Tebo setting practice pace in Finland

After five rounds of practice Kyosho’s Jared Tebo tops the time sheets ahead of Japan’s Naoto Matsukura and fellow American Steven Hartson at the 2011 IFMAR 2WD Buggy World Championships in Vaasa, Finland. Driving his heavily modified Ultima RB5, Tebo set a fastest lap time of 24.698 in the fifth of the 4-minute practice sessions as the track continues to dry out following heavy rain in the lead up to the event.  Happy that he has found a good set-up for the track in P5, the American ace said there are still a few spots on the track that feel like ice as they are still damp but overall his Orion powered buggy feels good and he ‘just need(s) to drive her now’.

Current Japanese Champion Matsukura is please with his Associated B4.1.  The Team Yokomo driver who is the reigning 1:12 World Champion, is running the regular kit chassis and used P5 to try different front tyres.  Having to run JConcepts Double Dee tyres on the rear, the official controlled tyre,  the 17-year-old said he tried Rips on the front in P5 which he said he preferred over the Groovy he tried in the earlier sessions.

Associated team driver Hartson is pleased with his pace saying the track is different to what he is used to racing on.  Missing the warm-up race, he said he really likes the curbing but used to high bite tracks he said he is still getting used to the car drifting around.  Running the new long chassis on his B4.1 he said he has done nothing with the set-up he started out the day with instead focusing on his driving.  Just behind Hartson were his Associated team-mates Neil Cragg and Ryan Cavalieri.  Describing his car as feeling pretty good in P5 due to the improving track condition, Cragg said he hasn’t done much with his set up and is ‘trying not to crash’.

Along with Cavalieri, reigning US Champion Mike Truhe set his fastest lap in P3.  Sixth fastest overall the Team Losi Racing driver said the track was the best its been in P5 but he chose a more ribbed front tyre which while it made the TLR22 feel better it was to prove slower on the clock.

Driving a regular B4.1, Keisuke Enomoto set the seventh fastest time.  Only 14-years old, the Japanese nationals Top Qualifier is rated highly by the man who beat him in that race Matsukura describing Enomoto, who doesn’t speak English, as ‘very fast’.

Rounding out the early Top 10 here in Vaasa is AE’s Ryan Maifield, TLR’s Dustin Evans and the Tamiya of European Champion Lee Martin.

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