Cavalieri doubles up in second round
After a win in the opening round of racing at the Reedy Offroad Race of Champions, Ryan Cavalieri became the first driver to double up at OCRC Raceway with a win over defending champion Jared Tebo. Starting from 6th on the grid, Cavalieri worked his way to the front in his Sworkz getting by on lap 3 after a mistake from pole sitter Cole Tollard. While he had the faster car and looked set to challenge Cavalieri for the lead on a few occasions, bobbles prevented Tebo from making it two out of two with Ty Tessmann completing the Top 3. The other winners of Round 2 would be 17-year-old Broc Champlin who got by long time leader Ron Devoll with a well planned and executed pass on the final lap. Finishing second to Rivkin in Round 1 after an early mistake having started from pole, Ryan Maifield convert a P4 start into a win reversing the Round 1 result as Rivkin came home second followed by pole starter Tommy Hinz who had led for the opening four laps.
‘Definitely went in the right direction, it was a lot more racey that time’, was Cavalieri’s reaction after his win, the multiple champion having made a number of changes to his car after Round 1. He continued, ‘Somehow I got a really good start from the outside of the third row. I got the jump on 5th and made 3 spots in the first corner. It was a really great start and I also capitalised on mistakes by the leaders, then I just kept my head down and drove for the W’. On further set-up changes, the Cali driver said, ‘I am very happy with the car right now but I think I am going to go in one other direction with the set-up for the next one’.
Summing up his race, Tebo said, ‘I feel I threw away a possible win. I had a really hard time staying accurate on the third triple but it’s more solid points on the board’. The Tekno driver explained, ‘I added toe-out in the steering to get better steering but this seems to affect the car on the angle jump so I will put it back for the next one’.
Commenting on his start to the 26th running of the iconic Reedy Race, Maifield said, ‘As I said yesterday I am still figuring out my new electronics and in the first round I didn’t have the best feeling in the jump section which lead to my mistake at the start. I was still able to come back through the field and get a 2. You want the 1 & 2s’. The Yokomo driver continued, ‘I adjusted my speedo for Round 2 and I was way more confident with the car. It was a much cleaner round, I think I had 8 mistakes in the first round. I started 4th and made my way passed guys as they made mistakes. I knew Spencer was second but I could hold him off and got the win.’ Maifield’s Round 2 winning time is the fastest race time so far which could prove vital in the final result.
Rivkin said, ‘that was as good as it can go without taking the win’. The Associated driver added, ‘I had Maifield ahead of me but I wasn’t able to catch up so I accepted second for the round. I started 5th and finished 2nd for the round which for my mid pack starts is most important’. On his car, the Arizona driver said, ‘I ran the car the same and it got better from Round 1 to Round 2 which is good. I’m going to continue to run it the same for the next one’.
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