Evans takes Q2 of 4WD Buggy at ‘Clash’
Having failed to finish yesterday’s opening qualifier at the JConcepts Clash, Team Losi Racing’s Dustin Evans bounced back to take Q2 of 4WD Buggy this morning in Mississippi as Q1 pace setter Ryan Maifield failed to finish his second round, the Associated driver popping a front ball cup on his Reedy power B44.2. Evans posted a time of 14 laps in 5:05.832 to top the round from Associated’s of Jason Rouna and Brett Kingsbury.
Having suffered a front shock tower breakage in Q1, Evans said after seeing Maifield, who is running a heat earlier, retire he just took a safe approach to his second run adding that he maybe drove too conservatively. Running a fresh set of JConcepts Barcodes on his Orion powered XXX-4, he said the buggy felt good and the only change he plans for Q3 is to fit a fresh set of tyres. With traffic having been a problem for many of the front runners in the unseeded opening two qualifiers, Evans said the reseeding of the Heats for the remaining two qualifiers should allow for much cleaner and therefore faster runs.
JConcepts founder Rouna was very happy with his run saying he drove a little more aggressively than in Q1 adding that he was quiet comfortable with it. Fitting a fresh set of blue Barcodes all round on his B44.2, having only ran new rear tyres in Q1, he said the tyres came in really well with the buggy feeling really good to drive. Running a 6.5 turn motor the former World Championship finalist and defending ‘Clash’ champion said the buggy ‘didn’t feel super fast’ but added this may have infact helped him. Running a time of 5:11.478, he feels a time of 5:06 should be possible with a good clean run.
With two of four rounds counting, Kingsbury said with this in mind he just went for a ‘nice safe solid run’ which combined with his 4th in Q1 now locks him into a A-Main starting position. Trying tyre sauce on his JConcepts Blue Barcode tyres for Q2, the Florida racer said it improved side traction and he will continue to use it in Q3. Not planning to make any set-up changes he said with two good results in the bag he can now try to drive a little more aggressively.
In only his second race using a borrowed Xray XB4, Zack Genova set the fourth fastest time as the only other driver in the round to post 14-laps of the Flowood RC Indoor Park track. Really liking the XB4, he said a switch to Proline’s ION tyre all round improved the buggy over Q1 with him having a lot better traction. Looking for a little more stability the Team Novak driver plans to go up in his diff oils for Q3.
Despite suffering a front drive shaft failure on his XXX-4 with two laps to go, TLR team driver Cody Hollis set the fifth fastest time. With lap times of 26 and 31 seconds respectively around the 21-second lap track, the problem cost him a repeat of his the Top 3 time he posted in the opening qualifier.
Setting the fastest lap of Q2 with a time of 21.143, Maifield said a change of driving style after his motor moved on the opening lap lead to his incident that result in his retirement. With his Reedy motor having shifted, he said he knew that if he would use his brakes it would strip his gear so he had to ‘float’ around the corners. Having to come off the power earlier into the corners he said this allowed him carry more speed something which proved faster to his regular driving as highlighted by his fastest lap. ‘Super committed’ to the S corner after the main straight he said that commitment would eventually bite him as he clipped the pipe just coming up on the 2-minute mark into his qualifier.
In the other 4WD classes, it was TLR’s JR Mitch who set the pace in the biggest class, e-Buggy, at this the 7th running of the JConcepts Clash ahead of fellow 8ight driver Dylan Gerard. Mitch would also set the pace in 4WD Short Course ahead of John Bernard Jr. In 1:8 Nitro Buggy Associated driver Max Flurer took Q2 by 1.1-seconds from Tyler Jones with Gerard a further 2.2-seconds back in 3rd.
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