Maifield & Phend 4WD Top Qualifiers

Ryan Maifield and Dakotah Phend completed the line up of Top Qualifiers in the main classes of the Pro-Line Cactus Classic with defending champion Maifield taking the honour in 4WD Buggy and Phend in 4WD Short Course after the pair each TQ’d the final qualifier of their respective classes tonight at Scottsdale R/C Speedway.

Looking to defend three titles this weekend, Maifield was pleased to secure his second overall TQ having earlier wrapped up 2WD Short Course with a round to spare. Happy with how his Reedy powered B44.1 worked in Q4, the factory Associated driver said starting on pole in the blue ribboned class his plan will be to control the race from the front.

Starting behind Maifield, making it an Associated 1-2 on the grid, will be team-mate Ryan Cavalieri. Having TQ’d Round 1, the World Champion Cavalieri was the only driver capable of denying Maifield from carrying No.1 on his buggy at his home race but he came up short finishing second, just under 2-seconds adrift.

Finishing on the podium in 4WD Buggy at last year’s Cactus Classic, third in the final heat leaves British ace Lee Martin in a strong position to repeat or better his 2011 performance with his Tamiya TRF502 carrying No.3 in the 5-minute triple A-Mains.

Reducing the ride height by 1mm on his Losi Ten-SCTE to suit the higher traction caused by the cooler night conditions, Phend said his Short Course truck was really good allowing him to take his third TQ run and secure the No.1 spot on the grid for his first attempt at the class at this event. Having shown last year he has an abundance of raw talent when he made his Short Course race debut at the ROAR Nationals to go on to became Champion, he is confident he can repeat that feat in tomorrow’s Mains.

Starting behind Phend will be Ryan Lutz who was able to back up his Q2 topping run last night with second in tonight’s closing qualifier. The Durango driver set the fastest lap once again and is sure to give the 15-year-old a good run for his money in the finals.

Defending Champion Mike Truhe will carry the No.3 on his truck and, as a stronger racer than qualifier, will be looking to find away passed both Phend and Lutz so as to retain his Pro-Line Cactus Classic crown.

Round 4 Qualification (Top 6)
4WD Buggy
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 13/5:01.408
2. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 13/5:03.363
3. Lee Martin – Tamiya – 13/5:06.070
4. Joern Neumann – Durango – 13/5:09.353
5. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 13/5:11.903
6. Hupo Honigl – Durango – 13/5:15.533

4WD Buggy A-finalists
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated
2. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated
3. Lee Martin – Tamiya
4. Jared Tebo – Kyosho
5. Travis Amezcua – Durango
6. Joern Neumann – Durango
7. Billy Fischer – Associated
8. Hupo Honigl – Durango
9. Steven Hartson – Associated
10.Chad Due – Associated

Round 4 Qualification (Top 6)
4WD Short Course
1. Dakotah Phend – Losi – 13/5:19.422
2. Ryan Lutz – Durango – 13/5:23.190
3. Mike Truhe – Losi – 13/5:00.885
4. Carson Wernimont – Durango – 12/5:00.187
5. Kody Numedahl – Associated – 12/5:08.009
6. Max Flurer – Associated – 12/5:12.861

4WD Short Course A-finalists
1. Dakotah Phend – Losi
2. Ryan Lutz – Durango
3. Mike Truhe – Losi
4. Hupo Honigl – Durango
5. Joern Neumann – Durango
6. Carson Wernimont – Durango
7. Travis Amezcua – Durango
8. Kody Numedahl – Associated
9. Frank Root – Losi
10.Max Flurer – Associated

View the complete final qualifying results here (PDF).

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Tebo is Top Qualifier in 2WD Buggy

Jared Tebo repeated his turn around Q3 topping performance to take the final 2WD Buggy qualifier to become Top Qualifier of the 26th edition of the Pro-Line Cactus Classic. The former 2 time winner of America’s longest running offroad meeting, his last win being in 2008, the factory Kyosho driver topped Q4 ahead of Q1 and Q2 pace setters Ryan Cavalieri and Dustin Evans while defending champion Ryan Maifield was fourth, the position he will start tomorrow’s triple A-Mains in Arizona.

