Tebo TQs first Buggy qualifier at DNC
2011 Dirt Nitro Challenge Champion Jared Tebo got his 26th birthday off to the perfect start as he headed a Kyosho 1-2 from Elliott Boots in the opening round of qualifying for the 14th running of the world famous Arizona event. Running earlier than Boots in the round Tebo had to watch an impressive run from US debutant Boots, the World Championship Top Qualifier just 8/100ths shy of the TQ at the end of the 7-minute run with the pair the only drivers to record 12 laps. Just missing out on joining them on 12-laps, Team Xray’s Renaud Savoya completed the Top 3.
Having had a frustrating day yesterday in Truggy Qualifying in which he ended up 4th, Tebo ran a near perfect opening buggy heat with his Orion powered MP9 looking very stable around the signature Joey Christensen track. Running soft compound AKA Impact tyres he said everything ‘felt good’ and ‘excited for the next one’ he doesn’t plan to make any changes other than mounting a second set of Impact tyres to have should conditions at the time of Q2, which is over 5 hours away, warrant fresh rubber.
Impressing a lot of onlookers with spectacular driving style, British National Champion Boots was happy to claim second having had not prior practice with his nitro buggy on any US style track on this his first time to visit the country. Running Proline’s Diamond Back tyre in X3 compound the teenager said he plans to run everything the same in Q2 and just focus on learning the track more and cutting out mistakes.
Three time European Champion & 2012 DNC Finalist Savoya said he went into the first qualifier looking to put in smooth run by taking no risks and that approach would pay off for the French ace. Running Sweep’s Square Armour tyre on his Orion powered XB9, Savoya said the soft compound made the buggy very easy to drive if at the cost of a little forward traction but the end result was a clean round which he hopes he can repeat in Q2 so as allowing him to try something different in Q3 with a view to preparing for Sunday’s main event.
Fourth fastest Billy Fischer was very happy with his run joking that ‘its been a long time since I said damn I messed up and only got fourth’. The Team Losi Racing driver said he had a few moments but luckily didnt need to be marshaled. Running the same set of Proline M3 Blockades he used to TQ the final round of 1:8 eBuggy last night he said they worked really well but for the next one he has no choice but to mount a fresh set which could make his 8ight 3.0 a little more edgy to drive. In terms of his buggy set he plans to run a thicker oil all round for this evening’s Q2.
Ryan Cavalieri was on a very competitive run until he first got hit as he passed a slower buggy and then on the last lap he had a moment right before the loop which cost him over 2-seconds. Fitted with soft AKA Impact tyres the factory Associated driver said his buggy was good but he just made a mistake which cost him a TQ run. Pleased with his pace he will leave everything as is in terms of set-up but with the huge amount of time between rounds they will give the buggy a full rebuild ahead of the next heat.
Completing the Top 6 was A-Main Hobbies team driver Dylan Rodriguez. Topping the final round of Truggy qualifying last night, the Las Vegas driver’s run didn’t start out too well as it took some time for the fresh set of Proline Blockade tyres on his Kyosho to break in but once they did it felt exactly how he wanted and was very consistent to drive. Finishing 8th at last years Dirt Nitro Challenge he said for now he doesn’t plan to make any adjustments for Q2 hoping instead to capitalize on his scrubbed in tyres.
For defending Champion Ty Tessmann it was a tough opening qualifier, the factory HB driver ending up only 17th fastest. The US National Champion based his set-up on his OS Speed powered D8 for Q1 on the conditions of the track this morning which was bumpy, but by the time his heat came round the surface had become very polished. With the buggy very loose the the Canadian said it resulted in him making a lot of mistakes but he is confident that a change of set-up and switch from Proline’s X3 Blockade to the X3 Diamond Back which Boots used to good effect, he will be competitive in Q2.
Buggy Qualifying Round 1
1. Jared Tebo – Kyosho/Orion – 12/7:37.072
2. Elliot Boots – Kyosho/Novarossi – 12/7:37.152
3. Renaud Savoya – Xray/Orion – 11/7:00.989
4. Billy Fischer – TLR/Novarossi – 11/7:01.087
5. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated/Orion – 11/7:01.394
6. Dylan Rodriguez – Kyosho/OS – 11/7:03.268
7. Dakotah Phend – TLR/Orion – 11/7:05.420
8. Adam Drake – TLR/Novarossi – 11/7:06.955
9. Tyler Vik – HB/RB – 11/7:07.562
10.Martin Bayer – Xray/LRP – 11/7:07.623
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