Tebo does TQ double
Jared Tebo will start the Buggy final at the 12th running of ‘The Dirt’ Nitro Challenge from pole position after putting in a carbon copy performance of yesterday when he wrapped up the Top Qualifier honours for Truggy. The US Champion improved his morning time by over 7 seconds to top the time sheets for Q2 from Ty Tessmann to make it the perfect weekend so far for the Kyosho team driver. Running the same set-up and AKA tyre combination as the morning run, Tebo said he is really liking the way his buggy is feeling on the track and with the TQ in the bag plans to work on his engine tune in Q3 having felt it ran a little too lean in Q2.
Becoming the only other driver besides Tebo to record a 10 lap qualifier, Tessmann was very upbeat after his Q2 performance. Having changed both the swaybar and used a softer tyre insert, the factory Hot Bodies driver also added a fin from the engine back to the rear wing which he said made the buggy a lot more stable. Happy with where the OS powered D8 is at now he plans to leave everything as is for the third and final qualifying which will be run under flood lights and should see the temperature out here in the Arizona desert drop considerably.
‘A shit load better’ was how Ryan Maifield described his Associated RC8B after setting the third fastest time. The 2009 event winner was on target for a 10 lap run but ran out of fuel on his final lap. Unhappy with his engines both yesterday in Truggy and again today Maifield took his buggy to the rear of the car park here at the Nitro Pit after Q2 to try sort out the tuning. Unable to get the engine to his liking the team decided to try a different can of fuel which immediately resulted in his Reedy engine running much sharper. Although feeling a little under the weather himself, Maifield says he is now aiming for nothing less than a TQ run in the final qualifier.
World Champion Cody King set the fourth fastest time finding improvement from running thicker oil in the rear shocks of his Kyosho MP9 and switching to AKA Enduro tyres. The 23-year-old plans to run the same set-up maybe changing to softer springs to suit the cooler conditions.
Defending champion Ryan Cavalieri set the 5th fastest time and pretty pleased with that when it was discovered he had broken the front shock tower on his Associated early in the run. Team-mate Steven Hartson took sixth, something the 19-year-old’s father said was just down to good driving rather than changing anything on the buggy. It was a good second round of qualifying for Harston as he TQ’d the 1:8 Electric Buggy class ahead of Round 1 pace setter Dylan Rodriguez and Losi’s Adam Drake. Drake was seventh fastest with his nitro buggy after putting in a ‘safe run’. Opting to run Losi Eclipse tyres he said it made his Novarossi powered 8ight easy to drive but at the cost of outright speed.
Once again Taylor Peterson was the fastest Mugen with 8th followed by Losi drivers Drew Moller and Mike Truhe who rounds out the Top 10.
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