January 24, 2020

Phend sets early pace as 26th Reedy Race gets underway

The 26th running of the Reedy Offroad Race of Champions is underway at the World renowned OCRC Raceway in Huntington Beach, California, with 2016 Champion Dakotah Phend setting the pace in both 2WD and 4WD practice.  In 4WD, the class which will kick off the racing action tomorrow, the TLR driver was quickest from Ty Tessmann over 3-consecutive laps with Ryan Maifield completing the Top 3 in front of Spencer Rivkin and World’s podium finisher Yusuke Sugiura.  In 2WD, Phend was quickest over 2-time champion Dustin Evans with Associated team-mate Broc Champlin showing good pace in 3rd followed by Joona Haatanen, Rivkin and Maifield. For defending champion Jared Tebo, practice saw him post the 9th fastest time in 2WD and 15th of the 24 car field in 4WD.

Summing up his 2 runs on the track in each class, Phend said, ‘It’s going good so far. I am just breaking in tyres and getting used to the track but both cars are feeling good.  They are pretty close and once we start racing they will be there’. Asked his thoughts of this year’s track layout, he said, ‘It’s fun. The rhythm section is a little challenging with the timing but it’s not hard and should be fun for racing.’

‘The best layout so far for the Reedy Race. You wont have to force your way to pass. I should make for good racing’, was Tessmann’s reaction when asked about the layout.  Commenting on his cars, the Xray driver, for whom the Reedy Race is one of the main title’s that still eludes him, said, ‘We have 4WD figured out but in 2WD we are struggling for rear grip but by the time 2WD comes around there will be far more grip.’

Summing up his practice runs, Maifield said, ‘both cars are good, I’m just waiting for the tyres to come in and working on my new power plant’.  Signing with Hobbywing for the 2020 season, the Yokomo driver said, ‘this is the first time seeing a rhythm like that so I am working on fine tuning the speedo to that’.  The 2015 Champion continued, ‘we are trying to prepare the car for the grip later in the event when it will be much higher for 2WD.  We are in the ball park speed wise’.

‘My 2WD is really good, the speed and pace is really awesome’, was Evan’s reaction to setting the second fastest time in 2WD.  On his 4WD, the 2011 & 2018 Champion said, ‘It’s a little off and needs more speed but it feels good to drive’.  Describing the track as ‘pretty high speed’ he shared the general view that it’s a good layout adding he liked that they had also managed to include a slow speed technical section however he felt this could cause some issues. ‘We’ll see what the rhythm section is like at the start but I think most drivers are agreeing on the same line now so it could be fine’.

17-year-old Champlin said he hasn’t changed his cars from what he arrived at the event with but for the final 2WD practice he might take out some of the weights and see if it stays more stable on power. On his 4WD, the former Open Champion said, ‘We are close but if I can make the rear end a little stiffer it will be good’.

Asked about his practice pace Tebo replied, ‘I am getting comfortable with the track. The tyres and track are still breaking in so it’s hard to decipher what is changing.  I am adjusting my 4WD a little to get it faster’. On this year’s track build, the Tekno driver said, ‘It is a pretty good layout but the racing will be fairly tough. It’s fast so its going to be single file as you need to stay on the racing line’, concluding, ‘There’s probably going to be carnage’.

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November 24, 2019

Chassis Focus – Gary Huang

Chassis – Xray RX8 2019
Engine – Max Power RP9
Fuel – Runner Time
Tires (handout) – Matrix
Radio/Servos – Sanwa/Power HD
Body – Xtreme Super Diablo

Remarks – Winner of this year’s SIGP Gary Huang and mechanic Gavin Kwok were using the 2019 spec Xray RX8. Featuring the optional alu servo saver, alu front anti roll bar mounts, optional centre pullies and a 100gram brass battery mount, the Chinese team had to contend with setting up their car for the higher grip found this year compared to previous years. 

