January 26, 2013

Chassis Focus – Ryan Cavalieri

Fri-CavB4-2-9

Chassis Name – Associated B4.2 Factory Team
Motor – Team Orion VST2
ESC – LRP Flow
Batteries – Team Orion
Tires – Pro-Line/JConcepts (handout)
Radio/Servos – Airtronics
Remarks – Reigning double World Champion Cavalieri is running the latest factory team version of the B4.2 with some other bling parts from JConcepts, including the battery brace and a complete set of titanium turnbuckles, which he anodised himself to match his car. Powering the buggy is the all new Team Orion VST2 brushless motor which the American says has a much more linear bottom end power delivery which gives him the punchy feel that he likes, but that the motor also runs cooler allowing him to run more timing for more overall power.

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January 26, 2013

Neumann claims first win at Reedy Race

Joern Neumann

Defending Reedy Race Champion Joern Neumann claimed his first win of this year’s event when he held off a late challenge from the ever spectacular Ryan Maifield in what was the most entertaining race so far of this the 19th running of the unique format event.  In the other two races that made up the third round, Ryan Cavalieri added to his perfect score with win no.3 of the day while his Associated team-mate Steven Hartson notched up his first win from 7th on the grid.

Ryan Maifield

Starting from second on the grid, Neumann made a poor start to his race allowing Maifield and Atsushi Hara to get passed but mistakes from them both on the opening lap meant the German could complete Lap 1 in the lead.  The factory Durango star got a further break when at the end of the straight Maifield ran into the back of Tebo’s Kyosho spinning him out and leaving the Associated driver no option but to wait, resulting in both drivers dropping down the field.  Fired up by his two errors which he himself described as ‘epic failures’, the recovery drive from Maifield was impressive with the crowd getting right behind one of offroad’s most entertain drivers.  Hunting down Neumann at an impressive pace it looked like he was on for the win but on the penultimate lap a mistake, which required his B4.2 to be marshaled, was enough to allow Neumann to take the win by just under 3 seconds with Ty Tessmann completing the Top 3 ahead of HB team-mate Hara.

Asked if he was under pressure from Maifield or just controlling the race from the front Neumann replied ‘when Maifield is behind you you are always under pressure’. Happy to claim his first win and managing a 2nd & 3rd in the opening two rounds, he said the day is going better than expected considering its 2WD.

Annoyed with himself for hitting Tebo as it also messed up the Kyosho ace’s race, adding they are ‘still friends’ following the crash, Maifield said his buggy is working really well but unlike his team-mates he just can’t catch a break.

Cav

Commenting on his latest win Maifield’s team-mate Cavalieri said this one ‘was a little bit of work’. Initially Kyosho’s Kohta Akimoto lead the race from pole position shadowed by the World Champion who said he had to be very patient as the Japanese driver was doing a good job driving his lines.  Eventually Akimoto made a mistake allowing the 2010 Reedy Race Champion through but he then had to see off a challenge from Tamiya’s Lee Martin but that ended when the Brit had a moment of his own.  In the end Cavalieri took the win to extend his lead in the points standings with Dustin Evans coming through for second ahead of Martin.

Dustin Evans

Having started his opening three races from the back end of the grid, 2011 Reedy Race Champion Evans was happy with his Top 4 performances saying that the title is won on the results of the back row starts.

Round 3 2WD Buggy
Race 1
1.(6) Steven Hartson – Associated – 15/5:10.207
2.(2) Kody Numedahl – Associated – 15/5:11.751
3.(5) Mike Truhe – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:12.388
4.(9) Matt Castellano – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:12.656
5.(4) Paul Bradby – Associated – 15/5:19.691
6.(8) Josh Numan – Associated – 14/5:01.547
7.(3) Cody Tuner – Kyosho – 14/5:03.304
8.(1) Rene Trauner – Yokomo – 14/5:05.364
9.(10)Brent Thielke – Associated – 14/5:06.181

Race 2
1.(3) Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 15/5:07.475
2.(8) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:10.274
3.(7) Lee Martin – Tamiya – 15/5:13.502
4.(1) Kohta Akimoto – Kyosho – 15/5:13.946
5.(5) Tanner Denney – Associated – 15/5:21.908
6.(2) Stefan Pfeihofer – Associated – 14/5:05.802
7.(4) Rick Hohwart – Associated – 14/5:05.878
8.(10)Neil Cragg – Associated – 14/5:06.643
9.(6) Ryan Lutz – Team Durango – 14/5:07.652
10.(9)Peter Pinisch – Associated – 14/5:08.647

Race 3
1.(1) Joern Neumann – Team Durango – 15/5:09.658
2.(2) Ryan Maifield – Associated – 15/5:12.595
3.(6) Ty Tessmann – HB/HPI Racing – 15/5:13.727
4.(3) Atsushi Hara – HB/HPI Racing – 15/5:15.148
5.(9) Travis Amezcua – Team Durango – 15/5:16.596
6.(4) Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 15/5:18.629
7.(8) Dakotah Phend – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:02.126
8.(7) Brian Kinwald – Associated – 14/5:03.760
9.(10)Hupo Honigl – Team Durango – 14/5:07.119
10.(5)Chad Due – Associated – 14/5:18.294

View the overall invitational standings after 3 rounds here (PDF).

