Masami Hirosaka: The RC Car Racing Champion
Who Is Masami Hirosaka?
Masami Hirosaka (広坂 正美) is a very famous Japanese driver of radio-controlled (RC) carskids.kiddle.co. He is often called the most successful RC car racer in the world because he won a record 14 world championships in RC car racingkids.kiddle.co. His amazing skill earned him the nickname "Master Masami"kids.kiddle.co. Imagine being so good at something that people compare you to legends like Michael Jordan – that’s how great Masami is in the RC car world! He became a champion many times, which is why he is famous and admired by RC racing fans around the globe.
What Is RC Car Racing?
RC car racing is a sport where people compete by driving miniature cars using remote controls. RC stands for radio-controlled, meaning the cars are controlled from a distance with a special controller that sends radio signals to the caren.wikipedia.org. These cars may be small, but they can be very fast and powerful – some can go as fast as a real car on a highway! In RC races, drivers stand at the side of a track (often on a platform) and guide their cars around the course. There are different kinds of tracks:
On-road tracks: Smooth, flat tracks (like little road courses) for racing cars that look like tiny real cars.
Off-road tracks: Rough or dirt tracks with bumps and jumps for buggies and trucks that can handle flipping and bouncing.
The goal is to complete the race faster than everyone else without crashing. RC car racing is not just “playing with toys” – it’s like a small motorsport, with big competitions and skilled drivers from all over the world. Just like in video games or full-size car racing, drivers need quick reflexes, good control, and lots of practice to win.
Masami’s Major Wins and Championships
Masami Hirosaka’s list of wins is incredible. He has won 14 World Championships in RC car racing – more than anyone else everkids.kiddle.co. These World Championship races are like the Olympics or World Cup for RC cars, and Masami has more gold trophies from them than any other driver in history! He won his first world title when he was just 17 years old (in 1987, in England)kids.kiddle.co. Over the next two decades, he kept winning again and again, with his 14th world championship in 2004 in the United Statestamiyablog.com.
Here are some of Masami’s amazing achievements in simpler terms:
He entered 447 races in his career and won 307 of themkids.kiddle.co. (That means in most races he entered, he finished 1st place!)
He became the RC car world champion 14 times – no one else has done that many. His championship wins span different years and different types of RC cars.
In his home country of Japan, Masami was a national champion 52 times and won at least one Japan championship 21 years in a row (from 1986 to 2006)kids.kiddle.co. This shows he stayed at the top for a very long time.
In one special year (1998), he managed to win every electric RC car class at the Japan national championship – something nobody else has done, and it’s a record that can’t be repeated nowkids.kiddle.co.
Because of all this success, a major RC magazine called him the greatest RC car driver of all timekids.kiddle.co. Masami’s talent and hard work made him an RC racing legend.
Types of RC Cars He Used
Masami raced in several types of RC cars, and he mastered them all. All of his world championships were in electric-powered RC cars (they used batteries, not fuel)kids.kiddle.co. Here are the main types of RC cars he drove and won with:
On-Road Cars: These are cars made for smooth tracks. Masami raced 1/12 scale and 1/10 scale on-road cars (a 1/10 scale car is about one-tenth the size of a real car). These on-road cars are low to the ground and super fast on flat surfaces. One type of on-road car he used is called a Pan car, which has a flat chassis and is built for speed on carpet or asphalt trackskids.kiddle.co.
Off-Road Buggies: Masami also raced buggies for off-road tracks. He competed in 1/10 scale 2WD (two-wheel drive) off-road buggies and 1/10 scale 4WD (four-wheel drive) buggieskids.kiddle.co. Two-wheel drive (2WD) means only two wheels (usually the back wheels) push the car, while four-wheel drive (4WD) means all four wheels pull the car. The image above shows an example of an off-road RC buggy similar to those Masami drove – these have big knobby tires and springy suspension to handle jumps and rough terrain. Masami was so skilled that he won world titles with both 2WD and 4WD buggies on dirt tracks!
No matter the type – on-road or off-road – Masami could drive it brilliantly. All his cars were high-quality hobby-grade RC cars (not the simple toy kind). He even helped the companies Yokomo and Team Associated design and test new RC cars during his careerkids.kiddle.co. So he didn’t just drive the cars, he made them better!
Fun Facts and Cool Stories About Masami
Masami Hirosaka’s journey is full of fun facts and stories that make him even more interesting:
Started Super Young: Masami began racing RC cars when he was only 7 years oldkids.kiddle.co! His father, Masaaki Hirosaka, introduced him to the hobby and gave him his first RC car (a Tamiya Lamborghini Countach – a fancy sports car model)kids.kiddle.co. They would race together for years. When Masami turned out to be really good, his dad stopped racing and became Masami’s mechanic, helping fix and tune Masami’s carskids.kiddle.co.
