Cavalieri leads from Evans going into final day
Ryan Cavalieri leads the way going into the final day of the Reedy Race of Champions tomorrow but only by a single point from team-mate Dustin Evans. The final round of action on the second day of racing at OCRC Raceway saw Joe Bornhorst hold on for the win ahead of Spencer Rivkin, the joint leader after 4WD, dropping to third in the standings as a result. Next up, Cavalieri took advantage of an easy heat draw coming through from 5th on the grid to rack up his 5th win of the event ahead of Cole Tollard. It was the concluding race though that was the most stacked with Evans, Ryan Maifield, Ty Tessmann and Jared Tebo in the field. A good start saw Jake Mayo lead for 5 laps before Evans came through and pulled out a lead. Behind, after a bad start, Maifield stormed his way back through the pack finally getting second with a great pass on Mayo when he jumped down his inside on the triple in front of the drivers stand. With the pass coming late in the race, the World Champion hadn’t time to do anything about Evan’s lead.
With just four more races between him and a potential 5th Reedy Race title, Cavalieri said, ‘I had a good jump on Cole (Tollard) and got up to second pretty much straight away and then Joona (Hataanen) had a mistake at the triple and I was in the lead. I got my head down to put a solid run but ended up backing it down to save my tyres’. Asked about tyre wear, the Associated driver said, ‘the track feels pretty good but its pretty abrasive. I think tyres will be a factor tomorrow’.
‘That was a stacked race’, was Evans description of the second 2WD encounter. The former Champion continued, ‘Gillespie and Mayo were fast and Tebo was going well that time too. I drove too timid at the start and Mayo pulled away but I knew Maifield was coming and told myself don’t let him catch you so I started pushing.’ Looking to the remaining four races, he said, ‘I’m excited to go into the final day with the opportunity to race it out for the the win’.
With second behind Evans moving Maifield up to fourth in the points ahead of Yokomo team-mate Lee Martin, the British driver having a tough start to 2WD having held the joint lead after 4WD, he said, ‘It was ok. It was another stacked race. I though I had the inside line on Brent (Thielke) but he went as well and I got collected and was 9th on the first lap. I don’t know how but then I found myself in 3rd position. Then I passed Mayo but by that time Dustin was too far ahead to catch’. Going into the final day, the 2015 Champion said, ‘the track was a lot different in the last one, it’s weird, it feels both slimmy and grippy so for tomorrow I with try a different set of tyres’. He concluded, ‘I also have some better starts’, him starting out the day with pole position start and ending the event with a front row start.
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