Tessmann tops Q2 in Perth

Ty Tessmann has topped the opening day of qualifying’s second round at the 1:8 Offroad World Championships in Perth, Australia. Fifth in Q1, the Xray driver was fastest on his second attempt ahead of fellow Heat 1 runner Ryan Maifield by 9/10ths of a second.  Running in Heat 2, the track getting one of its scheduled waterings before the first two heats, Q1 Top Qualifier David Ronnefalk was fastest of that group to complete the overall Top 3 ahead of Robert Batlle, Dakotah Phend and Juan Carlos Canas.  Quickest in yesterday’s controlled practice to go into qualifying as the Top Seed, the day didn’t improve for Davide Ongaro. The Team Associated driver suffered a costly error in Q1 but ended up with a DNF for Q2 as he lost a wheel while on a TQ pace run.

I think we can get more out of the car so we will make changes for tomorrow.”

Ty Tessmann

Reacting to his TQ run, Tessmann said, ‘I thought it went pretty good. It was a little dusty but the guys after had it dusty too. On the down steps I got a little squirrelly and had to correct it but otherwise it was a clean run’. The former World Champion continued, ‘I tried a different tyre, S2 Invader, and it was good for these kind of conditions. We will keep an eye on how the track develops and the dust’. Looking to Q3, drivers from the top 5 heats not up until midday compared with the 08:00 start today, he said, ‘I think we can get more out of the car so we will make changes for tomorrow’.

I played a little strategy at the start and stayed in the pit so as to be on my own.”

Ryan Maifield

Commenting on his run Maifield said, ‘It was good. I tried to put in another clean run. I played a little strategy at the start and stayed in the pit so as to be on my own’.  The Arizona driver continued, ‘I drove pretty conservative. One or two laps I didn’t hit my marks but it cost 1 to 2 seconds most’.  On his car the Mugen driver said, ‘we made a few changes to improve the drivability for long runs. For tomorrow we will make a spring change and maybe also the rear diff but the big thing is to work out what tyre to be on’.  For Q2 he ran the same set of JConcepts’ new Blockers tyre he used in the opening qualifier saying they ran the same set to get an understanding of how the tyre, which is also an all new compound, wears’.

We kept the car the same to see how it was in the day time conditions and it felt good for the entire run.”

David Ronnefalk

‘It was not bad’ was how Ronnefalk summed up Q2. The defending World Champion added, ‘It was a good run with no mistakes although I touched the wall coming into the pits. I lost 1 to 1.5 seconds there but overall the car was very consistent again. I had a lot off traffic which cost me more time there. Without this and the pitlane mistake it would have been a TQ again for sure’. On his car the HB Racing driver said, ‘We kept the car the same to see how it was in the day time conditions and it felt good for the entire run. We can fine tune some fine details but we have the car for the final which is for sure the most important thing’.

We have enough speed and now we are already working on the final and what tyre to use.”

Robert Batlle

Only 11th in Q1 after two crashes on the triple, former World Champion Batlle was happier with Q2 describing the run as ‘not bad’. Describing his Mugen as quite easy to drive, the Spaniard added the car was ‘a little squatty on the rear’ and they need ‘to work on that for the next one’. Suffering a mistake that cost him 5-seconds and ending up 5-seconds off the TQ, he said, ‘we have enough speed and now we are already working on the final and what tyre to use’. Asked what he planned for Q3, he replied, we wait what and see. We have plenty of time. We have nearly 24-hours before we run again’.

There was a bunch of cars racing each other and I want to stay out of that tomorrow and race my ow race.”

Dakotah Phend

‘That was a little better. Less mistakes on my part. I drove a lot better’, was Phend’s view of his second qualifying attempt. The TLR driver added, ‘I will try to get a better starting position at the start. There was a bunch of cars racing each other and I want to stay out of that tomorrow and race my ow race’. On his car, the US driver said, ‘It got a little edgy at the end so we will try fix that. It just was just the last few laps so we’ll do nothing crazy of a change. Maybe in the shocks we’ll go with a thicker oil.’

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