The International Indoor Championships are held every year in Las Vegas Nevada. The event is a radio control car racing championship that features many of the on-road classes that are favored by hobbyists and professionals alike. These classes include 1/12 scale, Touring Car and World GT. New to the event this year was the inclusion of the Formula One class made popular by Tamiya’s long tradition of F-1 releases since the early 1990’s. Tamiya's newest release is the F104X1, which incorporates some added features that make this already nimble handling direct drive car better and easier to tune.

 The event itself spans several days inside a ball room at the world famous Riviera Hotel and Casino. The track that is temporarily erected is made out of carpet for the highest possible traction. F-1 was going to be run for the first time at IIC, so Tamiya America decided to prepare two F104X-1’s for World Champion Marc Rheinard to drive and for fellow TRF team member Viktor Wilke to pilot alongside him.

The F104X-1 has one key feature that makes it easier to tune and adds consistency.  The X-1 has a roll damper, which eliminates the traditional friction damper pads. The friction damper pads have been used in pan cars since the 1980’s, but roll dampers have long become the standard since the mid to late 1990’s. The new roll damper in the X-1 brings the Tamiya F-1 design closer in line to what is seen in 1/12 scale racing. The roll damper uses different viscosity lubricants its tube design to control the roll of the F104. Because the lube is contained within the tube design the roll characteristic is consistent and the lube remains debris free.

Marc and Viktor’s cars were prepared by David Jun and the polycarbonate body sets were painted and detailed by Eric Paley of Tamiya America. Both bodies were painted in their stock scheme to keep the class looking realistic. Marc elected to race the Ferrari F60 while Viktor used the McLaren Mercedes MP4-24. Both bodies are replicas of F1 cars as raced in the 2009 season. A few option parts were added to the cars, most notably the Aluminum motor plate set, which allows for better heat dissipation. A carbon axle and carbon lower deck was supplied to Marc and Viktor in case high traction developed during the course of the event. The carbon axle provides less rotating mass in the drive-line and the carbon lower deck provides a stiffer chassis, which helps when traction becomes very high.

The IIC race rules for F1 mandated spec tires in order to keep things close, fair and cost effective. The tires used were from RIDE, which is a well-known company based in Japan. The tires came pre-mounted on a RIDE wheel.

Below are some comments from Viktor regarding his experience with the Tamiya F104X-1:

“Beginning of practice and also along the race, we tried to get more steering. The F104X-1 always needed more steering. To make this I changed to softer front suspension spring; from (Gold) to (silver), added 15g weight in the front wing. At the same time we got more steering we also experienced more problems with the rear diffing out of the corners. To help this I made the rear suspension softer. I used softer O-ring (MuchMore orange 40) instead of the hard Tamiya (black), removed the grease from the side damper and used the carbon rear axle with 20g of weight on the rear bumper instead of the steel axle.

 In the end the car was pretty good and also the best standard car at the race. I finished 2nd behind Hayato who used a custom built car which was about 150-200g lighter than our Tamiya car.

I heard about a tip that would help the rear tires to stop diffing out of the corners. The tip mentioned the use of a different main spur gear (Xenon) with more diff balls (8) instead of standard (6).”

Marc and Viktor reported they have never had so much fun racing. The Tamiya F1 cars provided a simple outlet for them to enjoy driving. They have become very accustomed to racing Tamiya’s high end touring cars, which have an abundance of tuning settings. Those settings can often lead you to chase a set-up. Tamiya’s simple F1 cars only allow for a limited amount of tuning, but provide the racer with a very fun racing experience which both Tamiya drivers appreciated enjoying again.

In recent months after the International Indoor Championships (IIC) the Formula One class has seemed to gain momentum. Tamiya’s F-1 cars have always been a favorite for many die-hard on road racers, but the exposure gained at the IIC event looks to have won over some new fans of the sport. Tamiya’s simple yet effective design along with the body’s detailed replica representation is two ingredients that have renewed interest in R/C F-1 racing again.

Tamiya America would like to thank Marc Rheinard and Viktor Wilke for showcasing the Tamiya F104X1 at a high profile R/C racing event.