Difference between revisions of "Kamaha Revolution Motorsports"

Revision as of 05:08, 22 November 2012

Kamaha
[[{{{Logo}}}|150px]]
Full Name	Kamaha Motorsports
Base	Brands Hatch, Kent, England
Founder(s)	Tatsuya Kahama
Team Principal(s)	Barii Mori
Technical Director	Nigel Stroud
Current Drivers	#11 - Nicolas Steele #12 - Barii Mori
Other Noted Drivers	Kay Lon Simon Redman
Debut	2010 German Grand Prix
Races	73 (140 entries)
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0
Race Wins	1
Podiums	16
Points	192
Pole Positions	0
Fastest Laps	1

Kamaha Motorsports is a Japanese racing team that is currently competing in the Formula 1 Rejects World Race Series. As one of the founding teams of the F1RWRS set up by businessman Tatsuya Kahama (under the founding name of Kahama Motor Sport), they have had some flashes of briliance but have generally struggled. The team was bought out by Barii Mori at the end of the 2012 season; he renamed it to it's current name, Kamaha.

History

The team despite being very Japanese, set up their base just outside Brands Hatch as Tatsuya Kahama knew that having a UK base would be central to the team having any success. They hired the young German driver Kay Lon who had won the German F3 series a few years previous and had been racing in GP2. They struggled to find a driver of experience until the second race of the season when they signed experienced Australian journeyman driver Simon Redman. They started their long relationship with Ford by using the Ford ED engine.

2010 and a poor start

The 2010 season would be one to forget as a fifth in the Belgian Grand Prix would be the best result of the season. Five more point scoring positions would mean they end up bottom of the constructors championship equal with KQ Motor Sports.

The new chassis looked promising so Tatsuya decided to struggle on and the 2011 season did start much better with a win for Redman at the Norisring for the Bavarian Grand Prix. However apart from Lon getting a well deserved second place at Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix, the team struggled with both drivers getting only four more point scoring positions, Lon was also disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix for dangerous driving. At the end of the season Simon Redman had enough and decided to hang up his helmet and retire.

2012 and so close

For the 2012 season, the team struggled to find another driver and decided to focus all their efforts in Lon, and the first race would see Lon lead the Bavarian Grand Prix, only for him to be involved in a large accident which would put him 7th and 15 laps down. However the next three races would see him get three second places in a row, lifting him to second place just 2 points behind Pippa Mann. However, the next four races would just see some minor points and Chris Dagnall would leapfrog both Lon and Mann. A second at the English Grand Prix would keep him in it, but a third at the Surfers SuperPrix and a second at the Australian Grand Prix as well as poor results for Dagnall and Mann would see Kay Lon lead the championship.

The Australian GP would also see Barii Mori join the team, although he failed to get to grips with the car designed for Lon. The Chinese Grand Prix saw Chris Dagnall equal Lon on points, with two races to go it could have been anybody's championship. A fourth at Laguna Seca for the United States Grand Prix would see Lon take the championship lead again. Sadly a second for Pippa Mann and a forth for Chris Dagnall at the F1RWRS 500 would mean that the fifth that Kay Lon managed to get (a lap down too) meant nothing as he would drop to 3rd in the championship.

2013 and a drunken name change

Soon after the race, Tatsuya Kahama had enough; he said he had spent far too much money on the team with only a single win and a large bill for heart medicine for the 2012 season to show for it. He sold the team to Barii Mori for 500 yen or the "price of a tin of baked beans in Japan", as Mori put it. Mori signed Lon for another season and renamed the team to Kamaha from Kahama as said it sounded better, although it has been pointed out that during the heavy drinking session with Kahama, Mori just wrote the name in incorrectly but it sounded better so it stuck. It is interesting to note that the chassis is still called Kahama for that year.

They extended their contract with Ford for some ED engines for yet another season. Barii Mori celebrated in style by winning the non championship Motegi Charity Race, this being the only win a Kamaha car would see all season.

