Video – 4wd Invitational Rd3

Tebo opens final day at Reedy Race with important win

Jared Tebo opened the final day at the Reedy Race of Champions with an important win that when dropped scores are taken into account puts the Kyosho driver in the lead from overnight leader Ryan Maifield on the tie breaker. Both chasing their first title at the 21st running of the event, they each started their respective third round of 4WD action from 7th on the grid with Maifield up first and getting a third while in the next encounter Tebo despite giving away his lead in the race with a mistake got lucky in the final lap to claim his second win of 4WD.  In the third race defending Champion Ryan Cavalieri, starting from the front row of the grid, would cruise to an easy victory to register his first 4WD win.  Moving the Associated driver up to third in the standings back ahead of Joern Neumann, with dropped scores the Californian sits 3-points adrift. Former champion Neumann is a further 2-back, both drivers needing both good results and bad rounds for Maifield and Tebo to get back in the hunt for adding another Reedy Race title to their CVs.

Race 1 had an all HB front row with David Ronnefalk on pole with Ty Tessmann along side.  Tessmann took the lead on the opening lap and pulled clear while Ronnefalk came under pressure from Maifield with Neumann also joining the fight.  Coming out of the Associated Esses, the Swede would get his D413 out of shape at the double delaying Maifield and allowing the Durango of Neumann to pass them both with 4-laps to go.  Behind the German the battle was now for third and on the last lap a mistake on the landing off the triple from Ronnefalk would allow Maifield through to complete the Top 3.

The second encounter, which was delayed when Karri Salmela broke during a false start caused by Dustin Evans, it was front row starter Atsushi Hara who lead for the opening 6-laps.  With Tebo on his rear wing, the S-Workz driver would get the landing at the triple wrong with Tebo not needing an extra invitation to move to the front.  Looking in control of things but with a hard charging Drew Moller having also got passed Hara, a mistake from the 2WD World Champion at the right hand double on lap 10 would let the HB driver go to the front.  The 18-year-old looked as if he had enough to see off the Zx6 but again the triple would change the order as Moller rolled and Tebo went by for the win.

Race 3 was to be only a formality of Cavalieri as he started from the front row. Cruising to a 5.4 second win the only drama for the multiple World Champion was when he collected the upside down car of Hupo Honigl on his last lap after the triple but no damage was done. Behind, Dakotah Phend who started third took second ahead of Kody Numedahl.

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New in the Pits – Serpent

Serpent are debuting a pre release version of their all new SRX-4 1/10th 4wd buggy here at the Reedy Race. Being run by the car’s designer Billy Easton it features a 2-belt configuration with a long centre belt and short side belt, which helps keep the centre of gravity low and the weight centralised. Positioning of the motor was a priority when designing the car, keeping it centralised and to the rear to help with rear traction which in turn allows you to run a more aggressive steering setup.

Utilising a saddle pack configuration, it still manages to be a very narrow and neat setup, similar in appearance to a 2wd buggy, something the car’s designer was aiming for. Sporting a carbon fibre chassis plate, and shock towers, the steering uses a double bellcrank system which is actuated by the lay down servo and sports fully adjust ackermann on both the steering system and the steering arms.

Adjustable diff heights front and rear allow you to take away or create grip, while belt replacement is a breeze both for the short side belt and the main front belt, with the front belt needing 6 screws to remove the cover, the same process needed to change the front differential. Expect the car to be released in mid March.

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Video – 4wd Invitational Rd2

Maifield & Neumann double up in Round 2

Bringing Day 2 of racing at the 21st running of the Reedy Race of Champions to a close, Round 2 of 4WD netted double wins for Ryan Maifield and Joern Neumann with Jared Tebo, points table leader at the end of 2WD, claiming his first 4WD win.  A round that saw all three drivers take straight forward wins, the biggest drama was for Steven Hartson, the World Champion suffering a DNF having started out his preferred class with only a fourth from a front row start in Round 1.  The round would also see Cavalieri lose ground to now points leader Maifield as he took third in his race behind Neumann and Travis Amezcua.  The result also sees Neumann go ahead of Cavalieri in the points table.

Opening the round was Neumann’s race with Travis ‘Peanut’ Amezcua starting on the pole.  Keeping his Durango out front for nine laps Amezcua would eventually relinquish the lead to his former team-mate Neumann, who started 4th, with the German going on to win by 3.3 seconds.  Behind the two Durangos, the battle for third would be fought out between Associated team-mates Cavalieri and Carson Wernimont.  Starting 7th on the grid, Cavalieri found himself 9th after lap 1 but working his way back to the front his progress would end when he ran with Wernimont as the two battled it out. Setting the fastest lap of the race new team recruit Wernimont challenged his senior team-mate hard until an error on the last lap.  Also making a last lap mistake, Amezcua almost handed away his equal best finishing position of the event crossing the line just 0.6 of a second in front of Cavalieri.

Race 2 would have Hupo Honigl on pole, the race marking the Austrian’s debut for Serpent although in 4WD he is running a Durango here as he waits on their soon to be released 4WD chassis which Easton is running in the event.  Pulling an early lead, once Maifield got passed Joona Haatanen, the American star expressing to AE team-manager Brent Theilke after the race that he was impressed by the Associated supported 11-year-old Finn, that lead would quickly diminish.  Going to the front on lap 11, the TLR driver would pull clear to win by 2.7 seconds with Honigl in turn finishing 1.4 up on Haatanen with Dustin Evans coming through from 10th to claim a fourth.

The closing race would turn out to be a very easy win for Tebo.  Lining up on pole position, the Kyosho driver, even with only the fifth fastest lap time of the race, cruised to a 7.2 seconds win over Associated’s Spencer Rivkin with Ty Tessmann completing the Top 3.

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