Practice Makes Perfect: To stay the best, Masami practiced a lot. He would do about 100 practice runs once or twice a weekkids.kiddle.co. That’s like doing 100 mini-races in a day! He mostly practiced on smooth tracks to sharpen his reflexes. All that practice helped him react quickly during real races.
Signature Look: Masami’s race cars had a special paint job. They were usually painted green and white with bright pink flame designs on themkids.kiddle.co. The flames made his cars look super cool and easy to spot on the track. Over the years he added some orange and red, but the green-and-pink style became his trademark. It’s like how a superhero has a costume – Masami’s cars had their own iconic look!
Highest Paid Driver: Because he won so much, Masami was one of the highest-paid RC drivers in the world for a timehouseofrc.com. He had big sponsors (even some non-RC companies like Pioneer electronicshouseofrc.com) and he even appeared on Japanese TV shows to demonstrate RC racinghouseofrc.com. He helped prove that RC racing is a serious sport and that top drivers can be like sports stars.
“Master Masami”: Fellow racers were so impressed by him that they nicknamed him Master Masamikids.kiddle.co. In Japan, he’s a celebrity in the RC community. He’s humble though – he often credits his dad and the team around him for helping in his success.
Overcoming Challenges: When Masami first tried to race on the world stage (mid-1980s), some people didn’t expect a Japanese driver to win. But Masami proved them wrong by practicing hard and then winning the World Championship in England in 1987kids.kiddle.co. This was a big moment that inspired other racers from Japan and around the world.
Always Learning: Besides racing, Masami enjoyed other hobbies like using computers and even theater artskids.kiddle.co. It shows that even champions have many interests. He also wrote down his racing knowledge to share with others (he has a book in Japanese about how to win at RC car racingtamiyablog.com).
These fun facts show that Masami is not only a champion, but also a dedicated, creative, and inspiring person.
His Influence on RC Racing and Why He’s Important
Masami Hirosaka didn’t just win races – he changed RC car racing and inspired many people:
Inspiring a Generation: When kids and other racers saw Masami winning again and again, they got inspired to try harder and enjoy RC racing even more. He became a role model. Many top racers who came after him say that they looked up to Masami. For example, he mentored younger drivers like Naoto Matsukura, who went on to become a world champion tookids.kiddle.co.
Making RC Popular: His success helped prove that RC racing is a real competitive sport, not just a casual hobby. In Japan, especially, Masami’s fame made more people interested in RC cars. He showed that with skill and practice, you could race tiny cars just like people race big cars – and get a lot of recognition for it.
Working with RC Companies: Even while he was racing, Masami worked with famous RC manufacturers (Yokomo and Team Associated) to develop new and better RC carshouseofrc.com. After he retired from racing in 2008, he didn’t step away from the sport. In fact, he continued to help behind the scenes. He took on roles in organizations that run RC racing events (for example, he helped organize a world championship in 2015kids.kiddle.co). In 2025, it was announced that Masami would join Team Associated’s special advisory group to help design next-generation RC cars, using his knowledge to improve the hobby for everyonecircusrc.com. This means the cars you might buy in the future could have some of Masami’s genius ideas built into them!
A Lasting Legacy: People sometimes call Masami the “Michael Jordan of RC racing,” meaning he is seen as the greatest of all time in that sport. He has set records that are very hard to beat. His dedication (remember how much he practiced and how long he stayed at the top) set a standard for what it means to be a champion. Even today, at RC racing events, fans talk about Masami’s legendary races. Some events even invite him as a special guest, and companies release special edition RC car kits in his honor (for example, re-releasing one of his famous winning cars for collectors and new racers to enjoy).
In short, Masami Hirosaka is important to RC racing not just because he won a lot, but because he helped the sport grow. He showed that hard work, practice, and passion can make you a champion – even if you start as a kid playing with a small car. Masami’s story encourages young racers to dream big. Who knows, maybe you could be the next RC car world champion if you follow in his tire tracks! Keep having fun, keep learning, and remember Masami’s example that anything is possible with dedication.
Sources: Masami Hirosaka’s achievements and story have been summarized from kid-friendly encyclopedia facts and RC racing archiveskids.kiddle.cokids.kiddle.cohouseofrc.com, as well as RC racing news updatescircusrc.com. These sources record his 14 world titles, his career stats, and his continued impact on the RC car racing world. Masami’s life shows how a hobby can turn into a record-breaking career with passion and practice!