Things were however not well with the team. Kay Lon was a second off the pace of Mori in qualifying of the first two races and retired early on in both races. Lon expressed his concerns vocally to the press and before the third race of the season he was sacked (later rumors suggested that he actually drove badly in exchange for money by match-fixers) and replaced by journeyman and as some of his sponsors would say, a wasted talent, Nicolas Steele. The team managed to score enough points to save themselves from slipping into prequalifying with Mori scoring two fifth places at the 7th and 8th races of the season at the British and German GPs, to score 4 points which would just be enough to save them. Mori completed a hat trick of 5th places at the Dutch Grand Prix. Mori has stated in the press that he does think the Ford ED engine is gutless and is looking for a new engine to replace it.

2014 and a change for the better

The team merged with FAT Turbo Racing after the Japanese Grand Prix, the merger gave them funds from the sale of the chassis and engine, Kamaha would sell the entry and FAT Turbo racings base to Hagane Shizuka for a plate of Sushi, however it would transpire that the entry was worthless without the chassis or engine which meant the Shizuka would have to enter the team from scratch. It is rumoured that Barii Mori knew this as the withdrawl of Flying Fish Motorsports the team would escape having to prequalify as the defacto 11th best team as long as FAT Turbo Racing were not given their entry.

Kamaha did have talks with Isuzu to supply an engine for the 2014 season but the price was just too high and no amount of haggling could bring the price down, but Yamaha popped up and now they have the rather rhyming name Kamaha-Yamaha.

The season brought 6 podiums including four 2nd places for Nicolas Steele, showing the world that he did have talent, just never the car to show it. However 8 retirements have curtailed what could have been a championship winning season, with a race to go Steele is in 5th place in the championship.

Mori on the other hand has been plagued with problems, with only 4 race finishes although this did include two 2nd places.

2015 a new hope...

Mori has resigned Nicolas Steele for another season with a hope that the car can be improved and finish more races and they can challenge for the title. However the car is still plagued with relability issues. Steele has posted 5 straight retirements and Mori has only managed to finish two races.

However one race he did finish was in Monaco where he started 15th on the grid and got a 5th and was awarded driver of the race.

F1RWRS Results

Year	Chassis	Engine	#	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	CC	Pts
2010	Kahama KT-1	Ford EDA			GER	LUX	SAX	CHN	TAS	BHR	BEL	GBR	AUS								=9th	23
			10	Simon Redman		17	7	7	12	14	5	12	16
			11	Kay Lon	17	9	16	14	15	7	12	13	8
2011	Kahama KT-2	Ford EDB			BAV	GER	SAX	LUX	BEL	GBR	ENG	KEN	NED	TAS	AUS	NSW	SUR	CHN	USA		6th	43
			13	Simon Redman	1	4	17	DNPQ	Ret	8	15	15	15	6	5	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	15
			14	Kay Lon	12	10	19	Ret	DSQ	17	DNPQ	DNPQ	2	DNPQ	12	DNPQ	DNPQ	4	16
2012	Kahama KT-3	Ford EDB Spec III			BAV	SAX	GER	LUX	BEL	NED	GBR	KEN	ENG	TAS	SUR	NSW	AUS	CHN	USA	500	5th	80
			11	Kay Lon	7	2	2	2	9	5	6	11	2	Ret	3	2	Ret	10	4	5
			12	Barii Mori												20	Ret	DNPQ	15	28
2013	Kahama KM-4L	Ford EDCX			TAS	AUS	MEX	USA	MON	FRA	GBR	GER	NED	BEL	POR	MED	MAC	CHN	JPN	BRA	=12th	7
			26	Kay Lon	Ret	Ret
				Nicolas Steele			Ret	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	10	6
			27	Barii Mori	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	9	5	5	5	11	11	Ret	Ret	15	17	Ret
2014	Kahama KM-5	Yamaha OX10			TAS	AUS	BRA	MEX	USA	MON	FRA	GBR	GER	BEL	ITA	MED	NED	MAC	CHN	JPN	6th	39
			22	Barii Mori	Ret	Ret	Ret	2	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	2	Ret	Ret	7
			23	Nicolas Steele	Ret	Ret	3	Ret	3	2	Ret	Ret	9	2	2	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	Ret
2015	Kahama KM-6	Yamaha OX10A			TAS	AUS	MED	MON	MEX	USA	CAN	GBR	GER	BEL	AUT	ITA	NED	CHN	JPN	BRA	=6th*	2*
			11	Nicolas Steele	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret
			12	Barii Mori	Ret	15	Ret	5	Ret