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November 24, 2019

Gary Huang takes popular SIGP Nitro class win

Gary Huang has taken an emotional win tonight in Xiamen, China in the 1/8th Main final. The Xray driver overcame a flameout to take a very popular win in front of a partisan crowd at the SIGP. Behind it was Merlin Depta who finished in 2nd place, one and a half laps back, the German driver leading following the Chinese driver’s flameout. Completing the podium here at the ARC International Raceway was veteran Italian racer Marco Vanni. Pole sitter Jeff Hamon had a troubled race as he lost touch with Gary Huang early on before hitting major engine troubles, the result of the Australian having set his engine too lean prior to the final. Feeling the win was retribution for not being able to travel to the Worlds last month in California due to visa problems, long time mechanic Gavin Kwok was overcome with emotion as his driver took the checkered flag. Explaining his flameout, he said he was on his in-lap when the Max engine rolled to a stop near the end of the lap. The Xray driver was running 2 laps more than everyone else but he believes it was the smaller tires that had increased consumption and caught them out. Restarted and back on track he battled his way back from 4th, pushing like crazy to take over the lead again with 15 minutes left and hold on for the rest of the race and take his first SIGP nitro win.

Merlin Depta said he had ‘no pace and no tires’, the Serpent driver changing tires 3 times in the final. Explaining that when he ran yesterday evening the track was super sticky and so to be safe focused on making his car easy to drive but with the traction lower than expected the car ended up pushing too much. Leading for a time after Huang flamed out, he just didn’t have the pace to match the Xray driver and so dropped back to 2nd and battling with Ray Poon. Very pleased with his pit crew, the first time in the pitlane at a race for his girlfriend, Merlin was none the less pleased with 2nd place saying ‘I’ll take it’.

Taking the final podium spot, Marco Vanni joked that he was an ‘old man’ who just kept going, ‘just kept driving’. The Shepherd driver was also in 3rd place 2 years ago when he was last in Xiamen, saying he likes this area of China and especially the track will hope to be back again next year. Starting from 8th place, the Italian worked his way slowly and methodically through the field, taking the 3rd spot off Hong Kong driver Ray Poon 10 laps from the end of the race, the Infinity driver having led as the tire stops shuffled through having to settled for 4th. Hay Lai would finish in 5th place, just in front of Charlee P in 6th, who was another driver to lead until he lost a front tire exiting the pits after his tire stop.

In the GT class it was an epic battle all race long between Serpent driver and top qualifier Felix Law and 2nd place starter Charlee P driving for the Maxima team. The pair fought it out for the entire 45 minutes, never more than a few car lengths apart the whole time. Paphon took the lead about a quarter of the way through the race and held it for about 20 minutes before Felix took back with 12 minutes to go. From there they would push themselves even harder, with Paphon getting back in front and staying there for good with 10 laps to go. In the end only 2 seconds separated them. Afterwards Felix felt that his motor started to go rich which prevented him from being able to pressure Paphon even more at the end. Behind the lead pair young Guangzhou native Ma Haoran rounded out the podium, a finalist in the EP class yesterday, he put in a mature race to finish just 4 laps behind the much more experienced pair ahead. Behind the Xray driver Simon Kau was 4th, while Korea’s Choi Nak Sung completed the top 5.

View the complete event results here.

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November 24, 2019

SIGP 1/8th Nitro Main final line-up complete

The first semi final (even) for the 1/8th scale class produced quite some drama as we lost two of our race favourites as an early crash and some later problems for Kim Ki Heung saw him finish down in 7th, while Meen Vejrak went out of the early lead having lost the back pressure tubing after his first stop, only rejoining later with a new one fitted having lost nearly 4 minutes. That semi final was won by Xray driver Gary Huang, who had been pressuring the Thai driver hard until their first stop. Infinity driver Ray Poon would finish in 2nd some 2 laps down on the leader, with Rocket Zhang piloting a Serpent a lap further down in 3rd. Chui Kai Leung was the last of the automatic bump ups in 4th.

In the second semi final it was a lot more straight forward with Serpent driver Merlin Depta taking victory by 6 seconds over Motor King who was just less than a second ahead of pole man Charlee P at the end of the 30 minute main. Italian driver Marco Vanni was the last automatic qualifier from this semi final but as it was a faster semi than the first, 5th place Hay Lai will take the last bump up spot to complete the 9 drivers that will join top qualifier Jeff Hamon in the 45 minute A-main final.

