Another TQ run for Schoettler

Michael Schoettler put in another flawless drive at his home track to TQ the second round of 2WD Buggy qualifying at the JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals.  Having topped Q1, this time round the 18-year-old’s took the qualifier by an even larger 6.2-second advantage from Steven Hartson.  The Top 3 for the second of the four scheduled qualifiers at Tacoma R/C Raceway was completed by another quick local as Kyosho driver Ryan Matesa laid down his first 20-lap run ahead of TLR’s JR Mitch.

Again posting the fastest lap of the round with a new outright fastest lap time of 14.657, Schoettler was pleased to put in another clean run.  Running his B5M the same as he did in Q1, the 18-year-old said it felt good but with traction coming up a lot between rounds for Q3 he will go to a heavier shock oil for Q3.  With the increased traction he said tyre wear is increasing.  Set to run his JConcepts Dirt Web tyres for a third time he said he expects them to be done after the 5-minutes but said the run should also show whether slicks will work for the conditions.

Taking a slower approach to his driving for Q2, Hartson said other than a pretty spectacular flip at the end of the straight his second run was a lot better.  Having changed the receiver in his car before travelling out to Washington State for the race, he said a switch back to his older receiver after Q1 improved the feeling of his B5M which he described as being ‘really good now’.  Still the 4WD World Champion feels he is well of the pace of Schoettler saying even without his one mistake he wouldn’t have been able to close down the 6-second advantage.

Matesa said being able to see properly made a huge difference to his driving and he was very happy with his run. Having had problems judging the track from the position he was forced to use in Q1, he said his RB6 was again really good.  Planning to again leave it unchanged the 18-year-old said his focus is on trying to just repeat how he drove in Q2.

Leaving his TLR22 untouched JR Mitch said he just drove around looking for another strong points haul so as to lock himself into the A-Main.  Very happy with where his mid motored buggy is compared to yesterday he said there is definitely a few more seconds in his own driving.  Looking to save the set of JConcepts Dirt Web he ran in the opening two qualifiers the Florida driver will run a new set in Q3.

Having failed to make the Top 10 in Q1, Associated Team Manager Brent Thielke said Q2 was ‘quite a bit better’.  Running a different front tyre, switching from JConcepts Dirt Web to Barcode, he said this made his Reedy powered B5M much smoother to drive.  Starting the heat last and having to let Schoettler, who started first, by he said he learned a lot from following the local teenager who he said despite his blistering pace is not driving as hard as he expected.

Second fastest in Q1, Luke Smith completed the Top 6 with a ‘not so good’ second run.  Changing to a new set of AKA tyres for Q2 he said they ‘never really came round’.  For Q3 he will run the same set of rears but after he has run them on his 4WD in Q2 which he said should help break them into where they need to be at.

Rolling his B5M three times at the end of the straight, Tanner Denney could only manage 10th for the round.  The driver who gave the B5 its first big win when he won the opening race of the JConcepts Indoor National Series in St.Louis back in February, the 18-year-old said the front end is rolling too much and for Q3 he will switch to heavier front shock oil.

2WD Mod Buggy Qualifying Round 2
1. Michael Schoettler – Associated – 20/5:01.117
2. Steven Hartson – Associated – 20/5:07.341
3. Ryan Matesa – Kyosho – 20/5:08.642
4. JR Mitch – TLR – 20/5:10.612
5. Brent Theilke – Associated – 20/5:11.886
6. Luke Smith – Associated – 20/5:11.895
7. Mike Brown – Schumacher – 20/5:13.300
8. Tyler Vik – Xray – 20/5:13.978
9. John Walentia – Associated – 20/5:14.609
10.Tanner Denney – Associated – 19/5:02.757

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Schoettler tops 1st JConcepts qualifier

Having topped timed practice yesterday at the JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals in Washington State, local ace Michael Schoettler backed it up with a TQ run in the opening round of 2WD Buggy qualifying at Tacoma RC Raceway.  The Associated driver dominated the round running a time almost 5-seconds quicker than fellow local Luke Smith.  Winner of the opening race of the series in St.Louis Tanner Denney was the best of the visitors the Associated team driver opening qualifying with 3rd for the round.

