March 26, 2012

Maifield wins big two at Pro-Line Cactus Classic

Ryan Maifield pulled off the big double at the Pro-Line Cactus Classic with the Team Associated driver successfully defending his 2WD & 4WD Buggy titles at the 26th edition of America’s longest running offroad meeting. Having made light work of 2WD Short Course title earlier in the day winning the opening two A-Main from pole position, the battle for the overall win in offroad racing’s premiere classes went down to the wire but the Arizona driver rose to the occassion in front of his home crowd to win both A3 Mains ahead of team-mate Ryan Cavalieri to claim back to back titles at the track that is just 10-minutes from his house.

Summing up his weekend Maifield said ‘it wasn’t the easier way but I got it done in the end’. Qualifying his Reedy powered B4.1 only fourth on the grid for 2WD he admitted that he thought the title had maybe slipped his grasp but he said a change of attitude for Sunday’s finals help turn things round. Holding back at the quad, the mammoth jump that caught out so many drivers this weekend, he finished second behind Cavalieri in A1 and Dakotah Phend in A2, but in A3 faultless drive by Maifield saw him take the lead half way through the all important 5-minute encounter. Eventually winning by 10 seconds this margin was the deciding factor in claiming the overall win as both drivers finished on 199 points.

Bringing the event to a close, the third and deciding 4WD Buggy Main was to be the highlight of this years Classic. With the title between Associated star Ryan’s the two World class drivers went for a thrilling climax to the race. Starting from the TQ spot Maifield lead from Cavalieri with the duo pulling clear of the international field. Hounded by the No.2 B44.1 three laps from home Maifield spun out at the end of the straight allowing the World Champion through but he recovered quickly and came right back at him to regain the lead to a huge cheer from the crowd. Pushing at 110% Cavalieri was the one to crack on the last lap as he got it wrong on to the main straight flipping his Orion powered buggy. Winning by 1.7 seconds it was clearly a huge weight lifted off Maifield’s shoulders who afterwards said racing in his home town in front of his parents and friends who came to the track to watch him race brought a lot of extra pressure but it also made winning that bit more special.

A good day for Team Associated as their drivers finished 1-2 in both buggy classes, rising young star Dakotah Phend completed the 2WD podium while Reedy Race Champion Joern Neumann claimed the third step of the 4WD Podium. While the Champions of the three other big classes at the Pro-Line Cactus Classic was decided in the second A-Main the third A-Mains would decide the rest of the podium. Joining Cavalieri on the Mod Truck podium was A3 winner Maifield and TLR’s Dustin Evans while in 2WD Short Course Kyosho’s Jared Tebo and Kody Numedahl, who won A3, completed the overall Top 3 behind Maifield. In the high flying 4WD Short Course class Hupo Honigl won the final A-Main to secure a Team Durango 1-2 behind Neumann with Top Qualifier Dakotah Phend ending up third overall.

Red RC would like to thank Pro-Line for making our first trip to cover the Cactus Classic possible and to Daniel Adams for once again providing us with a base in the pits for the weekend.

2WD Buggy Overall Result
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 199 pts
2. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 199
3. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 197
4. Dustin Evans – TLR – 195
5. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 194
6. Travis Amezcua – Durango – 191
6. Steven Hartson – Associated – 188
8. Brian Kinwald – Associated – 188
9. Billy Fischer – TLR – 185
10.Brent Thielke – Associated – 184

4WD Buggy Overall Result
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 200 pts
2. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 199
3. Joern Neumann – Durango – 196
4. Lee Martin – Tamiya – 195
5. Travis Amezcua – Durango – 193
6. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 191
7. Steven Hartson – Associated – 188
8. Billy Fischer – Associated – 188
9. Chad Due – Associated – 187
10.Hupo Honigl – Durango – 187

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Click here to view overall truck & full Leg 3 results


March 26, 2012

Cav, Maifield & Neumann lift Cactus truck titles

All three truck titles at the 26th running of the Pro-Line Cactus Classic were sewn up in the second round of A-Mains after the winners of the opening A-Mains doubled up to secure the overall win. Starting from the TQ position Cavalieri claimed the first title of the event successfully defending his Mod Truck crown with ease winning ahead of Associated team-mate Ryan Maifield while Leg 1 runner-up Dustin Evans took third having briefly run in front of Maifield early in the 5-minute encounter.

