Tessmann ties up first day of qualifying in Sicily
Ty Tessmann made Day 1 of qualifying at the 1:8 Offroad World Championship in Sicily his own, the Canadian backing up his Q1 run with another convincing performance in the second round. Bettering his time by almost 2-seconds over 10-minutes the HB driver was 5-seconds clear of his nearest rival Robert Batlle, the defending champion having a much better Q2. Again showing he is the master of run time going the full distance without a fuel stop, Adam Drake completed the Top 3 knocking close on 10-seconds off his morning time. For qualifying top seed David Ronnefalk it was not to be a good day with Q2 proving worse for the Swede who did not even make the Top 16 this time round.
A pretty much perfect day for Tessmann, who once again set the fastest lap of the round, he said for Q2 he took a somewhat less conservative approach to his driving but still managed to keep the run free of mistakes. Changing to thicker shock oil on his D812 the US National Champion said this gave him a more consistent car. With little more to add regarding his ‘very good day’, his plan for the second of the three days of qualifying tomorrow is to leave everything the same and try repeat today, four from six heats to determine the final qualifying order.
‘Getting better’ was Batlle’s summary of Q2. Only 9th fastest in the opening round, the Mugen driver said while he still had a few small mistakes ‘at least this time we had speed’. Describing the handling of his MBX7R as ‘much better’ he said following a switch to softer springs & lighter shock oil it had more corner speed. Still looking to find more from the car he said they will make further changes for tomorrow but as yet wasn’t sure what they would be and he would discuss tonight with his team.
Changing to a harder centre diff, shocks and to a Pro-Line X1 compound Suburb tyre, Drake said while his TLR 8ight felt the same, to drive it was definitely faster. Taking the same cautious approach to his driving he said the set-up change seemed to make it easier for him to go faster compared with his rivals. For Q3 he is considering adjusting the rear toe out to try a get his buggy to rotate more fluidly.
Posting another Top 4 time Lee Martin described his day as ‘not too bad’. Feeling he could have driven Q2 better he said he got caught out on his choice of tyre compound. Running a set of X1 Pro-Line Surburbs there was a big drop off in temperature as some threatening clouds passed over the track adding that if the situation arose again he would switch to X2. Planning to run everything much the same tomorrow the British ace said the aim is to get another two good runs in before trying any big changes but added after the four days of practice they are pretty close now with the best set-up for the Naxos World track.
‘Alright’ was Jared Tebo response to his 5th for the round. Third in Q1, he said a small set-up change in the front diff was the wrong direction to take and he would go back for tomorrow. Catching traffic at the end of his run he said he let this get him out of his rhythm resulting in ‘one stupid mistake’ that cost him almost 3-seconds.
Setting the sixth fastest time Team Durango’s Joern Neumann put his improvement mostly down to his driving. Suffering radio glitches before the start of Q1 he said this effected his driving for the run. Top Qualifier at last years 1:10 4WD Electric World Championships, the German said small set-up changes and a switch from X1 to X2 Suburbs made his FX powered DNX8 easier to drive. Happy with his car he said he would leave it the same for Q3 and focus on putting together another good run.
Taking a seventh for the round Ryan Maifield was content with his run saying he ‘didn’t make any mistakes so it was OK’. Running JConcepts Diamond Bars he said maybe he could have made a better choice in terms of running a smaller pin or softer compound to match the qualifying tyres his rivals are running. Happy with the tyre he has as he knows its going to be good come the finals, he said he might try some different tyres adding JConcepts boss Jason Ruona was working on getting something to try as a qualifier tyre. Overall the TLR driver said it was a ‘good day’ and his two runs ‘take a little pressure off so its not looking too bad’ at the end of Day 1 of qualifying.
Setting the 8th fastest time making it two Durangos in the Top 10, Ryan Lutz said his run was ‘very good except for one crash’. Losing over 4-seconds in the early mistake, the American ran a heavier front diff along with moving the shocks in one hole which helped to smooth out the feel of the car. Also finding more consistency from his brakes this time round, he plans to stick with the same set-up for Q3.
Team Associated pairing Ryan Cavalieri and Neil Cragg completed the Top 10. Describing his prototype next generation RC8 as ‘pretty good’, Cavalieri was a little frustrated by traffic. Pitting for fuel early so as to avoid traffic he said it wasn’t long before he caught another pack of cars who he said didn’t want to give way and not knowing the drivers he said he didn’t want to force the issue. Feeling he could improve the corner speed of the car on a few particular corners of the track he said he will discuss possible solutions with the team tonight, the cars chief designer Kody Numendahl on hand to support the teams three key drivers – Cavalieri, Cragg and Yannick Aigoin.
Outside the Top 10, newly crowned former European Champion & this year’s podium finisher Darren Bloomfield took his Agama to the 11th fastest time ahead of the Xray of Euros runner-up Martin Wollanka. The man who beat both those drivers to the European title, Ronnefalk said the traction has got so high now it is not suiting either his car set-up or his driving style. The 18-year-old said compared with practice today his MP9 is now ‘twitchy & edgy to drive’ something he is putting down to more concrete coming up through the dirt. ‘Need(ing) to make changes for tomorrow’, he said hopefully they can work it out.
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