practice, wowing spectators with spectacular tail out driving. We hope he will be back soon. Adam is a Pro-Am drifter who is starting to get into grip driving. |
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| Charles Boyles was very aggressive at the start of the race in his TO Honda S2000. Unfortunately he crashed out on the second lap damaging his rear suspension and was unable to continue. |
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| MotoIQ Marketing Director Martin Gonzales was out in MotoIQ's Project G20 race car. Handling issues kept Martin from being competitive. |
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| Mike Kojima leads Formula D drift pros Dai Yoshihara and Joon Maeng in practice. Both Kojima and Maneg suffered from fires moments later. |