After a troubled day yesterday in which he failed to break into the Top 10 in either of his heats, Tebo was delighted to end up Top Qualifier for the biggest class at the famous international event. After taking the final round, run under flood lights, a very happy looking Tebo said his Orion powered Ultima RB5 felt really good and he is now ‘ready to race tomorrow’. Expecting the racing to be ‘interesting’ his plan is just to keep hitting his marks and try to claim his first Cactus title with Kyosho.

Cavalieri, who away from the track is a close friend of Tebo, starts second and is equally confident that he has the buggy to retake the title he last held in 2010. Describing his B4.1 as very comfortable to drive, the World Champion is looking forward to the finals, expecting a lot of passing particularly at the quad section where it is very difficult to pull of the perfect landing every lap.

In contention for the overall TQ honours, a bad landing at the quad on his last lap cost Evans the chance of topping the round and taking pole position for the finals. The US National Champion, whose TLR22 will line up third, said the order of the grid is not going to make much difference to the racing. Planning to just drive his own race he said at he end of the five minutes he believes he can be there for the win.

Putting the question to Maifield if he could retain his title from fourth on the grid he replied ‘Scott Brown won this race from 7th before, so anything can happen’. Setting the second fastest time in three of the four qualifiers Maifield said ending up fourth on the grid proves how close things are between the top four drivers.

Round 4 Qualification (Top 6)
2WD Buggy
1. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 13/5:19.736
2. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 13/5:20.096
3. Dustin Evans – TLR – 13/5:20.329
4. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 13/5:22.160
5. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 12/5:04.113
6. Steven Hartson – Associated – 12/5:04.286

2WD Buggy A-finalists
1. Jared Tebo – Kyosho
2. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated
3. Dustin Evans – TLR
4. Ryan Maifield – Associated
5. Dakotah Phend – TLR
6. Steven Hartson – Associated
7. Brian Kinwald – Associated
8. Billy Fischer – TLR
9. Travis Amezcua – Durango
10.Brent Thielke – Associated

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Cavalieri wraps up Mod Truck TQ

Ryan Cavalieri is Top Qualifier for Mod Truck at the Pro-Line Cactus Classic, the defending champion wrapping up pole position for tomorrow’s A-Main with a third TQ run in the fourth & final round of qualifying at the Hobby Town Scottsdale R/C Speedway. The only driver who could deny Cavalieri the top spot was Associated team-mate Ryan Maifield, but switching to a different tyre for Q4 he could only manage third behind Dakotah Phend.

Cavalieri said today was the result of a lot of pre event testing with the T4.1 and this has resulted in them having the most consistent truck over the differing conditions between each of the qualifiers. One of the World’s greatest offroad racers, he said the truck is now at where he is just able to cruise around and he expects the outcome of tomorrow’s finals to be good.

Starting from the No.2 spot on the grid, Maifield said jokingly that he was going to jump over Cavalieri’s truck first time through the Quad tomorrow and sew up the win. Trying a different tyre Maifield said his Reedy powered example of the T4.1 was better but feeling very different to his earlier runs he failed to make the most of it but knowing how now how it feels he believes he is in good shape for the finals.

Driving his 22T, factory TLR driver Dakotah Phend said he was ‘real happy’ with third on the grid and the 15-year-old is not lacking confidence for the race. Aiming to drive a clean race behind the much more experienced AE duo that start ahead of him he said he will be there to pick up the pieces should they trip each other up. On outright pace Phend is quick with him setting the fastest lap of all four qualifiers in Q4. His more senior TLR team-mate Dustin Evans and Mike Truhe who will start 4th and 6th respectively think the race is more against the track rather than the other drivers and keeping mistakes to a minimum will be key to the outcome tomorrow.

In the final qualifier for 2WD Short Course Kyosho’s Jared Tebo set the pace ending defending Champion Maifield’s run at the top of the time sheets but the Arizona drivers domination of the opening three qualifiers meant he was already Top Qualifier for tomorrow. Evans enjoyed his best run in the class taking his XXX-SCT to third behind Maifield who in the run produced the fastest and only 24 second lap of the weekend.

