Maifield tops 2WD Buggy Q1 at Winter Indoor Nats

Making his debut in the JConcepts Indoor National Series, Ryan Maifield got the Winter Indoor Nationals at SmacTrac in St.Louis, Missouri off to the perfect start as he TQ’d the opening round of qualifying for 2WD Buggy ahead of fellow series debutant Jared Tebo with series champion Steven Hartson completing the top 3.

Setting the fastest lap of the opening round with a 17.715, Maifield topped the timing by 3.5 seconds from Tebo saying afterwards that his B4.2 ‘felt good’ and he hopes ‘it stays that way’ for the rest of the day.  Switching to a full set of fresh JConcepts Barcodes for his first qualifier the factory Associated driver said it felt better than in yesterday’s practice when he used a ground down set of tyres.  While the pits at SmacTrac could easily be confused for a factory where toxic chemicals are produced, Maifield is one of the few drivers not running additive on his tyres adding that he doesn’t believe that would give any advantage.

Running in the same heat as Maifield, Tebo said his run was good except for traffic, with the Kyosho driver losing time as his RB6 got tangled up in a group of back markers.  Running the same set of AKA Super Soft Handlebars as he ran in practice yesterday, he said he found the track a little looser than yesterday and having used additive will now try running Q2 without.  Planning to freshen up his shocks for the next qualifier he said he may also revert back to a white spring on the rear.

Defending champion Hartson said his run was safe but he could feel his B4.2 was a little off the pace.  Running JConcepts Rips on the front he said he will switch to pins all round for Q2 following in the direction of his team-mate Maifield by running a new unmodified set of Barcodes.

Setting the fourth fastest time in Q1 was the Kyosho/Proline driver Cody Turner.  Running his RB6 the same as yesterday’s practice and on the same set of Proline Suburb M4 tyres he said his buggy is getting better each run as the tyres scrub in.  Slowed a little by traffic the Californian driver had one roll over which he said was of his own doing but overall it was a solid opening run.  Having not touched his shocks since arriving at the event, Turner said he will rebuild the shocks for the next run but will leave the set-up and tyres as they are, adding that unlike team-mate Tebo he will continue saucing his tyres.

Team Losi Racing’s JP Richards took his TLR22 to the 5th fastest time with Associated team-manager Brent Thielke completing the Top 6.

In the other 2WD classes it was Tebo set the pace in Mod Truck from defending champion Thielke and TLR team driver Cody Hollis third while in 2WD Short Course Richards topped the time sheets ahead of Turner and Justin Driemeier.

2WD Buggy Qualifying – Round 1
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 17/5:05.968
2. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 17/5:08.529
3. Steven Hartson – Associated – 17/5:08.778
4. Cody Turner – Kyosho – 17/5:10.048
5. JP Richards – TLR – 17/5:12.853
6. Brent Thielke – Assocaited – 17/5:13.161
7. Matt Gosch – Associated – 17/5:14.372
8. Zac Phillips – Kyosho – 17/5:15.798
9. Daimon Borkowicz – Associated – 17/5:16.487
10.Mitchel Gardner – Associated – 17/5:17.932

View the event images gallery here.