Evans leads the way in RROC practice
Dustin Evans leads the way in practice for this year’s 24th running of the Reedy Race of Champions. The former champion was fastest after the first two rounds of practice in both 2WD and 4WD at OCRC in Huntington Beach. With Nick Black building his toughest track for OCRC’s fifth hosting of the infamous race, behind Evans it was Ty Tessmann who was second fastest in both classes with former champions Ryan Maifield and Dakotah Phend completing the Top 3 in 4WD and 2WD respectively. For reigning champion Ryan Cavalieri, he would kick off his quest for a fifth Reedy Race title with the fourth fastest 3-consecutive laps in each class, the Associated driver knowing better than most that practice pace doesn’t count for much once the Reedy’s heads up race format gets underway.
‘It going really good, I love the track’, was Evans reaction to his early form. The Associated driver added, ‘I like more technical, jumpy layouts, not just full gas stuff. I like timing jumps and stuff like that which this track has’. In terms of his cars, the 2011 Champion said, ‘both cars are awesome. I can’t ask for more. I’m ready to go racing’.
Having wrapped up the second round of practice wth his 2WD, Tessmann said, ‘the grip is coming up quite fast and my car was a little soft in oil for it’. On his 4WD, the Xray driver said, ‘I adjusted my speedo for more power but discovered it was a slipper clutch issue so I will go back to my previous power set-up along with a new slipper’. On the track layout, the Canadian for whom the Reedy title is one that has so far eluded him, he said, ‘It pretty fun and will be good for racing. It’s not going to be follow the leader. There are spots you make up time and there are spots you can make mistakes and hopefully making the mistakes will not be me’.
Maifield summed up the early practice with, ‘its going ok. The tyres are taking for ever to come in in 2WD. It is normal Reedy Race, break in tyres’. The newly crowned World Champion, added on his 2WD that, ‘when the grip comes up there are going to be a few jumps we will be able to make so I have been working on making sure I have the power for it’. On his 4WD, the 2015 Champion said, ‘it feels good’.
Feeling under the weather, Phend said, ‘so far I’m really comfortable out there so I’m just getting my head down and trying to put in clean laps’. Adding his name to the famous Reedy Race trophy at OCRC 2 years ago, the TLR driver said of both his cars he could probably make his 4WD faster but with it ‘really easy to drive’ he might just leave it as is. Asked his thoughts on the track he replied, ‘Its going to be hectic but fun’ concluding, ‘In the big jumps there is going to be a lot of crashes because you can take so many different lines’.
Cavalieri echoed Phend’s thoughts on the racing the track might produce. ‘For sure the track this year is more challenging than before. There is a little more going on so we are going to see some more carnage. The racing will be good but maybe challenging as following others will be a little sketchy as some are struggling with the jumps ‘. In terms of his cars, he said, ‘my cars feel pretty damn close so I’m just trying to get the tyres scuffed in’.
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