Maifield TQs first 4WD Qualifier at Indoor Nats

Ryan Maifield kicked off his arrival at Team Losi Racing in the best way possible as he TQ’d the opening round of 4WD Buggy qualifying this morning at the JConcepts Summer Indoor Nationals. Setting the fastest lap, Maifield topped the round by 1.94 seconds from the Associated of Daimon Borkowicz, the up & coming talent having set the TQ pace of the top heat for a number of laps before a rollover. Having topped last night’s seeding practice, Drew Moller completed the Top 3 just 56/1000ths off Borkowicz.

Happy to top the round and set the fastest lap, Maifield said overall his Orion powered TLR22-4 was too safe admitting that his rivals at times were quicker but because his car was ‘too easy to drive’ he could ‘cruise around with no mistakes’. Looking to improve the car in particular for the 180 corners, for Q2 he said he will make an adjustment to the rear toe and dog bone angle.

‘Super dialled’ was how Borkowicz described his Reedy powered B44.2. The 14-year-old said he had couple of mistakes which allowed Maifield to go to the front and for Q2 he added he needs to keep focused on his driving and not worry about who else is in the heat. In terms of his car he will ‘keep it all the same’.

‘A good first round’ was how Moller summed up Q1. The 18-year-old said he started out the 5-minutes driving too conservatively. Very happy with the performance of his HB D413, he will leave the car as is saying he knows he has the speed and he just needs to work on ‘clean(ing) lines up a little’.

Setting the fourth fastest time was Chris Jarosz. The Associated driver described the run as ‘pretty good’ adding he had ‘no real complaints’. Admitting to a couple of small mistakes, the Sacramento based driver said he was still working on his line choice before the triple which he feels if he can clean up would make it easier to do every lap. Running ball diffs in B44.2, he said he was on the fence about changing to geardiff and will see how team-mates Hartson and Rivkin go on making the switch for Q2 before making a decision.

Setting the sixth fastest time behind the Xray of Tyler Vik, Hartson said his LRP powered B44.2 felt like it had too much grip and as a result he couldn’t push hard. The World Champion’s buggy ‘did not have a smooth arc through the corners’ and he hopes by switching to geardiffs for Q2 that will cure both his problems giving him an overall easier car to drive. Rivkin, who set the 10th fastest time will also make the switch to geardiffs having reported similar issues with the handling.

4WD Buggy Qualifying Round 1
1. Ryan Maifield – Team Losi Racing – 20/5:00.022
2. Damion Borkowicz – Team Associated – 20/5:01.962
3. Drew Moller – A-Main Hobbies (HB) – 20/5:02.018
4. Chris Jarosz – Team Associated – 20/5:02.290
5. Tyler Vik – Team Xray – 20/5:03.309
6. Steven Hartson – Team Associated – 20/5:04.115
7. Eric Albano – Team Associated – 20/5:05.136
8. JR Mitch – Team Losi Racing – 20/5:05.472
9. Brian Strange – Team Associated – 20/5:07.342
10.Spencer Rivkin – Team Associated – 20/5:08.086

View the event image gallery here.