Evans takes most convincing win of opening RROC encounter

Former champion Dustin Evans took the most convincing win of the opening round of races at the 20th running of the Reedy Race of Champions in which all three races were won by the TQ starting drivers.  Winner of the world famous race in 2011 on a tie break with current champion Ryan Cavalieri, the Team Losi Racing driver put in a faultless race winning by 5.6 seconds from another former champion Joern Neumann. What was more significant about the Colorado driver’s win was that he did it in the fastest race time something that could again prove vital come Sunday evening.  With a time some 5-seconds slower than that of Evans, Ryan Maifield took Heat 1 over Neil Cragg. Heat 3 went to Marc Rheinard in a three way battle of World Champions, the touring car ace holding off Cody King and Cavalieri who came through from the back twice.

In the opening heat few were betting against Maifield taking the win but on the opening lap the Team Associated driver’s timing was off and he got his landing wrong in the jump section right in front of the drivers stand.  This allowed the No.2 starting Schumacher of 2WD Open Class Champion Carson Wernimont to head the field but it was short lived as he would roll after the sweeper at the end of the straight dropping to the back to eventually finish 8th.  Back out front again Maifield would again hit trouble at the same section of track but such was his lead he was able to hold on to take the win.  After the race Maifield said the extra watering of the track ahead of the start of racing left the track with a ‘ton of grip’ and this resulted in him getting caught out with his timing of the jump section on the opening lap.  Commenting on his second incident he said he ‘pulled a wheelie like a redneck’ resulting his B4.2 tank slapping the jump adding he was lucky to have gotten away with that one.

The big battle of the race was for second, Cragg first facing pressure from young Tanner Denney before a hard charging Steven Hartson joined in.  Starting from 9th on the grid, the 4WD World Champion clearly had the fastest car of the three but going for a move on former World Champion Cragg he would roll over his Centro B4.2 allowing Denney back through along with US National Champion Dakotah Phend.  Hartson finally crossed the finish in 5th.

Having described his TLR22 at the end of practice yesterday as ‘awesome’, Evans proved just how good it was in Heat 2.  Quickly pulling clear of the  No.2 starting Kyosho of Christopher Svensson he was never challenged.  An impressive drive by Svensson saw the Swede hold onto second from Kody Numedahl for half the race until Neumann tagged the back of his RB6 and the two European’s tangled.  This allowed Team Associated designer Numedahl to second but he would make a mistake on the final lap which allowed European Champion Neumann through to second.  Evans said he took advantage of starting up front describing the run as ‘flawless’.

The third and final heat of Round 1 was probably the most entertaining race as Cavalieri showed his World class.  A mistake on the opening lap left the 4-time World Champion & 2-time Reedy Race winner last but with all eyes on him he made an impressive recovery.  Up front Rheinard put in a ‘slow but steady’ run as King hovered around looking to find a way passed until a mistake on lap 6.  All the time Cavalieri was coming through the field, already back up to third by lap 4.  With the time ticking away Cavalieri was all over King who in turn wasn’t far off Rheinard but on the penultimate lap as he went for the pass on the former 1:8 World Champion at the right side double the two cars glanced off one another causing the Associated B4.2 to land heavily on one front corner and spin out. In the end Rheinard held on to win by half a second with Cavalieri recovering to finish third a further 2.9 seconds behind King.  Cavalieri said it was the mistake on the opening lap that cost him the chance of the win but happy with his car he said third from such a starting position was a ‘decent start’.  Representing the veterans of r/c, Barry Baker put in an equally impressive drive in Heat 3.  Starting from 10th on the grid a ‘great start’ moved the Reedy backed driver up a number of places but he threw it all away again with a mistake that left him back were he started.  Posting a faster lap than that of eventual heat winner Rheinard, the Associated driver who is clearly enjoying his racing this weekend would work his way though the field to kick off the event with points for 4th place.

Round 1 2WD Buggy
Heat 1 Result
1.(1) Ryan Maifield – Team Associated – 15/5:05.884
2.(6) Neil Cragg – Team Associated – 15/5:10.422
3.(4) Tanner Denney – Team Associated – 15/5:10.638
4.(5) Dakotah Phend – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:11.074
5.(9) Steven Hartson – Team Associated – 15/5:12.543
6.(3) Ryan Lutz – Team Durango – 15/5:13.935
7.(7) Rick Hohwart – Team Associated – 15/5:15.818
8.(2) Carson Wernimont – Schumacher – 15/5:16.244
9.(10)Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 15/5:17.228
10.(8)Travis Amezcua – Team Durango – 15/5:17.821

Heat 2 Result
1.(1) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:00.649
2.(4) Jörn Neumann – Team Durango – 15/5:06.340
3.(3) Kody Numedahl – Team Associated – 15/5:07.111
4.(6) Ty Tessmann – Hot Bodies – 15/5:07.593
5.(2) Christoffer Svensson – Kyosho – 15/5:11.035
6.(5) Billy Fischer – Team Novak – 15/5:11.573
7.(10)Mike Truhe – Serpent – 15/5:15.756
8.(8) Brian Kinwald – Team Associated – 15/5:18.376
9.(9) Lee Martin – Team Yokomo – 15/5:18.728
10.(7)Joseph Quagraine – JQ Products – 15/5:19.728

Heat 3 Result
1.(1) Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 15/5:06.765
2.(2) Cody King – Kyosho – 15/5:07.283
3.(8) Ryan Cavalieri – Team Associated – 15/5:09.682
4.(10)Barry Baker – Team Reedy – 15/5:17.279
5.(7) Cody Turner – Kyosho – 15/5:19.359
6.(6) Rob Gillespie – Team Associated – 15/5:20.030
7.(3) Josh Pain – Team Yokomo – 14/5:03.603
8.(4) Tyler Vik – Xray – 14/5:04.523
9.(9) Oliver Scholz – Team C – 14/5:06.389
10.(5)Brian Strange – Team Associated – 14/5:08.058

View the complete Reedy Race of Champions event heat listing here (PDF).