Round 4 Qualification (Top 6)
Mod Truck
1. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 13/5:19.710
2. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 13/5:21.963
3. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 13/5:22.747
4. Dustin Evans – TLR – 12/5:00.482
5. Brent Thielke – Associated – 12/5:04.728
6. Andy DiBrino – Kyosho – 12/5:06.440

Mod Truck A-finalists
1. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated
2. Ryan Maifield – Associated
3. Dakotah Phend – TLR
4. Dustin Evans – TLR
5. Brian Kinwald – Associated
6. Mike Truhe – TLR
7. Andy DiBrino – Kyosho
8. Kai Goff – Associated
9. Shaun Dunlap – Kyosho
10.Brent Thielke – Associated

Round 4 Qualification (Top 6)
2WD Short Course
1. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 12/5:06.071
2. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 12/5:07.184
3. Dustin Evans – TLR – 12/5:10.812
4. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 12/5:10.995
5. Brian Kimwald – Associated – 12/5:15.683
6. Max Flurer – Associated – 12/5:15.971

2WD Short Course A-finalists
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated
2. Jared Tebo – Kyosh
3. Brian Kinwald – Associated
4. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated
5. Dustin Evans – Losi
6. Kody Numedahl – Associated
7. Cody Turner – Losi
8. Frank Root – Losi
9. Max Flurer – Associated
10.Andy DiBrino – Kyosho

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Q3 4WD Update

The penultimate round of qualifying in the 4WD classes saw Ryan Cavalieri TQ Buggy while Dakotah Phend set the pace in Short Course. Taking the TQ for the opening round, Cavalieri topped the timing for a second time when he used his Pro-Line shod B44.1 to outpace the Durango of Travis Amezcua by 5 seconds with the Kyosho of Jared Tebo taking third. Fastest in Q2 defending champion Ryan Maifield was fastest on outright pace with a 23.064 lap but had to settle for fourth at the end of his 5-minute run.

The US 4WD Short Course National Champion, Phend was lucky to hold on to claim his second TQ run ahead of Team Durango’s Hupo Honigl. Running a close pace with Team Durango’s Joern Neumann, a mistake by the young factory TLR driver looked to give the German a chance at taking the round however as he completed the quad for the last time his DESC410 shutdown right in front of the loop. Although Neumann did not complete the 5-minutes his pace was still good enough to give him 5th. Afterwards it was discovered that the soldering on one of his battery leads had broke away. TQ’ing last nights qualifier Ryan Lutz completed the Top 3 while defending champion Mike Truhe had a rough run managing only the 7th fastest time.

Round 3 Qualification (Top 6)
4WD Buggy
1. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 13/5:05.350
2. Travis Amezcua – Durango – 13/5:10.446
3. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 13/5:10.913
4. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 13/5:11.665
5. Steven Hartson – Associated – 13/5:12.110
6. Joern Neumann – Durango – 13/5:13.540

4WD Short Course
1. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 13/5:19.422
2. Hupo Honigl – Durango – 13/5:22.323
3. Ryan Lutz – Durango – 13/5:23.190
4. Travis Amezcua – Durango – 13/5:24.738
5. Joern Neumann – Durango – 12/4:52.675
6. Carson Wernimont – Durango – 12/5:00.187

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Tebo bounces back in penultimate 2WD Qualifier

Having failed to make the Top 10 in either of yesterday’s 2WD Buggy Qualifiers Kyosho’s Jared Tebo bounced back today at the Pro-Line Cactus Classic to TQ Q3 and put himself right into contention for Top Qualifier honours at the Arizona event. Just missing out on a 13 lap run, Tebo set the pace ahead of defending Cactus Champion Ryan Maifield by exactly 4/10th of a second with Q1 pace setter Ryan Cavalieri completing the Top 3.

Having struggled for traction on his Ultima RB5 in the opening qualifier in which he was only 13th fastest, Tebo changed tyres for Q2 which gave the buggy a lot of grip but not expecting such an improvement the former World Champion over drove resulting in him being classified 15th for the round. Dropped down to the second fastest group of heats following yesterday’s below par performance, Tebo said he knew what to expect from his Orion powered buggy in the penultimate qualifier and a TQ run was the result.

