Great idea
I think most of the TRF501's in this country were imported anyway, not actually bought via the UK importer (I got mine from them as I work in a hobby shop, so I also got it at a good price...
) so anything Hobby Co and Tamiya in general can do to improve the company's reputation is a good thing. Too many people look down their nose at Tamiya cars as being "toys" and "for beginners", the number of people who refuse to believe my TRF501 is a Tamiya car until I show them the instruction book and the TRF logo on the chassis brace is quite alarming. Those "in the know" who have seen or owned TRF cars before usually have nothing but good things to say about them, apart from the price, but that's more in line with competitors' models now Tamiya have sorted their pricing out.
I started off road racing back in march or april last year with a bog standard DF03, I proceeded to modify it over the next few months to the point where it barely resembled its original state, and where it would keep up with most things on the track if it weren't for the numpty behind the wheel!
There's another guy racing a 501 at the club where I race each week (FORCC in Kent, polished wooden floor) and he was absolutely steaming round last week. I think his best lap count was 23 in 4 1/2 minutes. I only managed a measly 18 but one of my mates was videoing the race on his mobile and I watched it afterwards and the car was absolutely flying - as before it was my dodgy driving that let it down
The only problem I can see with a UK TRF501 team is spares backup - will Hobby Co be able to sort their supply out or will we all have to get spares off the interweb (again...) It's no good having a car that you're paranoid of breaking because you have to wait 2 months for parts...
-Steve