Boots tops first day of 4WD

Putting together what race announcer Scotty Ernst described as the perfect lap, Team Durango’s Elliot Boots ends the first day of the 4WD Electric Buggy World Championships at the top of the time sheets.  Making his electric Worlds debut, the 18-year-old produced the fastest lap of the day in the eighth and final round of practice to top 2007 Champion Jared Tebo and Durango team-mate Joern Neumann.

A well known 1:8 Nitro offroad racer, Boots changed from big bore to smaller shocks on his DEX410 which he said made for a more consistent and easier to drive buggy. Used to normally racing on astro turf back in the UK this is his first experience of racing 1:10 on dirt and he says he loves it.  Having not competed at the Warm-up this is also his first time to the Vaasa track which he described as having a similar feeling to what is used to running on in 1:8.  Admitting he never expected to top the time sheets Boots hopes he can carry his form through to qualifying tomorrow for which he has now set his targets higher.

Trying a different spring in P7, Tebo said he didn’t like how it made his Lazer ZX-5 FS2 feel.  Reverting back to the set that put him top of the timing in P6 he said he used the last run of the day to fine tune his lines and leaving the track this evening the American ace was eager to get down to the more serious business of qualifying.

Unable to improve his time in the final two practice runs of the day Neumann said his driving let him down.  The 2007 World Finalist said he is confident in his Speed Passion powered DEX410 for tomorrow and will work on improving his driving rather than the buggy.

The fastest Associated at the end of the first day of 4WD, Ryan Maifield appeared happy with were he is at.  The Motocross styled American said his Reedy powered B44.1 felt consistent and fluent to drive and if the rain stays away all is looking good.

Breaking into the 23-second laps for the first time in the penultimate practice round when he posted his fastest lap, Team Yokomo’s Naoto Matsukura said he was happy with his lines but wants to make some final set-up adjustment for the final practice run in the morning.  Finding his B-Max4 II a little loose he also suffered from understeer but the Japanese driver is confident they will have the car right for the opening qualifier.

Another driver better known for 1:8 Nitro offroad to impress today was Finland’s own Joseph Quagraine.  Unable to better his P6 time ‘The Driver’ who is running a Durango chassis still ends the day 6th fastest.

The star of the 2WD World Championships held earlier this week in which he made the A-Main, promising American talent Dakotah Phend was top Losi in practice. Recording the seventh quickest lap with the aging XXX-4, the 14-year-old said he has a lot of confidence with the buggy. Happy with his set-up he said there is one corner on the track he is still working on but he should have it sorted for qualifying.  Ending the day two places behind Phend in ninth, team-mate Dustin Evans said his buggy was easy to drive and being more of a consistent driver than a one lap specialist he is encouraged by his pace in Vaasa.

Newly crowned 2WD World Champion Ryan Cavalieri said he spent the afternoon working on consistency.  Setting his best lap time in P5, the two time former Champion felt he found his rhythm in the final run of the day when he was able to run some fast consecutive laps.

Warm-up race winner Lee Martin completed the Top 10.  Admitting he would like to find a little more pace, the European Champion was happy with his consistency saying qualifying is very different to banging in a fast practice lap.  Asked where he hopes to find the extra pace he wants the factory Tamiya team leader said there was a bit in both him and the TRF511.

While the rain held off for the day, shortly after the completion of last practice the heavens opened up over the track.  Thankfully the organisers covered the track before the rain arrived with the impressive, and expensive, tarpaulin they had custom made just for the event.  Hopefully the rain will clear over night and the final round of practice will get the track ready for the first of five rounds of qualifying, four of which make up the Saturday timetable.

Top 10 lap times after P8
1. Elliot Boots – Durango – 23.388
2. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 23.657
3. Joern Neumann – Durango – 23.660
4. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 23.665
5. Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo – 23.669
6. Joseph Quagraine – Durango – 23.772
7. Dakotah Phend – Losi – 23.773
8. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 23.851
9. Dustin Evans – Losi – 23.875
10.Lee Martin – Tamiya – 24.011

Practice results can be found here (PDF) and full results can be found here.

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Tebo goes top in Finland

2007 World Champion Jared Tebo have gone to the top of timing sheets having just produced a new fastest lap on the final lap of his sixth 4-minute practice run.  The Kyosho driver hasn’t made any changes to his Orion powered Lazer ZX-5 FS2 today saying it feels really good.  Describing traction levels as being now decent Tebo said the track is very fast and this can make it difficult when running around other cars. Expecting condition to start to stay much the same as they are now for the final two runs of the day the US driver said he will use P7 to test a different spring but otherwise plans no changes to his set-up.

Also improving his time in P6 to move ahead of early pace setter Ryan Maifield, Team Durango’s Joern Neumann took his DEX410 to the second fastest lap time.  The German Champion, who is just .003 off Tebo, switched to the same set-up he ran at the Warm-up race which he said while it made the buggy more difficult to drive it produced much faster lap times.

Running a best lap of 23.680 compared to fastest lap of 23.665 set in P5, Maifield used the round to play with his lines.  Seeking his first World title, the factory Associated driver said he is still trying to learn to not crash on a track which is proving a challenge to run consistent laps.

Putting in a lap which he admitted was a ‘bit of surprise’ Joseph Quagraine is delighted with his early showing at these World Championship.  Better known for his 1:8 Offroad exploits where he races his own JQ Products creation, the Finn said he loves the track surface and the jumps.  Having made the Main at the Warm-up he has been working towards a set-up that makes his Durango easy to drive and focus on clean runs rather than outright pace.

Unable to better their P5 times American’s Ryan Cavalieri and Dustin Evans drop to fifth and sixth fastest respectively.

