Maifield sets 4WD Buggy pace in Q2
Having suffered a non-finish in the opening round of 4WD Buggy qualifying, Ryan Maifield bounced back at the JConcepts Indoor National series Finals in Nebraska to set the pace in Q2 ahead of Dustin Evans and Steven Hartson. The second of the three rounds of qualifying at the HobbyTown USA Hobby Plex track also saw the Arizona ace set back up his Q1 topping run in 2WD Short Course to secure him the overall TQ honours for tomorrow’s finals.
Changing to a combination of Black compound rear and Gold front JConcepts Barcode tyres, with the rear pin considerably sanded down in the centre, Maifield said his B44.2 felt really good and was probably capable of more. Having went out in Q1 with a broken drivetrain, he said he had to put in a safe run. Planning to leave his car as is for the third & final qualifier he plans to push a little harder but adding that the Omaha track leaves little room for error making it very easy to push too hard. Despite securing the TQ for the triple A-main of 2WD Short Course by topping Q2 from MIP driver Matthew Olson, he said he ‘got lucky’. Crashing on his opening lap he said it was only due to Evans crashing that he was able to take the round. Not happy with his SC10, for Q3 he will try a different tyre combination to try and give himself a more competitive car for the finals.
Only fourth in Q1 after losing 9-seconds on his opening lap, Evans again had a bad start but this time when he got stuck in the pipe he wasn’t as heavily punished. Making the same tyre change as Maifield, he said his Orion powered TLR22-4 was ‘a lot better’. In 2WD Short Course, in which he posted the 3rd fastest time, he said the start of the run was ‘awesome’. After a mistake it would go downhill for him with his tyres, which are great for the first half of the 5-minute run, fading badly in the last minute.
Running a much more heavily sanded front tyre on his Associated B44.2, World Champion Steven Hartson said the buggy felt much better. Suffering one mistake, the Californian driver describing the rest of the run as ‘pretty good’ claiming a much needed 3rd having DNF’d Q1. Asked if he planned any changes for the final qualifier he said he will ‘probably’ leave everything as is, having to play safe to book himself a place in the A-Main. Unable to repeat his 2WD Short Course Q1 Top 3, Hartson said his truck was ‘terrible’ in Q2. Suffering ’10 mistakes’ he said he just had an overall lack of grip.
Behind the Top 3, Kyle Skidmore set the fourth fastest time ahead of TLR’s JR Mitch with Matt Gosch completing the Top 6. For Q1 pace setter Nick Gibson he struggled with the set-up on his B44.1 combined with the nerves of leading away the top heat leaving the 17-year-old to finish well outside the Top 10.
Another overall TQ to be settled in Q2 was the Mod Truck class with TLR’s Cody Hollis backing up his Q1 topping run to take Q2 ahead of team-mate Taylor Larsen.
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