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‘From Race Control’ – Day 2 at Reedy Race

After a rather leisurely 3 rounds of practice yesterday it is game on today at the Reedy Race as we get straight down to the first of 3 days of heads up racing.  On the schedule today at OCRC Raceway are 4 rounds of 2WD racing, with three 10 car heats per round.  For the opening round of races the draw for the grid sees Heat 1 led away by Ryan Maifield,  Heat 2 by Dustin Evans and Heat 3 by Touring Car ace Marc Rheinard.

View the complete event heat listing here (PDF).

Associated’s Ryans top practice at Reedy Race

Ryan Maifield and Ryan Cavalieri have ended Day 1 of the 20th running of the Reedy Race of Champions top of the time sheets, the Team Associated pairing posting the fastest times of 2 and 4WD respectively over today’s three rounds of practice.  Taking place for the first time at OCRC Raceway in Huntington Beach, California, Maifield set his best 2WD lap of 19.595 in P2 while defending champion Cavalieri topped 4WD in the final practice of the day with a time of 18.549 seconds. Former champion Dustin Evans would be the closest challenger in 2WD with his TLR22 while in 4WD veteran Barry Baker showed he still has some speed left in him as he took his Associated to the second fastest 4WD time.

While the practice times count for little in the Reedy Race format which will see drivers race head to head in 12 races over the next three days, Maifield was pleased with his day.  The Arizona driver said his Reedy powered B4.2 Centro was ‘really fast’ and the car feels good for tomorrow’s four rounds of finals.  Making ‘a bunch of changes’ to his 4WD for P3 he said the B44.2 felt good but was lacking power.  Running a 6.5T motor he will change to a 6T for the first of the 4WD races which get underway on Saturday.

Switching over to a ball diff for his final practice together with changing the front shock oil on his Orion powered B44.2, Cavalieri said this was a ‘good combo’.  Also changing the set-up on his 2WD, going from a 2mm to a 0.5mm washer under the ball studs, he said this made the Centro converted B4.2 better through the corner at the end of the straight.  The only multiple winner since the resurrection of the Reedy Race in 2009 after a 7-year break, Cavalieri said he ‘feel(s) comfortable driving both cars’ and is looking forward to going racing tomorrow.

Second fastest in 2WD, 2011 Champion Evans said he ‘couldn’t be happier’ with how his day went.  Making changes to his Orion powered buggy for the final practice he said they ‘improved it a lot’ and the car feels ‘awesome’.  Using the final practice to scrub in a fresh set of the controlled Pro-Line tyres on his 4WD, which this weekend features a new body design from TLR, he said on used tyres his TLR 22-4 is ‘pretty good’.

Team-mate Dakotah Phend said rear end changes to his 4WD made a big improvement to the performance of his TLR22-4 which he took to the 3rd fastest time.  The Michigan driver said the dirt here is a lot different to what he runs on back at home, the traction here being much higher, and so it took him a little longer than his rivals to sort his set-up.  Commenting on his 2WD, the reigning US National Champion said his TLR22 was really easy to drive which is ‘good for the format’ adding it is good to go for tomorrow.

Quote of the day goes to Baker, the veteran racer saying ‘Today you saw both glimpses of the old Barry and glimpses of Barry being old’.  Happy to end the day with the second fastest time in 4WD, he changed to a harder front spring on his B44.2 which he said helped keep the front end down on the step downs.  7th fastest in 2WD, he said he is ‘pretty happy’ with how he has been able to run today and he thinks he should be able to race strongly.

Fourth fastest in 4WD, factory HB/HPI driver Ty Tessmann said his D4-13 was ‘awesome’.  Struggling with traffic in his final run, which featured a practice start for the drivers, the current US Champion said the 180 degree corners made it hard to get by.  Predicting that the racing will be ‘interesting & rough’, he said his prototype 2WD was starting to get there adding the tyres are taking a lot longer than in 4WD to come in.

Ending the day with the fifth fastest lap time in 4WD, World Champion Steven Hartson said he left his cars the same all day and instead just focused on maximum track time so as to scrub in tyres.  With both his Associated’s ‘ready for tomorrow’, like Tessmann he predicts passing will be an issue.  Trying to pass drivers in the final practice, he said it was ‘just impossible’ adding you’ll just have to wait for those ahead to crash to get by.

Heading the Kyosho challenge, Jared Tebo was ‘happy with (his) day’ describing both his buggies as ‘pretty good’. Third fastest in 2WD, he said at the Reedy Race you don’t need to be fastest but rather be the cleanest driver over the 12 races.

Champion of the Open Class in 4WD last year, which got him an automatic entry into the invitation class, Rob Gillespie posted the fourth fastest 2WD time.  The 21-year-old Associated supported driver said tightening the rear diff on his B4.2 for P3 improved the buggy a lot and now he has a ‘good consistent race car’.

Just 3/1000th off his lap time, Associated designer Kody Numedahl said his pace came from just running used tyres. Having run fresh tyres in each of the opening practice rounds he changed nothing on his Centro B4.2 all day.  Responsible for working on the Associated B5, asked why they aren’t running the new car he said it was down to simply a lack of cars to distribute to their team drivers with only one full car currently in existence.

Elsewhere Team Durango’s Joern Neumann said he used the third round to break in new tyres but with both his cars easy to drive everything ‘should be good’ for racing.  Lee Martin summed up his day as ‘not too bad’.  The World Championship Runner-up said his 2WD is good but his 4WD still needs more steering.

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