Tessmann tops 2nd practice in Argentina
Hot Bodies’ Ty Tessmann started day 2 of the 1:8 Offroad World Championship in Argentina at the top of the time sheets taking his D8’12 around the Buenos Aires track in a 43.274 second lap in the second Free practice with Mugen’s Robert Batlle second fastest with a time of 43.550 and Kyosho’s Jared Tebo third with a best lap of 43.615. Running Proline’s new Diamond Back tyre, US National Champion Tessmann said his buggy felt really good on the new tyre but added the track which received some overnight repairs to fill ruts which appeared after yesterday’s single practice round had a lot more traction. Running the tyre for the entire 10 minutes the Canadian said he will use the second of today’s three scheduled runs to back to back test the Diamond Back against the Blockade tyre. In terms of set-up Tessmann will change to a heavier oil in the centre diff.
Winner of the Worlds Warm-up race, Batlle said while the dusty conditions made track conditions loose his new MBX7 was comfortable to drive. A much hotter day than yesterday the two time European Champion ran Pro Circuit Hot Dice tyres in green compound but said they were too soft and he plans to switch to the medium compound for his next run. Having had problems with his throttle response he said the issue was due to the positioning of the servo horn which was causing the linkage to catch but the Spaniard said this is an easy fix. Overall it was a good start to day 2 for Mugen with team-mate Lee Martin and A-Main Hobbies driver Chad Bradley, who is also running the MBX7, managing to break into 43 second laps.
Martin said he was very happy with the set-up on his buggy adding that the MBX7 has a lot more corner speed than the MBX6 which they used at the warm-up race. Running soft compound AKA Enduro tyres the British ace said Medium would have been a better choice. Planning to leave his set-up the same for FP3 he said he needs to find a little more engine power and so he will change to a bigger venturi on his Novarossi along with fitting a different clutch. Bradley, said his buggy was good but the driver needs to be more consistent. For his second run of the day the American multiple World finalists plans to try the same spring set-up as Batlle.
Having fitted a bigger venturi to his Orion engine for today, 2010 Worlds Top Qualifier Tebo said his MP9 felt ‘really good’ and was comfortable to drive although he did break the buggy in the final moments of the run. Trying different lines on the step up the American said he landed a little too far to the inside resulting in the break. Running soft AKA Impacts as he did yesterday he said he was happy with his tyre choice and his plan for his next practice was to try a different shock set-up. Team-mate and defending World Champion Cody King, who also tried Proline’s new Diamond Back will try a shorter rear link on his MP9 having struggled with a lack of rear grip. His mechanic, and father, Paul said they will also make a few other minor adjustment and will use the next run to compare different tyre patterns. One of only seven drivers to do a 43 second lap this morning, Warm-up Race Top Qualifier David Ronnefalk said conditions today were much better and although the rear end of his AKA equipped MP9 was too loose he said his car was now much better on the concrete section of the track and the Swede felt they were going in the right direction with their set-up.
Team Associated’s Ryan Maifield set the fifth fastest lap with a time of 43.843 despite having some issues with traffic. Running JConcept’s new Metrix tyre he said while he went for too soft a compound his heavily modified RC8 felt good. Having changed his set-up slightly from yesterday the American will revert back and in terms of tyres run a harder compound of the Metrix but fitted with a softer insert. Associated have come to the Worlds with a buggy specifically re-engineered for this track and which team manager Brent Thielke said is a one off and not intended for general release. Former European Champion Yannick Aigoin who set a time of 44.039 was pleased with his RC8 saying the track is quite like what he used to in Europe and so they already have a good set-up with his attentions being on finding the right balance in the oils used in the shocks and the diffs.
Running the 11th fastest lap with a 44.092 just behind yesterday pace setter Jerome Aigoin, Dakotah Phend was quickest of the TLR drivers in this morning’s practice. The teenager said the track was a lot better than yesterday and he described his run as consistent. With a good base set-up on his 8ight for the track he said they were just working on fine tuning the buggy. Running Proline’s Blockades in M3 compound he said they were easy to drive but he intends to back to back test different tyres in his next run to give himself a better idea of his options.
View our event image gallery here.