Today’s schedule at the JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals kicks off with the fourth & final round of qualifying, the best 2 of the four rounds determining the grid for this afternoon’s finals at Tacoma R/C Raceway. Drivers making the A Final will run triple mains with drivers from the lower finals getting the chance to bump up from single mains to become the 11th car on the grid of the main race for each class.
RC America team driver Tyler Vik is the Top Qualifier for 4WD Buggy at the JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals at Tacoma R/C Racway. The San Francisco driver claimed the honour with his third TQ run of the day but felt he didn’t deserve to top the Q3 saying the only reason he got it was because his rivals crashed more. Running old tyres he said this was a bad decision in terms of his front tyres which were too worn. Running AKA Deja Vu on the rear of his Xray XB4 he said for tomorrow he will run a fresh set of Pin Stripes.
Posting his best run of the weekend JC Johnson was very happy to record the second fastest time. Describing his TLR22-4 as ‘pretty awesome’ he said the handling felt like a slot car. Planning to stick with the set-up for Q4 he said after the race a number of onlookers said his drive train sounded rough and so he will strip down the buggy to check over the belts.
Claiming the third fastest time Steven Hartson said his LRP powered B44.2 was the fastest its been all weekend thanks to his tyres reaching the perfect wear point. Unfortunately a bad closing few laps cost the World Champion his first TQ run. First he got caught up in the aftermath of a crash by Vik crashing into the Xray as it got marshalled. After this he had a coming together with JR Mitch as the TLR driver recovered from an off. To top of the tough ending Hartson rolled just in front of the loop with the marshal throwing him over the loop meaning he had to manually be given a finish time.
4WD Mod Buggy Qualifying Round 3
1. Tyler Vik – Xray – 21/5:12.615
2. JC Johnson – TLR – 21/5:13.670
3. Steven Hartson – Associated – 21/5:14.600
4. Chris Gould – X-Factory – 20/5:04.150
5. John Walentia – Associated – 20/5:05.754
6. Luke Smith – Associated – 20/5:07.965
7. Anthony Honstain – Associated – 20/5:08.439
8. JR Mitch – TLR – 20/5:13.857
9. Tanner Denney – Associated – 20/5:14.079
10.Yoshii Harley – Associated – 20/5:14.256
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Luke Smith ended Michael Schoettler’s domination of qualifying at the JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals at Tacoma R/C Raceway, the Associated driver TQ’ing the penultimate round of qualifying by 1.685 seconds from the Q1 & 2 pace setter. Kyosho driver Ryan Matesa made it an all local Top 3 with Team Associated’s Brent Thielke the best of the visitors with the 5th fastest time.
Making a number of changes to his B5M, Smith said everything worked as expected and he was very happy to pull off a TQ run putting himself in contention for the overall TQ honours going into tomorrow morning’s final qualifier. Having struggled with tyres that didn’t come-in in Q2, for Q3 he switched to a more worn set of AKAs which worked from the start. The 20-year-old ran a stiffer shock package going up in oil as well as changing the front axle trailing from 3 to 4mm on his Reedy powered buggy. Asked about his plans for the final qualifier he said the plan is to leave the set-up but in terms of tyres he might try something different depending on how conditions fare out, the track set to get a watering ahead of the final day of the event.
Suffering a bobble on his opening lap, Schoettler said he was still happy with second for the round. Posting another new fastest lap of the event, the 18-year-old would lose time after suffering a tangle with Thielke but said he threw away the round with some late driver errors as he tried to close down Smith. In terms of his B5M he said his front tyres became too worn causing the front end to become too aggressive adding that he will fit a newer set for tomorrow’s action.
Matesa said he ran a more worn set of JConcept tyres which while making his Orion powered RB6 faster also made it more ‘sketchy’ to drive. With the track set to watered overnight, the local teenager said expects the track to be looser for the final qualifier and with this in mind will run tyres with more thread along with stiffening up his shocks so to make the buggy a little easier to drive.
TLR driver JC Johnson posted the 4th fastest time. Running thicker shock oil in his TLR22 for Q3 he said this allowed him to drive it a little harder. Admitting he doesn’t have the outright speed of Schoettler or Smith he said for the morning he plans to run the same set-up.
