Cavalieri fastest in first Buggy qualifier
Ryan Cavalieri has TQ’d the opening round of qualifying for both Buggy classes at the 26th running of the Pro-Line Cactus Classic. In 2WD the World Champion narrowly outpaced team-mate and dominator of the morning’s truck qualifying Ryan Maifield while in 4WD he had a decent advantage at the top of the time sheets over reigning US National Champion Jared Tebo.
Cavalieri said small changes to each of his buggies since yesterday’s practice had made them better. Running a slightly harder front spring on his B44.1 and changing shock oil on his B4.1 he said they are both now where he wants them and they should be good for the rest of the event. With all drivers reporting track conditions as loose, he said he adapted a smooth driving style to suit and this paid dividends as he was also able to take his Pro-Line equipped buggies to the fastest lap in each class.
Setting the third fastest time behind Maifield, Dustin Evans said while his TLR22 normally struggles in hot conditions when the track surface is as polished as it is here today at the Hobby Town Scottsdale R/C Speedway it felt really good. Losing a little time when he got it wrong at the quad in front of the driver’s stand, the US Champion feels the cooler conditions of the second qualifier, which will run later this evening, should give him a real chance of a TQ run and other than changing to a different compound tyre he will leave his set-up as is.
One of the surprises of Q1, Cody Tuner was super happy with his run to the fourth fastest time. Running a Novak powered TLR22, the 20-year-old said like everyone else conditions meant it felt a little loose but overall it was not a big problem for him. Looking to make his buggy a little easier to drive for Q2 he will move his rear hub positioning from the 1D to the 1B hole.
In 4WD Buggy Tebo said he was very lucky to even make the start of his run as he broke his receiver in the warm-up. Super fast actions by his team, who pulled the receiver from his 2WD Kyosho and transferred it to the Lazer ZX5, meant he made the start and was able to set the second fastest time 2 second off Cavalieri. Tebo, who was busy on the phone to KO Propo trying to arrange to get new receivers to the track, said his 4WD felt really good but his 2WD needed work as it struggled for grip resulting in him managing only the 13th fastest time for Q1.
Behind Tebo Team Durango’s Travis Amezcua set the third fastest time in 4WD despite his DEX410 needing to be marshaled during the 5-minute qualifier. The Californian said his buggy was near perfect and the plan for Q2 is to leave everything alone and just drive it harder as in last nights second controlled practice it relished the cooler conditions. Team-mate Joern Neumann was on a quick run until he broke a rear hub two laps from the finish. Nursing the broken buggy to the finish the German still managed the 7th fastest time behind the Tamiya of fellow European Champion Lee Martin.
Fifth fastest for the Round behind defending Cactus Champion Maifield was Billy Fisher. Having split with Team Durango, Fisher is running an Associated in 4WD this weekend and was another driver lucky to start the round. On the run over the quad on the way to the start loop his B44.1 smacked hard on the landing causing his electrics to completely shut down. It eventually kicked back into life but with the computer giving him a forced start it cost him around 3 seconds in time. Describing the run as ‘not perfect’ he said there is ‘definitely room for improvement in Q2’.
In 4WD Short Course Truck, which completes the round of 45 Heat groups, Team Losi Racing took a 1-2 with US Champion Dakota Phend setting the fastest time ahead of defending Cactus Classic champion Mike Truhe. The TLR duo were the only drivers to run 13 laps. The pace setter in yesterday’s practice Joern Neumann set the third fastest time followed by Durango team-mates Carson Wernimont and Hupo Honigl.
Round 1 Qualification (Top 6)
2WD Buggy
1. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 12/5:01.526
2. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 13/5:01.549
3. Dustin Evans – TLR – 12/5:05.815
4. Cody Tuner – TLR – 12/5:10241
5. Brian Kimwald – Associated – 12/5:10.351
6. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 12/5:11.2284WD Buggy
1. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 13/5:10.648
2. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 13/5:12.726
3. Travis Amezcua – Durango – 13/5:15.200
4. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 13/5:17.989
5. Billy Fisher – Associated – 13/5:20.871
6. Lee Martin – Tamiya – 13/5:21.8804WD Short Course
1. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 13/5:22.052
2. Mike Truhe – TLR – 13/5:24.067
3. Joern Neumann – Durango – 12/5:01.896
4. Carson Wernimont – Durango – 12/5:02.819
5. Hupo Honigl – Durango – 12/5:03.615
6. Kody Numedahl – Associated – 12/5:10.844
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