NOBUHIRO “MONSTER” TAJIMA SETS NEW PERSONAL BEST AT PIKES PEAK
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO (June 29, 2014) – Nobuhito “Monster” Tajima, defending champion and record holder of the Electric Division, returned for another round of action in the 92nd Pike Peaks International Hill Climb. Tajima chose the GitiCompete GTR1 as his race tire once again
On race day, the weather was unusually hotter than during the sanctioned practices. Tajima drove his newly modified vehicle, equipped with an upgraded version of the 340/710-18 GitiCompete GTR1, and utilizing enhanced energy efficiency, speed, and control to combat Pikes Peak. Tajima improved upon the record-breaking time that he set last year, finishing the race in 9 minutes and 37 seconds. However, the defending champion’s new personal best resulted in a third place finish, as two other competitors finished with new record-setting times.
After the race, Tajima said, “Although I missed out on this year’s championship, the race is still worth celebrating. This year, the results of the Electric Division significantly improved in the overall ranking of the PPIHC. Out of the top five scores, three were from the Electric Division.”
Formula Drift Re-Cap Round 5: Top-16 for Mohan in Seattle
Kyle Mohan’s Formula Drift season got a boost at the Formula Drift Pro Championship round at Evergreen Speedway near Seattle, Washington as he advanced to the main round of competition.
Mohan, driving the no. 99 GT Radial / Energy-X / Mazdatrix Mazda RX-8, had qualified in 22nd position for the round of top-32. In the final practice just before his top-32 round, Mohan had an incident in the banking which forced his Kyle Mohan Racing team to work quickly to make repairs in time for his battle against Jhonnattan Castro. Mohan then defeated Castro to advance to the main tandem competition.
“We weren’t very happy with how we had done in qualifying,” said Mohan. “We were chasing the setup a bit and just couldn’t get it nailed down the way we would like. We took the opportunity of the final practice to try some different things and to push it a bit more – and I pushed a little too far! Luckily, the guys were able to get the car back together in time and the car was really good in the battle against Jhonnattan.”
After the opening ceremonies, Mohan would face Frederic Aasbo who was the winner at the most recent round at Wall Speedway in Wall, New Jersey. During the battle, however, a mechanical problem would leave Mohan unable to start his second run and Aasbo would advance through to the next round.
“We were lucky to have the support of a lot of Mazda fans and wanted to put on a good show for them,” said Mohan. “And we always want to do our best for our partners GT Radial, Energy-X, and Mazdatrix. Unfortunately, we had a problem with the car that we were unable to fix in time for the second run. It’s disappointing, but after having such an up and down weekend it was nice to leave with a solid result. The car may be a little beat up, but we have plenty of time to fix it and make improvements before our next event.”
Mohan will compete in the next round of the Formula Drift championship at Texas Motor Speedway on September 12-13.
