Boots top seed for qualifying

Elliot Boots is the top seed for qualifying at the 1:8 Offroad World Championship which is scheduled to get underway in the morning but with heavy rain expected to arrive once again in Buenos Aires there is the strong possibility that we may see no action at all tomorrow.  After a four hour delay to the start of racing today due to over night rain, the normal 2-minute practice run held after controlled practice to ensure the timing for the reseeded heats is correct was cancelled with track officials wanting to get the track covered before the arrival of the wet weather.

With the humidity rising throughout the second controlled practice causing moisture to come up through the clay surface in a number of spots around the track, drivers in the top heats all reported that conditions were greasy.  Boots who managed to better his CP1 time by exactly 1/10th of second ran the same set-up set up on his MP9 but switched from AKA Moto tyre to City Block and other than a few issues with traffic the run was good.  Declaring himself happy with both his pace and how his buggy is working the British ace said he planned to continue with everything the same for qualifying should we be lucky enough to avoid the rain but added if it does rain he is confident that they have a good set for a drying track.  Hoping that it doesn’t come to running on a wet track, reports of the wet weather varying from just one day to three continuous day, he said set-up for such conditions count for nothing and to do so would cause the track to deteriorate really badly.

Bettering his CP1 time by almost 3 seconds to claim second in the seeding, which when published raised a few eyebrows as most expected it to be based on each driver fastest run time not on points, Ryan Maifield said while rebuilding his Associated RC8 he would also be adjusting his diff oils and shock positions.  The result was a less consistent and harder buggy to drive but overall it was faster, his time being the third fastest run overall of the two controlled 5-minute runs. Once again running JConcepts’ new Metrix tyre, the former US National Champion said based on his first qualifier being a dry run he will make a few more small changes saying you can ‘always make it work better’.  Team-mate Yannick Aigoin also made the top heat taking his nVision powered RC8 to 9th in the ranking.

Setting the second fastest overall time of controlled practice in CP1 but classified third in the reseeding, TLR’s Dakotah Phend said set-up changes made to his 8ight for the second run did not work.  Running a time 9-seconds slower he said for Q1 they will run a set-up that is half way between that used in the first and second run.  Overall the 15-year-old said he was really happy with how practice went and he is feeling good going into qualifying.  Team-mate and reigning European Champion Darren Bloomfield who ended the day seeded 23rd said despite the track conditions his 8ight, which was running on AKA Enduro tyres, was much better but it was far from perfect.  Suffering from bad understeer off power it was also steering from the rear on power.  Planning to change the camber link on the front tower the British driver said he hoped this would improve things.

Shaving 3-second off his first run, HB’s Ty Tessmann will carry No.4 on his D8’12 in qualifying. The Canadian switched back to his free practice set-up which he said was much better. Running Proline Bowtie in the warm-up he switched to Blockades for the timed part of the run which while slightly slower than the former made the car pretty safe to drive.  Team-mate Atsushi Hara used Hot Bodies’ Proto tyre for his second run, which is similar to AKA’s Moto, but the run was fractionally slower. The former World Champion said the Grid Lock he used in CP1 was better but overall he was pleased to be seeded fifth adding he believes that he can be competitive in qualifying.

The top Mugen, reseeded in 7th behind Kyosho’s Jerome Aigoin, two time former European Champion Robert Batlle went 6 seconds faster in CP2 setting the fifth fastest overall time despite choosing the wrong tyre.  The Spaniard has complained about a lack of power but said his Novarossi engine was now really strong and this made a big difference. Running a new and as yet unnamed pin tyre from Procircuit on his MBX7 he said the pins were too big and this together with the damp patches made the buggy a little loose.  Happy with where they are at with the new car he said with the right tyre choice everything should be good for qualifying but he added that the competition is very close and the loss of just one second could cost you up to five or so places.

Batlle’s big rival in Europe, Team Xray’s Renaud Savoya posted the fifth fastest time of CP2 to be seeded 8th.  Improving his time by almost 8 seconds the French ace said a change of tyre compound made a huge difference to the feeling of his RB powered XB9.  Running Sweep’s Battle Star tyre, he used the softer blue compound in the second run which gave the buggy a much better feeling.  Having had engine issues yesterday the 3-time European Champion said they got a better tune today and this was a big confidence boost.  Happy with where he is at he added, taking a look up at the cloudy skies over the track, that if it rains everyone will have to ‘start again from zero’.

Reigning World Champion Cody King ended up 20th in the ranking one spot ahead of team-mate and 2010 Top Qualifier Jared Tebo.  King said his Orion powered MP9 was again better in CP2 putting the improved performance down mainly to a change to Proline’s Big Block tyre.  The American said normally he would change very little with his set-up over a race event and instead adjust his driving to suit the track but here in Argentina he is having to make changes every run.  Having tried to focus on his own thing rather than getting hooked up on times Cody said right now his buggy feels pretty good and he is looking forward to qualifying getting underway.

Controlled Practice Top 16 Overall
1. Elliot Boots – Kyosho/Novarossi – 183 pts (7/5:17.508)
2. Ryan Maifield – Associated/LRP – 181 (7/5:18.402)
3. Phend Dakotah – TLR/Orion – 181 (7/5:17.429)
4. Ty Tessmann – HB/OS Speed – 180 (7/5:18.593)
5. Atushi Hara – HB/OS Speed – 180 (7/5:20.053)
6. Jerome Aigoin – Kyosho/Novarossi – 179 (7/5:20.282)
7. Robert Batlle – Mugen/Novarossi – 179 (7/5:18.687)
8. Renaud Savoya – Xray/RB – 178 (7/5:19.300)
9. Yannick Aigoin – Associated/Nvision – 177 (7/5:21.627)
10.David Ronnevalk – Kyosho/Orion – 177 (7/5:20.155)
11.Kyle McBride – Kyosho/Novarossi – 176 (7/5:20.667)
12.Lee Martin – Mugen/Novarossi – 175 (7/5:20.837)
13.Ryan Lutz – Durango/Alpha – 173 (7/5:23.141)
14.Shin Adachi – HB/OS Speed – 172 (7/5:23.316)
15.Taylor Petersen – Mugen/Alpha – 171 (7/5:22.099)
16.Davide Tortorici – Mugen/Bliss – 171 (7/5:23.582)

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