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Cavalieri completes perfect day at Reedy Race
Team Associated’s Ryan Cavalieri completed the perfect result on the first day of racing at the Reedy Offroad Race of Champions, the World Champion winning all four of his 2WD encounters at West Coast RC Raceway in La Mirada, California. The only driver to claim multiple wins today, the fourth round of racing saw Cavalieri’s fellow US offroad stars Ryan Maifield and Jared Tebo take their first wins at the 19th running of the event which will be decided over 12 rounds of heads up racing.
First race of the fourth round had Maifield on pole position but the Associated driver struggled for traction off the line allowing the No.2 starting Tamiya of Lee Martin to take the early lead. The European Champion managed to keep the lead for almost 3-laps but a bobble coming onto the straight allowed a very patient Maifield to slip through and into a lead he would extend to 4-seconds by the end of the 5-minute encounter. Maifield who described is start as being like that of Top Fuel drag car burn out said the pole spot had ‘zero traction’. With Martin in front of him he said he decided to play ‘follow the leader’ for a while hoping for a mistake and he got one. Adding the win to his earlier 2nd places finishes in Rounds 2 & 3 he said with 6th in Round 1 hopefully his ‘throw out’, the event is still very much wide open.
Martin, who was lucky to make the start after he lost a front wheel in the warm-up due to a loose wheel nut, said he found the track ‘a bit slick’ in the final race of the day and was unable to push to catch Maifield instead focusing just on holding onto his TRF201 as he settled for second. The race saw the Top 3 starters finishing in that order with Kyosho’s Kohta Akimoto claiming his best finish off the day with third spot. The race was a bad one for defending champion Joern Neumann who starting from 6th, finished in that position, the German saying he just made too many small mistakes.
In Race 2, Team Durango’s Travis Amezcua took an early lead from second on the grid before a mistake allowed the pole starting Associated of Kody Numedahl to lead for two laps before a mistake dropped him back behind Amezcua. In the end Cavalieri’s World class shone through and he found a way passed Amezcua to win by 4.5 seconds with former Reedy Race double winner Brian Kinwald completing the Top 3 with his best finish of the day. Cavalieri said ‘everything was good today’ and that being patient in each of his races had paid off.
The day’s closing race produced a tone to tone win for Tebo whose Kyosho started from pole with Team Losi Racing’s Dustin Evans coming through from sixth to take second. Pleased to finish off the day with a win, Tebo said the earlier races just didn’t fall his way but on pace it is very close between him, Cavalieri and Maifield and he just hopes Race 4 was his turning point in the event. In a last lap move in which he passed Round 1 race winner Brent Thielke by jumping over the Associated team-manager, Josh Numan completed the Top 3.
Tomorrow will be made up of four more races with the final two 2WD encounters before the event switches over to 4WD.
Round 4 2WD Buggy
Race 1
1.(1) Ryan Maifield – Associated – 15/5:04.520
2.(2) Lee Martin – Tamiya – 15/5:08.515
3.(3) Kohta Akimoto – Kyosho – 15/5:12.144
4.(8) Dakotah Phend – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:13.066
5.(5) Atsushi Hara – HB/HPI Racing – 15/5:13.505
6.(6) Joern Neumann – Team Durango – 15/5:15.863
7.(9) Mike Truhe – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:21.672
8.(7) Hupo Honigl – Team Durango – 14/5:01.091
9.(10)Chad Due – Associated – 14/5:07.688
Race 2
1.(7) Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 15/5:08.028
2.(2) Travis Amezcua – Team Durango – 15/5:12.546
3.(4) Brian Kinwald – Associated – 15/5:13.173
4.(1) Kody Numedahl – Associated – 15/5:15.813
5.(8) Cody Tuner – Kyosho – 15/5:15.975
6.(6) Stefan Pfeihofer – Associated – 14/5:02.387
7.(3) Matt Castellano – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:02.623
8.(5) Rene Trauner – Yokomo – 14/5:06.622
9.(10)Tanner Denney – Associated – 14/5:16.665
10.(9)Rick Hohwart – Associated – 14/5:17.529
Race 3
1.(1) Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 15/5:03.235
2.(6) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:09.611
3.(9) Josh Numan – Associated – 15/5:13.249
4.(2) Brent Thielke – Associated – 15/5:13.738
5.(7) Neil Cragg – Associated – 15/5:14.059
6.(4) Ty Tessmann – HB/HPI Racing – 14/5:01.179
7.(3) Paul Bradby – Associated – 14/5:02.379
8.(10)Steven Hartson – Associated – 14/5:02.843
9.(5) Ryan Lutz – Team Durango – 14/5:06.933
10.(8)Peter Pinisch – Associated – 14/5:08.723
View the overall invitational standings after 4 rounds here (PDF).
View our event image gallery here.
Video – 2wd Invitational Rd3
Chassis Focus – Joern Neumann
Chassis Name – Durango DEX210
Motor – Speed Passion Competition 3.0
ESC – Speed Passion
Batteries – Thunder Power
Tires – Pro-Line/JConcepts (handout)
Radio/Servos – Futaba
Remarks – Reigning Reedy Race Champion Joern Neumann is running the DEX210 with the +8mm chassis that he has been running for 12 months now along with some new parts for this race. On the rear of the car the lower rear wishbone mounts have been machined to be 2mm lower than the current lowest position which gives improve forward bite and better landing capabilities. The upper rear linkage mount has also been updated to be stronger and has been given and additional outer mount for further tuning options. For this clay race Joern is running a shorty pack to help reduce the weight of the car.