View the complete event results here.

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November 24, 2019

Chassis Focus – Kim Ki Heung

Chassis – Shepherd Velox V8.2
Engine – OS R21 Euro
Fuel – Runner Time
Tires (handout) – Matrix
Radio/Servos – Sanwa/SRT
Body – Xtreme Diablo

Remarks – Korean Shepherd driver Kim Ki Heung has been impressing many this weekend, battling it out at the front of the field with his Velox V8.2. Running it in fairly standard spec, he has decided to use the harder suspension parts and new front shock tower. In terms of setup, using his base setting from Korea where he says the traction is  higher than in Xiamen, he has made the front track width wider while the rear track was made narrower.

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November 23, 2019

Jeff Hamon is Nitro Top qualifier in China

With EP now over, attention turns back to Nitro, which will run through the rest of Saturday and all through Sunday. With the nitro action again taking place under flood lights it was the perfect conditions to set a fast time but drama in the fastest heat as the car of Meen Vejrak, who was on TQ pace, start to spew smoke out the rear of the bodyshell for about 2 laps before going off at the end of the straight and going on fire. A dragging battery cable seemingly the culprit but the car is completely destroyed from both the fire and the impact. This misfortune allowed Jeff Hamon to take over at the front and claim the TQ spot ahead of another Thai Maxima driver Charlee P, with top seed Kim Ki Heung in 3rd, Motor King in 4th and Meen Vejrak with his Q2 time giving him P5 for tomorrow’s 45 minute A-main. Jeff felt he had a slipping clutch throughout his run but said it stayed consistent for the entire run. Happy with a change he made to softer springs, he thinks for the final the car is easy to drive and apart from setting the clutch properly will work out strategy closer to the race time.

Charlee P was very happy with his car and Maxima engine but complained that the organisers would run the qualifying under flood lights as ‘its too dark for me’. Needing some serious focus to not make a mistake in the 4 minute run, if the race is run under lights tomorrow it could be very difficult for 45 minutes. Asked about tire strategy, the Thai driver said he can make about 20 minutes on a set of tires so will consult with his team about the best strategy for the main.

Ranked first after controlled practice and being consistently in the top 2 in all qualifying runs yesterday, Kim Ki Heung was a little disappointed with 3rd in the rocket round qualifier. Admitting to setting his engine incorrectly, this caused a mismatch with his clutch setting and so cost him time. Continuing to be happy with his Shepherd car, looking to tomorrow he feels there will be no problems and is confident for the final that he will only need to stop once for tires.

Driving a Mugen chassis in Nitro, a driver we are more accustomed to seeing running Yokomo in EP touring, Motor King finished up in 4th place. The Shanghai based driver, who was only 1 tenth down on Kim, was pleased with his Q3 run and for the main final tomorrow will make a decision on any setup changes closer to the time of the final.

Meen Vejrak will start from 5th, thanks to his run in last night’s Q2 run, but the talking point was not where he qualified but what happened to him in Q3. Asked about the fire in his Maxima powered Infinity chassis, the former 200mm World Champion said when it was happening he wasn’t sure what the problem was but said with the smoke pouring out of the back it looked cool, ‘just like Formula 1’. Less ‘cool’ was when the car failed to respond at the end of the straight and ploughed into the track wall and went on fire, helped by the fuel tank rupturing. For tomorrow the Thai driver said he will borrow another car from a friend and try his best to get a good result.

Taking the top spot in the GT class and making it a double TQ for Serpent in the Nitro classes, Felix Law was the top qualifier using his Q1 time. Also failing to improve in Q3, 2nd placed starter Paphon Chanyasak also had to rely on his Q1 run to take 2nd, having problems in the last run that saw him fail to finish. One to improve in Q3 though was Chinese driver Ma Haoran who will start from 3rd, the Xray driver outqualifying Hong Kong veteran Fai Ho who ended up in 4th with Italian Gimar driver Natanaele Senesi improving to complete the top 5.

View the complete event results here.

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