US Nationals underway in California
The 2011 US Nationals for 1:8 Offroad have just got underway at the impressive Thunder Alley facility in Southern California where some of the best drivers in the World will battle it out in both the Buggy and Truggy classes over the next 5 days in search of the most important title outside of the World Championships. Entering the pits the importance of this event and market, the biggest in the World, is evident by the size of the team presence in what is one of the most colourful and well presented pit areas we’ve ever witnessed.
A little over six months ago at the World Championships in Thailand, American drivers dominated proceedings by first taking the TQ honours, then by securing over half the places on the grid of the final before Cody King went on to win the World title. With so many drivers of a World class caliber, the stage is set for a thrilling event on a track track layout which most of the top drivers feel will lend itself to close racing. 132 Buggy and 90 Truggy entries have been published for the opening day of the event which breaks the drivers in gently with just one 7-minute round of practice for each class.
Picking a favourite for the win come Sunday is near impossible due to the standard of drivers present. Kyosho’s Jared Tebo is the defending champion having won both the Buggy and Truggy titles last year in Colorado but at the Warm-up event at the beginning of April it was Associated’s Ryan Maifield who was victorious in Buggy while Hot Bodies young ace Ty Tessmann won Truggy. Thunder Alley previously hosted the Nationals back in 2008, when it was a Buggy only event, and on that occasion Team Losi’s Mike Truhe took the victory.
Interestingly with Proline’s headquarters only ten minutes from Thunder Alley a number of their team drivers took advantage of the tyre company’s new test track yesterday to get into the groove for the event. Due to a ROAR ruling Thunder Alley was closed to practice so Ryan Cavalieri, Ty Tessmann, Chad Bradley, Marty Korn and Dylan Rodriguez used the fresh Proline track to evaluate Proline’s new Blockade buggy tyre and Revolver 2.0 truggy tyre, both of which are designed as a long wearing tyre and are expected to feature in the finals here on Sunday.
European Champion Renaud Savoya is here but the now US based driver will have to wait another year before he can contest the US Nationals. Under the rules for entering the championships competitors must be based in the country more than 12 months and having only moved out to Texas from France late last year he is not yet eligible to compete. Instead the three time European Champion and World finalist will provide support to RB customers and his American Durango team-mates. He also said he expects to learn a few things from watching his main rivals something he would not normally have the opportunity to do when he is competing himself.
View our event image gallery here.