Two drivers to improve their pace were Naoto Matsukura and Elliot Boots.  Matsukura took his factory Yokomo to the seventh fastest time with a 24-second dead lap moving him ahead of British pairing Lee Martin and Neil Cragg who failed to better their P5 times.

Former European 1:8 Offroad Junior Champion Boots, who is running in Group 8 of 12, found almost a second in P6 to set the 10th fastest lap just ahead of senior Durango team-mate Hupo Honigl who having changed nothing on his DEX410 went slower dropping to 11th.

Top 10 lap times after P6
1. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 23.657
2. Joern Neumann – Durango – 23.660
3. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 23.665
4. Joseph Quagraine – Durango – 23.772
5. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 23.851
6. Dustin Evans – Losi – 23.875
7. Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo – 24.000
8. Lee Martin – Tamiya – 24.011
9. Neil Cragg – Associated – 24.080
10.Elliot Boots – Durango – 24.164

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Ryan Maifield quickest

Ryan Maifield is quickest after 5 rounds of practice on the opening day of the 4WD Electric Buggy World Championship in Finland topping newly crowned 2WD World Champion Ryan Cavalieri and Kyosho’s Jared Tebo who recorded his fastest lap in P4.

With the sun now shining over Vaasa track conditions came good for P5 with the Top 5 able to run 23-second lap times.  Behind the trio of American’s who filled the 2WD Podium on Wednesday, Losi’s Dustin Evans and top Finnish offroad racer Joseph Quagraine, who is driving a Durango, set the fourth & fifth fastest time respectively.

Just missing out on breaking a 24-second lap, Team Durango’s Joern Neumann was sixth fastest with a 24.007 followed closely by Warm-up Race winner Lee Martin who managed a 24.011 with his Tamiya.

Top Qualifier in 2WD, England’s Neil Cragg set the 8th fastest time with his LRP powered B44.1 while team-mate Steven Harston set the 10th fastest time making it four Associated’s in the Top 10.  Proving a very popular choice of buggy this year, Hupo Hönigl used his DEX410 to post the 9th quickest lap.

Top 10 lap times after P5
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 23.665
2. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 23.851
3. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 23.856
4. Dustin Evans – Losi – 23.875
5. Joseph Quagraine – Durango – 23.992
6. Joern Neumann – Durango – 24.009
7. Lee Martin – Tamiya – 24.011
8. Neil Cragg – Associated – 24.080
9. Hupo Hönigl – Durango – 24.171
10.Steven Hartson – 24.251

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4WD Worlds underway in Finland

Having crowned Ryan Cavalieri as the new 2WD electric Buggy World Champion on Wednesday attention now turns to 4WD in Finland today with a day of practice on the Vaasa track which has had the layout changed from that used in the first half of the week.

The most successful driver contesting the event, having won back to back 4WD titles in 2003 & 2005, Team Associated’s new 2WD Champion Cavalieri goes into the event full of confidence.  Having run three of the eight 4-minute practice runs that make up today’s schedule, the American said the new layout is longer and more tricky but he found the main feature of the track, the quad, not to be as difficult as thought it would be.  Admitting that getting it wrong could easily lead to a broken car he expects the competition to be a little different to 2WD.  With an amazing eleven 2WD titles to their credit Associated have only a single 4WD title, won with Jared Tebo in 2007, but between Cavalieri, Ryan Maifield and 2WD top qualifier Neil Cragg the American company are serious contenders for their 26th IFMAR World Championship title.

Describing the track as ‘really cool’ and the quad as ‘insane’, Team Kyosho’s Jared Tebo said he wants nothing less than to repeat his 2007 victory.  The winner of the last full blown World Championships, the 2009 event having only attracted little more than a dozen drivers, Tebo said he is ‘bummed’ after his 2WD result and is going to stick to what he learned from that – to leave his set-up alone.  Running the set-up he found in testing after the Warm-up having stayed on in Vaasa for a few extra days he said the Lazer ZX-5 FS2 felt good this morning.

The winner of the Warm-up race in May, Tamiya Racing Factory’s Lee Martin says he feels really good about his 4WD chances.  Finishing 7th in the 2WD final,  the current European Champion said the layout of the 4WD track flows more and his buggy felt really smooth to drive in the opening practices.  Expecting the laps times to tumble later in the day, when and if the track dries out, the British ace feels the quad jump is going to play a factor as it going to lead to mistakes and ultimately broken cars.  Team-mate Marc Rheinard, a former European 4WD Champion, said while 4WD is the better of the two buggy classes for him he feels it is going to be tough to beat his 2WD result which saw him finish a respectable 18th overall.

Another former European Champion aiming for glory is Team Durango’s Hupo Honigl.  The Austrian won the 4WD European title at this very track in 2007 and believes this is one of his best chances of adding a first World title.  Honigl said he has a good package having shown good speed at the Warm-up race and now he just needed to bring that through over the next three days.  A finalist in 4WD in Japan and coming off the back of making the A-Main in 2WD, team-mate Joern Neumann should also be a contender for the reigning champions Team Durango.  Martin Achter secured the title for Durango two years ago after the South African event was boycotted by most drivers and the German knows his reign is going to come to an end in 3-days time.

The most successful company in 4WD with six World titles to their credit, Team Yokomo are pinning their hopes for the 14th running of the IFMAR event on young Japanese National Champion Naoto Matsukura.  TQ’ing a round of the 2WD qualifying, the 19-year-old said he is much more comfortable with 4WD summing up the difference in two words ‘maximum power’.  A World finalist in 2007, when he finished 9th, Matsukura doesn’t lack self belief and wants to bring his tally of World titles to three having last year won back to back 1:12 World Championships.

Having focused all their attention on trying to win the 2WD title with their new 22, Losi may have three World titles to their credit in 4WD but with an aging buggy their drivers are not expected to be serious contenders for the win on Sunday.

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