Having laid down the early TQ pace, Thielke was very happy with his B5M after a rear ball cup stud adjustment. He said he was also able to put what he learned from running behind Schoettler in Q2 to good use running his fastest lap of the weekend on the second lap of Q3. Unfortunately a misunderstanding by both himself and Schoettler as he tried to let the latter through cost both drivers time as the Associated’s got tangled. Again running JConcepts Barcode tyre on the front of his buggy he said for tomorrow he will probably try running a fresh set along with making a front camber link adjustment to try and sharpen up the steering.
2WD Mod Buggy Qualifying Round 3
1. Luke Smith – Associated – 20/5:02.561
2. Michael Schoettler – Associated – 20/5:04.246
3. Ryan Matesa – Kyosho – 20/5:05.669
4. JC Johnson – TLR – 20/5:06.185
5. Brent Theilke – Associated – 20/5:07.307
6. John Walentia – Associated – 20/5:10.781
7. Tanner Denney – Associated – 20/5:13.581
8. Rudy Rico – Associated – 20/5:13.621
9. Mike Brown – Schumacher – 20/5:13.984
10.Harley Yoshii – Associated – 20/5:14.554
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MIP have some shown us some pre production versions of their all new stock class 17.5 Bi-Metal CVA shaft assemblies for use with both rear and mid motor Team Associated B5 buggies. The shaft is made from 7075 aluminium for light weight and features their well known replaceable puck system, while the CVA joint is made from hard to wear steel. Both parts are keyed and are screwed together and work with the standard Associated wheel axles. The final versions will be hard anodised and the complete set comes with the aluminium diff halves, dogbones, CVA joints, puck system and all fasteners and offer considerable weight savings to the drivetrain with the dogbone being 33% lighter than the kit version and the diff halves 44% lighter.
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Tyler Vik made it two out of two at Tacoma R/C Raceway as he topped the second round of 4WD Buggy Qualifying at the JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals again outpacing World Champion Steven Hartson, both drivers pulling off 21-lap runs. Only 9th fastest in Q1, Team Losi Racing’s JR Mitch improved his pace by almost a full lap to complete the Top 3.
Fitting a front swaybar to his Xray XB4 for Q2 as well as removing screws from the chassis for more flex, Vik said the ‘changes were good’. The San Francisco racer said the track had become ‘super abrasive’ and for the penultimate qualifier, which brings today’s proceedings to a close, he will run a different set of tyres saving the set he ran in the opening two qualifiers for tomorrow’s finals. Having run in the lowest heat, something he said he quite liked, a reseed after Q2 will now see Vik running in the top heat but set to start first he said he should be fine.
Posting the fastest lap of the round with a 14.392 second lap, Hartson said his Associated B44.2 was on pace but once again he made too many mistakes. Running his car the same as he did in Q1, when he switched to geardiffs, he said he will continue to run at as is but added that with the traction coming up a lot ‘which is better to a point’ he may have to make some small adjustments for the morning’s final qualifier.
JR Mitch was very happy with his second run. Struggling with his TLR22-4 on the step-up to the table top he said his front shock oil was ‘way too light’. Going up ‘a lot’ in oil weight for Q2, he said it transformed how the buggy landed on the table top. With the track getting more abrasive like Vik, the Florida driver plans to save his current tyres for tomorrow and so will run a new set of JConcepts Dirt Webs for Q3 to see how the car works on fresh tyres should that be needed.
Fourth fastest John Walentia headed the local challenge in Q2. Changing his set-up after Q1 he said his B44.2 felt weird at first to drive. Taking some time to figure out how to drive it he said once he did it was faster and by the end of the 5-minutes he was pleased with the changes. For Q2 he plans to switch to a slightly lighter rear spring as he looks to make the buggy a little more comfortable to drive.
Posting the fifth fastest time local racer Anthony Honstain said he is enjoying the opportunity to run with some of the sports top racers, the JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals being the biggest event for Scott Brown’s track to host. Running a stock kit B44.2, he said the buggy is running well and for Q3 he doesnt plan on making any changes.
4WD Mod Buggy Qualifying Round 2
1. Tyler Vik – Xray – 21/5:10.107
2. Steven Hartson – Associated – 21/5:13.723
3. JR Mitch – TLR – 20/5:02.024
4. John Walentia – Associated – 20/5:04.068
5. Anthony Honstain – Associated – 20/5:07.976
6. Luke Smith – Associated – 20/5:09.052
7. Chris Gould – X-Factory – 20/5:09.669
8. Brent Theilke – Associated – 20/5:10.372
9. JC Johnson – TLR – 20/5:12.779
10.Dion Denison – Associated – 20/5:15.452
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