The next title to be decided was 2WD Short Course and again it was the Top Qualifier and defending Champion that took the honours, but Maifield was forced to work hard for the win. One lap 2 the No.2 Kyosho of Tebo muscled his way passed the US National Champion and on the same lap as the trucks came off the straight Maifield rolled off the track, resuming back in fifth. Cheered on by his home crowd Maifield recovered back to second and shadowing Tebo finally found his way through on lap 7 when Tebo, who set the fastest lap of the race, got hooked up on a corner pipe.

Providing the most exciting action at Scottsdale R/C Speedway, the 4WD Short Course title will be leaving the USA with Joern Neumann, the first European to defeat the American’s elite offroad racers at the world famous Reedy Race, took a very close victory ahead of Dakotah Phend. 15-year-old Phend looked like he might convert his TQ starting position this time round but a mistake on lap seven let Leg 1 winner Neumann, who started fifth, to take to the front of the pack. Holding a comfortable lead mother nature came close to robbing the German ace the win as a gust of wind caught the DESC410 while in the air at the quad section sending it out of the track perimeters. All this and another moment for Neumann allowed Phend, who set the fastest lap, to close right in as the pair made a dash for the line, Neumann holding on to secure Durango’s first major US Short Course win by 1/10th of a second.

In the second of the Buggy Mains the result means it is still all to play for in Arizona. In 2WD Phend put in a stunning drive to take the win from fifth on the grid with his Pro-Line backed TLR22 taking the win ahead of Associated’s star Ryans, Cavalieri and Maifield. Once again Top Qualifier Tebo had a rough race. Holding the lead for three laps Leg 1 winner Cavalieri got by him on Lap 4 with things going downhill from there, the former World Champion eventually crossing the finish in 6th

In 4WD, Top Qualifier and defending Champion Maifield managed this time round to hold off his World Champion team-mate Cavalieri who had to deal with Joern Neumann. On lap nine Neumann split the Associated drivers but a mistake three laps from home let Cav back to second meaning the title will be going to one of the Ryans. Third in Leg 1, Tamiya’s Lee Martin was an early retirement in A2 after he clashed with Tebo in the air resulting in a hard landing that caused the TRF502 to shutdown.

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View the A-main results here


March 25, 2012

Cavalieri dominates opening Cactus A-Mains

It was a very successful morning for Ryan Cavalieri at the Pro-Line Cactus Classic as the Team Associated driver notched up victory in three of the four A-Mains he contested, the other winners of the opening action being Ryan Maifield and Joern Neumann.

In the blue ribboned buggy classes the World Champion took victory in both 2WD and 4WD ahead of team-mate & defending Cactus Champion Maifield while in Mod Truck, the class of which he his the 2011 Champion, Cavalieri converted his TQ starting position into a win ahead of TLR’s Dustin Evans. Starting second on the grid in 2WD Buggy Cavalieri took the lead on lap 8 when Top Qualifier Jared Tebo made a mistake leading the Kyosho driver to get caught up in the chasing pack eventually finishing 5th. The 4WD encounter saw Cavalieri find a way passed Top Qualifier Maifield at the start of the second lap. Making a charge in the latter half of the race reduced the almost three second gap to under a second setting a blistering fastest lap of 22.324 but a mistake on lap 11 of 14 gave the No.2 buggy the buffer to cruise to the win.

In 2WD Short Course, the only class being contested by Cavalieri that he didn’t win with him ending the encounter in 3rd, Maifield took his Associated SC10 to a controlled tone to tone win over Tebo’s Kyosho Ultima SCR-SP. One notable retirement from the race was Losi driver Evans whose XXX-SCT came to a stop when the battery lead came undone on lap 4.

