Cavalieri & Maifield notch up 2nd wins in Round 5
The opening round of the second day of racing at the Reedy Race of Champions at OCRC Raceway produced second wins for last years title rivals Ryan Cavalieri and Ryan Maifield while the third win of the penultimate round of 2WD went to multiple Onroad Reedy Race of Championships winner Barry Baker. In terms of the points the results of Round 5 sees Maifield remain top of the points followed by Jared Tebo and Steven Hartson who both finished the round in the Top 3, having each started from the back row of the grid.
Race 1 saw former Champion Dustin Evans start on pole with Baker lining up second on the grid. A winner in Round 2 yesterday, Evans led away the field until Lap 3 when he had the first of a series of errors that would see the TLR drop back down the field with him eventually finishing a disappointing 6th. While looking to be in control of the race, Baker would also make a mistake handing the lead to Round 4 winner Chad Due but that only lasted a lap as the Associated driver also had a moment. While Baker ran the rest of the race untroubled, Serpent’s Billy Easton would come home second 2.4 seconds behind with Tebo completing the Top 3 having made up three places over the last two laps.
In the second encounter, pole starter Drew Moller looked like he was on target to register his first win having survived a mistake that allowed Cavalieri to the lead only for the Reedy Race’s most crowned champion to hand it back to him after a bad landing at the right side double. Unfortunately for the 18-year-old he would run out in the dust on the next lap allowing Cavalieri through, the multiple World Champion not going to mess up the opportunity for a win again as he chases a hat trick of titles at the famous event. Moller said ‘Finally I got a good starting position and all I wanted was a Top 3 and I got that’. The new factory HB team recruit who is running a Kyosho in 2WD, said his tyres where ‘pretty much slicks’ and getting out in the dust he ‘gave it (the win) away’. Cavalieri summed up his race as ‘much better’ having had two tough rounds yesterday in which he finished 7th & 5th. Starting from 6th on the grid he said he just ‘kept patient and worked (his) way up to the front to catch Drew’. Getting passed Moller the first time he said at the double he over jumped and his B5M nose landed allowing Moller back to the front. Having ‘charged’ back up to the leader he said the re-pass came easy as Moller got out of shape and starting from 6th on the grid that was a win he will ‘happily take’ with it ‘helping to work my way back up (in the points)’.
In the final race of the round it was yesterday’s Mr. Consistent Carson Wernimont who led away the grid. Third in all four races yesterday the new Associated signing initially saw off the challenge of Round 4 winner Dakotah Phend before Maifield moved up to second after a mistake from his TLR team-mate after the bowl. Like Cavalier, Maifield wouldn’t have to work too hard to take the lead with Wernimont spinning out at the end of the start on the start of lap 9. With Steven Hartson also getting through it looked like 3rd was again on the cards for Wernimont but on the final corner he got out of shape allowing Phend and former Champion Joern Neumann to slip by dropping him to 5th. Hartson who sits third in the points with one last round of 2WD to go, drivers allowed one dropped round per class, said from ‘9th on the grid 2nd was alright’. With OCRC his home track, the 4WD World Champion said he could have pushed harder to catch Maifield but opting for 2nd was better than taking extra risks.
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