View our event image gallery here.


January 26, 2013

Cavalieri doubles up in Round 2

Cavalieri

Ryan Cavalieri has made it 2 wins from 2 races at the Reedy Race of Champions in California, the Associated driver again converting his second pole position start into a victory to put himself in an early lead of the standings.  In the other two races that made up the second round of 2WD Buggy at the famous event HB’s Atsushi Hara and Tamiya’s Lee Martin secured the wins.  The drive of the second round came in Race 2 from Ryan Maifield who starting 10th on the grid came through to finish second just a second behind Martin.  Afterwards the Team Associated ace said it was a ‘good result’ but he wished he had been able to get through the pack a little faster, his fastest lap almost 6/10th faster than that of European Champion Martin.

Hara Grid

‘Step by step getting better’ was how Hara summed up his win from second on the grid behind former World Champion Neil Cragg.  Moving the wing forward on the mid motored Kyosho he is running this weekend, the Japanese ace said the RB6 had better traction but for his next race, his mos competitive group so far, he will need to find a little more steering if he is to run with the likes of Joern Neumann, Maifield and Jared Tebo.

Neil Cragg

Cragg who led the race for the opening few laps said he drove a better race than his opening run keeping his B4.2 on its wheels more the second time of asking.  Unfortunately the British driver hit trouble with his slipper clutch four laps in to the 5-minute race which made the jumps more difficult.  Feeling he had pace to take the win, he said once the slipper starting acting up he just tried to get what he could from the race declaring himself happy to come away with second ahead of Neumann.  Starting 8th on the grid it was another strong performance from Neumann who is on pole for his next race.

Steven Hartson

The third race saw a tone to tone win for Cavalieri although the World Champion did have a number of moments one of which allowed team-mate Steven Hartson to get right on his rear, literally.  TLR’s young star Dakotah Phend looked on target to take second but got it wrong putting his TLR 22 on its roof which dropped him back down the order, eventually crossing the finish line in 5th.  Team-mate Dustin Evans completed the Top 3 behind Hartson and ahead of Japan’s Kohta Akimoto.

Round 2 2WD Buggy
Race 1
1.(2) Atsushi Hara – HB/HPI Racing – 15/5:12.384
2.(1) Neil Cragg – Associated – 15/5:15.158
3.(8) Joern Neumann – Team Durango – 15/5:16.115
4.(7) Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 15/5:16.849
5.(3) Hupo Honigl – Team Durango – 14/5:04.441
6.(5) Kody Numedahl – Associated – 14/5:04.696
7.(6) Brent Thielke – Associated – 14/5:08.498
8.(9) Paul Bradby – Associated – 14/5:14.056
9.(4) Rick Hohwart – Associated – 14/5:21.646

Race 2
1.(4) Lee Martin – Tamiya – 15/5:10.515
2.(10)Ryan Maifield – Associated – 15/5:11.528
3.(3) Travis Amezcua – Team Durango – 15/5:13.511
4.(6) Josh Numan – Associated – 15/5:19.109
5.(2) Ty Tessmann – HB/HPI Racing – 15/5:19.530
6.(7) Cody Tuner – Kyosho – 15/5:01.113
7.(8) Chad Due – Associated – 15/5:03.420
8.(1) Peter Pinisch – Associated – 15/5:07.880
9.(9) Ryan Lutz – Team Durango – 14/5:08.676
10.(5)Stefan Pfeihofer – Associated – 14/5:12.430

Race 3
1.(1) Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 15/5:05.350
2.(2) Steven Hartson – Associated – 15/5:11.129
3.(7) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:13.313
4.(5) Kohta Akimoto – Kyosho – 15/5:15.996
5.(4) Dakotah Phend – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:16.746
6.(6) Matt Castellano – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:16.884
7.(8) Mike Truhe – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:20.107
8.(3) Brian Kinwald – Associated – 15/5:28.613
9.(10)Rene Trauner – Yokomo – 14/5:09.394
10.(9)Tanner Denney – Associated – 14/5:14.049

View the overall invitational standings after 2 rounds here (PDF).

View our event image gallery here.


