Maifield leads the way after the first day of qualifying

The first day of qualifying is complete and there was no question that it belonged to Ryan Maifield, the factory Team Associated driver dominating proceedings.  Q2 saw the American ace improve on his earlier time, recording the fastest lap we have seen here yet in the process.  Describing qualifying as being all about not crashing and collecting enough points for a place in the Semis he said he was driving well within himself but admitted it did feel good to end day one at the top.

After a disappointing Q1, defending World Champion Atsushi Hara was second after taking a safe approach to the 10-minute run. Switching to the medium white compound of Hot Bodies’ Mega Byte tyre he said it worked really well in the hotter afternoon conditions and he was very happy to break into the magical 14 laps considering how safely he drove.  Happy with the end result he will continue this approach tomorrow before trying a more aggressive style on the final day of qualifying.  The Japanese star was clearly impressed with Maifield’s pace admitting he was much faster than he had expected he would be.

After an under par performance in the opening qualifier Jared Tebo managed the third fastest time despite a very trying run.  During the warm-up laps the front brakes on his Kyosho locked up and melted leaving him with a very challenging car.  He was also given what he saw as an unfair drive through penalty for contact with fellow American Dakotah Phend.  Phend landed sideways off a jump and Tebo could do nothing to avoid hitting his car.  The US Champion summed up the day by calling it a ‘test to see how badly he really wants this race’ but he thinks he passed and is looking forward to better things tomorrow.

Adam Drake was best of the Team Losi drivers as he was again fourth fastest albeit in a slower time.  Team-mates Yannick Aigoin and Matthew Castellano finished 7th and 8th fastest respectively with Castellano saying his 8ight was set up too soft for the hot conditions.

The big surprise of Q2 was young Australian driver Kyle McBride.  Making his World Championship debut, the 14-year-old Mugen driver made it five different manufacturers at the head of the time sheets.  Very happy to find himself up with the best in the World he could have been faster than Drake if it were not for a costly crash during the run. A State Champion back home, McBride said a move to a soft AKA Impact tyres had really improved his MBX-6 and he hopes to build on his performance tomorrow.  Another teenager controlled Mugen completed the Top 6 for Q2 with  Elliot Boots enjoying a strong run with his RB powered example.  The emerging British talent was very happy with the handling after switching to the blue compound of JConcepts new Hybrids tyres but like McBride also had an incident which cost him a few seconds.

For the first time we saw Xray inside the Top 10 with RC America’s Josh Wheeler and factory Xray driver Teemu Leino going around in the 9th and 10th fastest times.  Elsewhere Kyosho’s Cody King, who was second fastest in Q1, broke the front left wishbone off his MP9.  The American switched to a medium Impact AKA tyre for the hotter conditions which gave the car a different feeling and resulted in an altercation with the fence that was to come off the better of the two.   Third in Q1 France’s Renaud Savoya ran too soft a compound in Q2 and could only manage 17th. Fifth fastest this morning Spanish Champion Robert Batlle suffered a steering servo failure in his Associated while another of the morning’s fast guys LRP’s Joern Nuemann suffered a flame out.  Hot Bodies Jessie Robbers was on a good run but suffered two engine cuts and Team Durango’s Ryan Lutz didn’t even make the start as he again had electrical problems.  The American managed to get the car running by the end of the heat and had a chance to complete one essential test lap.

Tomorrow’s schedule sees two more qualifiers for the capacity 180 entries when we will see if anyone can take the challenge to Ryan Maifield and Team Associated.  Red RC would like to thank Team Durango, LRP, Reds Racing and Team C for making it possible to bring you coverage of the 2010 IFMAR 1:8 Off Road World Championship.

Top 10 Qualifying Times – Round 2
1. Ryan MAIFIELD (USA) – Associated/Reedy – 14/10:35.283
2. Atsushi HARA (JPN) – Hot Bodies/OS – 14/10:44.154
3. Jared TEBO (USA) – Kyosho/Orion – 13/10:01.509
4. Adam DRAKE (USA) – Losi/Novarossi – 13/10:09.445
5. Kyle MCBRIDE (AUS) – Mugen/OS – 13/10:11.375
6. Elliott BOOTS (UK) – Mugen/RB – 13/10:11.516
7. Yannick AIGOIN (FRA) – Losi/Novarossi – 13/10:11.614
8. Matthew CASTELLANO (USA) – Losi/OS – 13/10:14.482
9. Josh WHEELER (USA) – Xray/OS – 13/10:18.611
10.Teemu LEINO (FIN) – Xray/Orion – 13/10:18.660

View the official event results here.

View the event photo gallery here.