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’.

View our event image gallery here.

Tebo opens Reedy title defence with first round win

Reedy Race Champion Jared Tebo has opened his title defence with a win in the first race of the 26th running of the iconic event. Starting from pole position with Ty Tessmann alongside, Tebo and the Canadian would go at it for the full 5-minutes with Dakotah Phend joining the battle for what was the most exciting race of the opening round.  A mistake by Tebo would allow Tessmann to go to the front until he then had a moment handing the lead back to Tebo.  In the end the Top 3 would cross the line covered by less than 3/10th of a second.  In the second encounter, Spencer Rivkin took the win over Ryan Maifield, Maifield having started from pole position but dropped down the order after any early mistake in the centre rhythm section.  The third race saw the No.4 starting Ryan Cavalieri avoid contact between early leader Shin Adachi and young French driver Clement Boda and once in front the Reedy Race’s most crowned champion pretty much controlled the race.

‘Not a bad start at all’, was Tebo’s reaction to winning the first of his 12 races.  Winning the event for the first time last year on his switch to the Tekno team, he continued, ‘It was a tough nerve wrecking 1st race.  The car was good, I was just fighting the first race nerves.  It was a good clean fight with Ty and we just swapped mistakes.  It’s good to get the nerves out of the way with a win’.  Asked about his car, the former World Champion said, ‘I’m going to stick with the same set-up for the next one because I know I can drive better in a couple of spots.  The car is consistent and that’s key’.

Commenting on his opening attempt, Tessmann said, ‘It could have been better but it was a safe start.  It is always nerve wrecking starting the first race from the front row’.  The Xray driver continued, ‘the car was good and I had got by Cavalieri but made a mistake on my own and lost the lead.  I knew third was not far behind so I didn’t want to risk anything’.  Regarding his car set-up, the Canadian said for Round 2 he will, ‘stick with what we’ve got’.

Having set the pace in 4WD practice yesterday, Phend summed up Round 1 as ‘not too bad a result’ but the former Champion was less happy with his start from 4th on the grid’.  The TLR driver explained, ‘I had a bad start. I just messed it up.’  Set to start his next race from the back of the grid, the races this year each featuring 8-starters, Phend concluded, ‘The car is really good so I will just keep plugging away in the next one ‘.

Rivkin described his race as a ‘solid run’.  The Associated driver said, ‘I started 4th and took advantage of everyone else’s mistakes and then hung in there till the end’.  Chasing his first Reedy Race title, the newly crowned 2WD World Champion said, ‘my car was good but coming of the drivers stand I was thinking I need to make it easier to drive but then looking at the lap times its one of the fastest out there so maybe I was just a little too excited for the first race.  I think I will pretty much leave it as is for the next one’.

‘A good start to the day. I got a good jump off the line and capitalised on mistakes from a few guys in front.  Once out in clean air I could dictate the race from there’, was how Cavalieri summed up his race.  The Sworkz driver said in the latter part of the race he could feel something wasn’t right and afterwards found that his rear swaybar mount had disconnected.  Looking to Round 2, he plans to make a couple of changes including shock oil change saying, ‘the pace os close but I could use just a little more speed’.

View our event image gallery here.

Haatanen goes fastest in 2WD as Phend maintains 4WD pace

Day 1 of the Reedy Offroad Race of Champions is complete with Joona Haatanen mixing things up in the final run of the day to go fastest in 2WD while early pace setter Dakotah Phend maintain his status as the quickest driver in 4WD when he topped the third of the day’s three practice rounds. Behind Haatanen, Dustin Evans made it a 1-2 for Team Associated as both managed for the first time to outpace Phend who had set the early pace for both classes.  In 4WD, which will open the racing action tomorrow at OCRC Raceway, the closest on pace to Phend was Ty Tessmann with Yusuke Sugiura making it three different manufacturers in the Top 3 ahead of his Yokomo team-mate Ryan Maifield.  While the Reedy Race’s unique heads up race format means not too much should be read into the practice times, for defending Champion Jared Tebo the day ended with him setting the 7th fastest 2WD time and 8th fastest 4WD time.

Leading this year’s European challenge for Reedy Race glory, the race having only been won once before in its 25 year history by a European driver when Joern Neumann won the title in 2012, Haatanen was happy with improvements to his car for the final practice.  Improving from fourth fastest in the second practice, he said, ‘We went higher with the rear hinge pin and it gave more steering.  We were working to improve the car for when the grip comes in and the tyres get better so it looks good for when 2WD racing comes around.  The car feels balanced and easy to drive’.  Asked about his 4WD, ending up 22nd fastest of the 24 Invitational Class entries, the Finnish driver replied, ‘we need to find sometime with the 4WD but at least I’m happy with 2WD’.

Evans summed up the day by saying, ‘I’m fast in 2WD and need a little more in 4WD, but it’s not about being the fastest at the Reedy Race’.  The 2018 Champion continued, ‘Myself and Joona are the same, good in 2WD and struggling in 4WD.  I need to get more comfortable with my 4WD.  In that last practice round I tried a little too hard but I’m still confident going into tomorrow.  I am thinking of changing the flex for the (4WD) free practice we have in the morning’.

Despite being knocked off the top spot in 2WD, Phend declared, ‘everything is working great. I have been working on making no mistakes and hitting my lines on the track’.  TLR’s sole contender for the 2020 Reedy Race title, on his 2WD performance in the final practice he said, ‘it took me a little bit to get going in the last practice.  We will see how the track is when we get back out on Saturday but I think it should be very close’.  With drivers given a practice grid start at the end of the final practice, asked what he thought of the track for racing, Phend replied, ‘it should be solid’.

Commenting on his pace Tessmann said, ‘4WD is still good. We made a small change and it was better but in 2WD while we made the car slightly better we are struggling’.  The Xray driver explained, ‘I have no rear grip and we are trying to figure out why this is.  I have never experienced the car acting like this before’.

Sugiura was pleased with his Top 3 in 4WD, saying he was able to improve his 4WD each run.  Describing it as ‘very good’ after the final run, the Japanese driver is planning some more changes for tomorrow feeling he needs a little more steering.  On his 2WD, the World Championship podium finisher described it as ‘really slippy’ adding he was ‘trying to cure some issues’.  A fan of the Nick Black designed layout, he said with the surface getting better each run he was looking forward to having higher grip when the switch to 2WD racing happens on Saturday afternoon.

View our event image gallery here.