In 4WD Short Course, which put on a spectacular airshow as the ten trucks came across the quad for the first time, Top Qualifier Dakotah Phend came up short on the double before the straight, causing second place Lutz to run off the track, allowing defending champion Mike Truhe to take up the lead. Starting from 5th on the grid German ace Neumann made a great mid air pass on the American at the quad as the race reached the mid point and the Durango driver never looked back. Truhe’s race went downhill from there with Lutz recovering to take second followed by Austrian Hupo Honigl for an all Durango Top 3. Phend eventually finish 4th ahead of Truhe. After the race a Losi made a complaint to race officials regarding Durango running a rear wing on their trucks which under ROAR rules are not permitted however as this is not a ROAR event Team Durango had not breached any rules. Following a team managers meeting the Durango drivers agreed under a gentleman’s ruling to remove the wing for A-Main 2.

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View the A-main results here


March 25, 2012

Maifield & Phend 4WD Top Qualifiers

Ryan Maifield and Dakotah Phend completed the line up of Top Qualifiers in the main classes of the Pro-Line Cactus Classic with defending champion Maifield taking the honour in 4WD Buggy and Phend in 4WD Short Course after the pair each TQ’d the final qualifier of their respective classes tonight at Scottsdale R/C Speedway.

Looking to defend three titles this weekend, Maifield was pleased to secure his second overall TQ having earlier wrapped up 2WD Short Course with a round to spare. Happy with how his Reedy powered B44.1 worked in Q4, the factory Associated driver said starting on pole in the blue ribboned class his plan will be to control the race from the front.

Starting behind Maifield, making it an Associated 1-2 on the grid, will be team-mate Ryan Cavalieri. Having TQ’d Round 1, the World Champion Cavalieri was the only driver capable of denying Maifield from carrying No.1 on his buggy at his home race but he came up short finishing second, just under 2-seconds adrift.

Finishing on the podium in 4WD Buggy at last year’s Cactus Classic, third in the final heat leaves British ace Lee Martin in a strong position to repeat or better his 2011 performance with his Tamiya TRF502 carrying No.3 in the 5-minute triple A-Mains.

Reducing the ride height by 1mm on his Losi Ten-SCTE to suit the higher traction caused by the cooler night conditions, Phend said his Short Course truck was really good allowing him to take his third TQ run and secure the No.1 spot on the grid for his first attempt at the class at this event. Having shown last year he has an abundance of raw talent when he made his Short Course race debut at the ROAR Nationals to go on to became Champion, he is confident he can repeat that feat in tomorrow’s Mains.

Starting behind Phend will be Ryan Lutz who was able to back up his Q2 topping run last night with second in tonight’s closing qualifier. The Durango driver set the fastest lap once again and is sure to give the 15-year-old a good run for his money in the finals.

Defending Champion Mike Truhe will carry the No.3 on his truck and, as a stronger racer than qualifier, will be looking to find away passed both Phend and Lutz so as to retain his Pro-Line Cactus Classic crown.

Round 4 Qualification (Top 6)
4WD Buggy
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 13/5:01.408
2. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 13/5:03.363
3. Lee Martin – Tamiya – 13/5:06.070
4. Joern Neumann – Durango – 13/5:09.353
5. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 13/5:11.903
6. Hupo Honigl – Durango – 13/5:15.533

4WD Buggy A-finalists
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated
2. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated
3. Lee Martin – Tamiya
4. Jared Tebo – Kyosho
5. Travis Amezcua – Durango
6. Joern Neumann – Durango
7. Billy Fischer – Associated
8. Hupo Honigl – Durango
9. Steven Hartson – Associated
10.Chad Due – Associated

Round 4 Qualification (Top 6)
4WD Short Course
1. Dakotah Phend – Losi – 13/5:19.422
2. Ryan Lutz – Durango – 13/5:23.190
3. Mike Truhe – Losi – 13/5:00.885
4. Carson Wernimont – Durango – 12/5:00.187
5. Kody Numedahl – Associated – 12/5:08.009
6. Max Flurer – Associated – 12/5:12.861

4WD Short Course A-finalists
1. Dakotah Phend – Losi
2. Ryan Lutz – Durango
3. Mike Truhe – Losi
4. Hupo Honigl – Durango
5. Joern Neumann – Durango
6. Carson Wernimont – Durango
7. Travis Amezcua – Durango
8. Kody Numedahl – Associated
9. Frank Root – Losi
10.Max Flurer – Associated

View the complete final qualifying results here (PDF).

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