Maifield, who set the fastest lap for Q3, had little to say other than his B4.1 was good but just didn’t get it done. Running a fresh set of inserts for Q3, Cavalieri said it took most of the race before they started to feel right. Not wanting to continue with the same set of inserts he had already run in practice and the previous qualifiers, he said at the start of the run they caused the buggy to lack grip on landings but by the end of the 5-minutes they felt good. With the inserts ready for the final qualifier and tomorrow’s finals the World Champion said he he was happy to take third for the round.

Having finished 6th fastest in Q1 and then only 11th in Q2, 15-year-old TLR star Dakotah Phend said he went for a safe run with another Top 6 run his target so as to ensure he qualifies direct for the A-Main. A clean run took him to fifth and with the pressure now off he says he can push for a TQ run in the concluding qualifier. Fastest in last night’s Q2 Dustin Evans had a rough Q3. Crashing on the opening lap the US National Champion said he over drove trying to make back the time but that made things worse and he ended up only 8th fastest. With his TLR22 better in cooler condition, as proven last night, Evans said he is confident about his chances for this evening’s TQ deciding final heat.

Another driver to turn things around today was Team Durango’s Travis Amezcua. Having had his DEX210 shutdown in the opening two rounds he set the 5th fastest time. Improving his buggy from yesterday the main change being the angle of his shocks, Amezcua said the biggest factor in his improved pace was down to him driving much better today. Happy with his set-up now he said he will just reduce his drag brake a little for Q4.

Changing from silver to red compound Losi Taper Pins Tamiya’s Lee Martin said his TRF201 was more difficult to drive with more steering was quicker to drive then yesterday. Despite one of his rear tyres coming unglued three laps from the finish, which made the buggy very difficult on the turn in at the end of the main straight, the European Champion still managed the 6th fastest time. The British driver asked us to point out that he did not glue the tyres in question.

Round 3 Qualification (Top 6)
2WD Buggy
1. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 12/5:00.185
2. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 12/5:00.585
3. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 12/5:03.223
4. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 12/5:04.113
5. Travis Amezcua – Durango – 12/5:07.489
6. Lee Martin – Tamiya – 12/5:09.118

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Maifield is 2WD Short Course Top Qualifier

Defending 2WD Short Course Champion has put himself in the best position possible to retain his title at the Pro-Line Cactus Classic in tomorrow’s finals after the factory Associated driver made it three of of three in Q3 to become the first Top Qualifier at the 26th running of the prestigious American event.

Setting the pace for much of the run with his Reedy powered SC10, Maifield rolled his truck on lap 9 allowing Jared Tebo to take control of proceedings but the Kyosho driver was to throw it away with a mistake of his own on his last run through the quad section. Losing almost two and a half seconds Tebo, who set the fastest lap of the round, crossed the line 2.1 seconds off Maifield handing his rival early TQ honours at his home track.

With the crew from Hobby Town Scottsdale R/C Speedway carrying out maintenance work to the track overnight Maifield, who was critical of how the track broke up yesterday, said conditions today were better and the grip felt to be up. Running JConcepts high temperature running Orange compound Double Dee fronts and Barcode rears tyres, Maifield said he ran the truck unchanged from yesterday because with it working well it was best to leave it alone.

While he is struggling to find a tyre to suit his Short Course truck, which he said is fast but hard to drive, Ryan Cavalieri had no such problems with his Mod Truck notching up his second TQ run producing the only 13 lap run of the round ahead of TLR’s Dakotah Phend and team-mate Maifield who lost time after tangling with Matt Chambers. Topping the opening qualifier Maifield is the only driver who can deny Cavalieri, the defending champion, from becoming Top Qualifier in the evening’s fourth and final qualifier.

Round 3 Qualification (Top 6)
Mod Truck
1. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 13/5:21.625
2. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 12/5:02.006
3. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 12/5:07.530
4. Dustin Evans – TLR – 12/5:08.572
5. Brian Kinwald – Associated – 12/5:09.117
6. Mike Truhe – TLR – 12/5:10.688

2WD Short Course
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 12/5:08.660
2. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 12/5:10.706
3. Brian Kimwald – Associated – 12/5:13.157
4. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 12/5:16.149
5. Cody Turner – TLR – 12/5:20.822
6. Frank Roots – TLR – 12/5:23.629

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