Pleased with his TQ run which proved very popular with onlookers, Schoettler said the run was the best his B5M has been all week.  Raising the rear inside ball set and switching to a softer front spring, to get the buggy to stay more on its nose rather than collapse on the rear, the 18-year-old said the two changes worked perfectly and he was very happy with the run.  Posting the fastest lap of the round with a 14.905, he will leave the car as is for Q2.  Running JConcepts Dirt Web tyres fitted with the company’s new closed cell foam insert he will also continue with the same set of tyres.

Switching from AKA Typo to their new Deja Vu tyres, Smith said his B5M was ‘a lot better than practice’.  With this in mind, for Q2 the 20-year-old plans to run a fresh set of Deja Vu tyres so to have a second set broken in for the rest of the event.  In terms of his chassis set-up he said with the car working well he will leave everything as is for now.

‘Better than yesterday but wouldn’t say magical’ was how Denney summed up his opening qualifier.  The 18-year-old says he is still lacking steering despite some changes made after last nights timed practice to make the rear end more loose. Not sure exactly what he will change he said he will focus now on making a change to the front end of his Reedy powered B5M.

Setting the fourth fastest time was JC Johnson.  Driving his TLR22, the local racer said his aim for the round was ‘just not to wreck’ and overall it was ‘a good safe run’.  Happy with his AKA Typo equipped buggy he plans to run it as is for Q2 and just drive a little harder.

The second fastest of the visitors, Steven Hartson took his LRP powered Associated to the 5th fastest time after he ‘crashed a few times’.  The 4WD World Champion said he was a little off the pace, lacking consistency.  Able to do ‘a couple of fast laps but not every lap’ he felt he overdrove a little and for Q2 his plans is to ‘slow it down a little’.  In terms of his B5M he said he is happy with how its working and he has no plans to change anything for the moment.

Driving a Kyosho RB6, Ryan Matesa described his opening qualifier to the sixth fastest time as ‘bad’.  The 18-year-old felt he drove too conservatively adding that he was also a little put off by his position on the drivers stand.  Happy that his car is good he said for his next run he will try to get a better spot on the stand and push harder.

Posting the 7th fastest time Xray’s Tyler Vik also felt he drove too conservatively.  Running in the lowest heat after missing the seeding run feeling a good nights sleep, after getting up a 4am to catch his flight to Seattle, would be better than any set-up changes, he said he had nothing to gauge himself against in the five car heat.  For Q2 his plan is to push harder after which a reseed of the heats should see him better positioned for Q3 & 4.

Team Losi Racing’s JR Mitch completed the Top 8.  Making a shock set-up change ahead of the heat which he just got done in time, Mitch said he didn’t get time to work on his TLR22’s slipper and it was too loose for the qualifier.  Having to drive wide lines to make the bigger jumps he lost time but the shock changes made the car a lot better with it not rolling as much and having much more side grip from the JConcepts’ Dirt Web tyres.  For Q2 he said with a proper slipper setting he should be able to make a big improvement over Q1.

2WD Mod Buggy Qualifying Round 1
1. Michael Schoettler – Associated – 20/5:04.634
2. Luke Smith – Associated – 20/5:09.510
3. Tanner Denney – Associated – 20/5:11.057
4. JC Johnson – TLR – 20/5:12.247
5. Steven Hartson – Associated – 20/5:13.948
6. Ryan Matesa – Kyosho – 19/5:00.028
7. Tyler Vik – Xray – 19/5:00.462
8. JR Mitch – TLR – 19/5:01.249
9. Mike Brown – Schumacher – 19/5:04.798
10.Chris Gould – X-Factory – 19/5:05.943

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‘From Race Control’ – Day 2, Qualifying

Qualifying makes up the schedule for today’s action at the JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals at Tacoma R/C Raceway with 34 heats to get through per round.  With 2 of 4 rounds to count for the final grid order, three of those will be run today with the fourth & final round set to run tomorrow morning. With the heats seeded on a driver’s 5-lap average in a single round of timed practice last night a second reseed will be done after Round 2 of qualifying.