January 25, 2013

Cavalieri biggest winner of opening Reedy Race encounter

Reedy Trophy

Ryan Cavalieri, Brent Thielke and Travis Amezcua have opened their Reedy Offroad Race of Champions with victories of their respective races with former champion Cavalieri taking the biggest win in a race that featured three electric offroad World Champions.  The opening race of the 19th running of the famous event, the current World Champion cruised to a 7-second win over Jared Tebo with Ty Tessmann coming from 8th on the grid to complete the Top 3.

Cavalieri

After the race Cavalieri said his Associated B4.1 was really good but added he expected more of a battle.  Starting from pole, the American said the woop section played out bad’ for the rest of the pack giving him enough of a break that he could focus on his own race and open up a comfortable gap.  Set to start on pole for the 2nd of the six 2WD races before the drivers switch to their 4WD buggies, Cavalieri said he hopes for a similar result then.

Tebo who started from 6th on the grid, described his 2nd place finish as ‘awesome’.  Making big changes to his RB6’s set-up after yesterday’s practice he said his buggy was not too good but added he now knows what set-up he needs to run and his is very confident about the rest of the races.

BT

In the second race Brent Thielke, the man responsible for putting on the Reedy Race ‘show’, took the win but only after a battle with the pole starting TLR of Matt Castellano which saw the pair swap the lead of a number of times.  While the front row of the grid battled up front, reigning champion Joern Neumann, who arrived at the track this morning to a reserved ‘VIP Champion’ parking spot right at the front door of the West Coast R/C Raceway, came through from 9th on the grid up to third looking like a serious treat for the win.  Unfortunately for the German a mistake at the end of the straight in which his buggy flipped dropped him back but a late mistake by Castellano would let him through to finish 2nd, a result he said was ‘really good especially for 2WD on dirt’.

Amezcua

The final race of the opening round produced the closest finish with Amezcua just holding off Atsushi Hara by .149 of a second.  Hara who started second behind Amezcua managed to find a way passed the Durango driver but then lost it on the double jump on the entry to the main straight.  One lap later Amezcua made the exact same mistake but unfortunately for Hara he could capitalise as he collected the foot of Joern Neumann who was marshalling Amezcua’s DEX210. Amezcua said he went a ‘little too much’ with the set-up changes he made last night and will go back to a lighter spring for his next race.  Happy with the win Amezcua said ‘it was a little lucky but this race is all about luck’.

Atsushi Hara

Hara, who is running a Kyosho in mid motor configuration, said he just tried to manage the race as best he could and so starting & finishing second was a decent result. Having managed to make his buggy more stable for the opening race he said the mid motor has some good points on the track where he is much faster than his rivals running rear motor set-ups but one spot he has a disadvantage is the double coming on to the straight but every run with the car he gets more confident with it and so he has a good feeling for the rest of the event.

Round 1 2WD Buggy
Race 1
1.(1) Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 15/5:08.294
2.(6) Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 15/5:15.048
3.(8) Ty Tessmann – HB/HPI Racing – 15/5:17.019
4.(10)Lee Martin – Tamiya – 14/5:00.462
5.(2) Neil Cragg – Associated – 14/5:03.149
6.(3) Ryan Maifield – Associated – 14/5:03.149
7.(7) Chad Due – Associated – 14/5:10.161
8.(9) Cody Tuner – Kyosho – 14/5:11.627
9.(5) Hupo Honigl – Team Durango – 14/5:12.937
10.(4)Peter Pinisch – Associated – 14/5:17.957

Race 2
1.(2) Brent Thielke – Associated – 15/5:13.475
2.(9) Joern Neumann – Team Durango – 15/5:15.561
3.(1) Matt Castellano – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:18.116
4.(10)Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:18.996
5.(5) Dakotah Phend – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:03.873
6.(3) Kohta Akimoto – Kyosho – 14/5:06.717
7.(6) Rick Hohwart – Associated – 14/5:09.629
8.(7) Tanner Denney – Associated – 14/5:17.421
9.(8) Ryan Lutz – Team Durango – 14/5:19.593
10.(4)Stefan Pfeihofer – Associated – 14/5:20.883

Race 3
1.(1) Travis Amezcua – Team Durango – 15/5:17.174
2.(2) Atsushi Hara – HB/HPI Racing – 15/5:17.323
3.(4) Kody Numedahl – Associated – 14/5:01.816
4.(8) Steven Hartson – Associated – 14/5:02.186
5.(3) Rene Trauner – Yokomo – 14/5:08.419
6.(7) Mike Truhe – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:10.334
7.(6) Paul Bradby – Associated – 14/5:10.694
8.(10)Josh Numan – Associated – 14/5:13.660
9.(5) Brian Kinwald – Associated – 14/5:14.524

View our event image gallery here.