Image Gallery
Chassis Focus – Ryan Cavalieri
Chassis Name – Associated B4.2 Factory Team
Motor – Team Orion VST2
ESC – LRP Flow
Batteries – Team Orion
Tires – Pro-Line/JConcepts (handout)
Radio/Servos – Airtronics
Remarks – Reigning double World Champion Cavalieri is running the latest factory team version of the B4.2 with some other bling parts from JConcepts, including the battery brace and a complete set of titanium turnbuckles, which he anodised himself to match his car. Powering the buggy is the all new Team Orion VST2 brushless motor which the American says has a much more linear bottom end power delivery which gives him the punchy feel that he likes, but that the motor also runs cooler allowing him to run more timing for more overall power.
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Neumann claims first win at Reedy Race
Defending Reedy Race Champion Joern Neumann claimed his first win of this year’s event when he held off a late challenge from the ever spectacular Ryan Maifield in what was the most entertaining race so far of this the 19th running of the unique format event. In the other two races that made up the third round, Ryan Cavalieri added to his perfect score with win no.3 of the day while his Associated team-mate Steven Hartson notched up his first win from 7th on the grid.
Starting from second on the grid, Neumann made a poor start to his race allowing Maifield and Atsushi Hara to get passed but mistakes from them both on the opening lap meant the German could complete Lap 1 in the lead. The factory Durango star got a further break when at the end of the straight Maifield ran into the back of Tebo’s Kyosho spinning him out and leaving the Associated driver no option but to wait, resulting in both drivers dropping down the field. Fired up by his two errors which he himself described as ‘epic failures’, the recovery drive from Maifield was impressive with the crowd getting right behind one of offroad’s most entertain drivers. Hunting down Neumann at an impressive pace it looked like he was on for the win but on the penultimate lap a mistake, which required his B4.2 to be marshaled, was enough to allow Neumann to take the win by just under 3 seconds with Ty Tessmann completing the Top 3 ahead of HB team-mate Hara.
Asked if he was under pressure from Maifield or just controlling the race from the front Neumann replied ‘when Maifield is behind you you are always under pressure’. Happy to claim his first win and managing a 2nd & 3rd in the opening two rounds, he said the day is going better than expected considering its 2WD.
Annoyed with himself for hitting Tebo as it also messed up the Kyosho ace’s race, adding they are ‘still friends’ following the crash, Maifield said his buggy is working really well but unlike his team-mates he just can’t catch a break.
Commenting on his latest win Maifield’s team-mate Cavalieri said this one ‘was a little bit of work’. Initially Kyosho’s Kohta Akimoto lead the race from pole position shadowed by the World Champion who said he had to be very patient as the Japanese driver was doing a good job driving his lines. Eventually Akimoto made a mistake allowing the 2010 Reedy Race Champion through but he then had to see off a challenge from Tamiya’s Lee Martin but that ended when the Brit had a moment of his own. In the end Cavalieri took the win to extend his lead in the points standings with Dustin Evans coming through for second ahead of Martin.
Having started his opening three races from the back end of the grid, 2011 Reedy Race Champion Evans was happy with his Top 4 performances saying that the title is won on the results of the back row starts.
Round 3 2WD Buggy
Race 1
1.(6) Steven Hartson – Associated – 15/5:10.207
2.(2) Kody Numedahl – Associated – 15/5:11.751
3.(5) Mike Truhe – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:12.388
4.(9) Matt Castellano – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:12.656
5.(4) Paul Bradby – Associated – 15/5:19.691
6.(8) Josh Numan – Associated – 14/5:01.547
7.(3) Cody Tuner – Kyosho – 14/5:03.304
8.(1) Rene Trauner – Yokomo – 14/5:05.364
9.(10)Brent Thielke – Associated – 14/5:06.181
Race 2
1.(3) Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 15/5:07.475
2.(8) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:10.274
3.(7) Lee Martin – Tamiya – 15/5:13.502
4.(1) Kohta Akimoto – Kyosho – 15/5:13.946
5.(5) Tanner Denney – Associated – 15/5:21.908
6.(2) Stefan Pfeihofer – Associated – 14/5:05.802
7.(4) Rick Hohwart – Associated – 14/5:05.878
8.(10)Neil Cragg – Associated – 14/5:06.643
9.(6) Ryan Lutz – Team Durango – 14/5:07.652
10.(9)Peter Pinisch – Associated – 14/5:08.647
Race 3
1.(1) Joern Neumann – Team Durango – 15/5:09.658
2.(2) Ryan Maifield – Associated – 15/5:12.595
3.(6) Ty Tessmann – HB/HPI Racing – 15/5:13.727
4.(3) Atsushi Hara – HB/HPI Racing – 15/5:15.148
5.(9) Travis Amezcua – Team Durango – 15/5:16.596
6.(4) Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 15/5:18.629
7.(8) Dakotah Phend – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:02.126
8.(7) Brian Kinwald – Associated – 14/5:03.760
9.(10)Hupo Honigl – Team Durango – 14/5:07.119
10.(5)Chad Due – Associated – 14/5:18.294
View the overall invitational standings after 3 rounds here (PDF).
View our event image gallery here.