December 16, 2013

A3 wins secure runner-up spots for Rivkin, Gibson & Evans

4wd

With Team Associated’s Ryan Maifield having wrapped up the overall wins early in A2 at the JConcepts Indoor National Series Final the final leg of Mains was all about deciding who would finish runner-up in the 3 main classes at the Hobby Plex event.  First up was the 4WD Buggy encounter and with Top Qualifier Maifield sitting out the race it was the No.2 Associated of Nick Gibson who would lead away the field.  Starting directly in front of World Champion Steven Hartson the 17-year-old would lead from start to finish, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process, to take the win ahead of TLR’s Dustin Evans to claim second overall.  Second helped Evans to complete the podium in Omaha as he tied on points with team-mate JR Mitch who had to settle for fourth overall.  A though final leg, the Californian finishing the 5-minute encounter a distant 5th, together with a non finish in A1 left Hartson only 5th overall.

Rivkin

The drive of the final round of mains came in 2WD Buggy with young up & coming Arizona talent Spencer Rivkin taking an easy win over his rivals to take the runners-up spot behind his mentor Maifield in the blue ribbon class of electric offroad racing.  Having wrapped up the overall win in 2WD Stock Buggy in A2, starting from 5th on the grid the 15-year-old worked his way to the front again enjoying a good battle with Top Qualifier Taylor Larsen, the two youngster showing up their more established rivals.  In the end Rivkin would take the leg from TLR’s Cody Hollis and Associated’s Chad Due.  Unfortunately for Larsen he would plummet down the order on his final lap to finish 7th leaving him lose out on a tie break with Hartson for the final podium position.

LRSun-2wSCTop10

In the last of the 2WD Short Course encounters, Evans’ No.2 22SCT led away the field but he would drop to third with a mistake allowing Matt Olson to the front.  The pair battled it out for a number of laps with the MIP driver looking like he might pull off the win until a late mistake allowed Evans through for the win with three laps remaining.  Olson, who would take the overall win in 4WD Short Course, would finish second allowing him to compete the podium behind Maifield and Evans.

Hollis

Elsewhere in Mod Truck Team Losi Racing’s Cody Hollis took his 22T to the overall win backing up his A2 win with a second victory in A3. Overall A1 winner Cole Tollard would finish second with Associated Team Manager Brent Theilke completing the podium.

2WD Buggy Overall Result
1.(3) Ryan Maifield – Team Associated – 200 pts
2.(5) Spencer Rivkin – Team Associated – 199
3.(2) Steven Hartson – Team Associated – 195
4.(1) Taylor Larsen – Team Losi Racing – 195
5.(7) Cody Hollis – Team Losi Racing – 193
6.(6) Kyle Skidmore – Team Associated – 192
7.(10)Allen Horne – Team Associated – 191
8.(8) Chad Due – Team Associated – 191
9.(4) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 189
10.(9)Alex Sturgeon – Team Losi Racing – 189

4WD Buggy Overall Result
1.(1) Ryan Maifield – Team Associated – 200 pts
2.(2) Nick Gibson – Team Associated – 198
3.(5) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 197
4.(4) JR Mitch – Team Losi Racing – 197
5.(3) Steven Hartson – Team Associated – 195
6.(6) Matt Gosch – Team Associated – 194
7.(10)Mitchel Gardner – Kyosho  – 192
8.(8) Chad Due – Team Associated – 190
9.(7) Aydin Horne – Team Associated – 188
10.(9)Carter Flotron – Caster – 185

2WD Short Course Overall Result
1.(1) Ryan Maifield – Team Associated – 200 pts
2.(2) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 199
3.(3) Matthew Olson – MIP – 197
4.(5) Steven Hartson – Team Associated – 195
5.(8) Cody Hollis – Team Losi Racing – 194
6.(6) Taylor Larsen – Team Losi Racing – 191
7.(7) Mack Vanderbeek – Team Associated – 190
8.(4) Alec Walters – Team Losi Racing – 190
9.(10)Mike Maldonado – Team Durango – 186
10.(9)David Fast – Team Associated – 186

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December 15, 2013

Maifield wraps it all up at Hobby Plex in A2

Maifield

Ryan Maifield wrapped everything up early at the Finals of the JConcepts Indoor National Series taking place at the Hobby Plex track in Omaha, Nebraska, this afternoon as he backed up his clean sweep in A1 to claim the overall win in 2WD & 4WD Buggy and 2WD Short Course.  Coming into the event already confirmed as the champion of both buggy classes the win in Short Course added that title to his 2013 haul while the 4WD Buggy win completes the perfect season with five wins from the five events that make up the popular series.

Ryan Maifield

Of the second round of A-Mains, it was 2WD Short Course that would prove the most difficult challenge for Maifield.  Top Qualifier for the race, the Team Associated star lead for 3 laps but on lap 4 at the end of the sweeper he caught the piping.  Loosing his rythm this allowed the No.2 starting TLR of Dustin Evans to close alongside and at the next corner Maifield again hit the piping, rolling over his SC10.  Setting the fastest lap of the race Maifield closed the gap back to Evans but it looked like the Colorado driver had enough in hand to force the battle for the overall win to go to the 3rd Main.  However in an almost carbon copy of Maifield’s early incident that cost him the lead, Evans caught the pipe on the penultimate lap allowing Maifield to slip through for the win.  Evans would hold on to finish 2nd with MIP team driver Matt Olson completing the Top 3 for the leg.

2w Act

In 2WD Buggy once again Top Qualifier Taylor Larsen did well to lead away the strong field. The Team Losi Racing driver repeated his A1 performance by seeing off a patient Maifield for the opening 4-laps.   Once in front Maifield’s fourth 2WD Buggy win of the season in the JConcepts backed series was never much in doubt.  Setting the fastest lap of the race over team-mate Steven Hartson, who would only finish 5th, the Arizona driver would take the leg by almost half a lap over his protege Spencer Rivkin. The 15-year-old Associated supported driver had a great fight with Larsen, who would take his rear motored TLR22 to third, setting the two teenagers up to battle for the overall runners up spot in A3.

4wd Act

In 4WD Buggy, starting from the TQ position Maifield lead from start to finish to take the win over World Champion Hartson.  Hartson was a non-finisher in A1 while Evan was a non-starter due to a stripped spur gear.  Evans found a way passed his Associated rival on lap three but with three laps to go Hartson retook second spot.  A3 is set to be a battle between the factory backed duo to see which order they will line up behind Maifield on the podium this evening.

2WD Buggy A2 Result
1.(3) Ryan Maifield – Team Associated – 14/5:10.276
2.(5) Spencer Rivkin – Team Associated – 14/5:20.391
3.(1) Taylor Larsen – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:21.798
4.(6) Kyle Skidmore – Team Associated – 13/5:00.790
5.(2) Steven Hartson – Team Associated – 13/5:01.539
6.(10)Allen Horne – Team Associated – 13/5:04.262
7.(7) Cody Hollis – Team Losi Racing – 13/5:05.187
8.(4) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 13/5:05.771
9.(9) Alex Sturgeon – Team Losi Racing – 13/5:10.978
10.(8)Chad Due – Team Associated –  3/1:20.580

4WD Buggy A2 Result
1.(1) Ryan Maifield – Team Associated – 15/5:17.478
2.(3) Steven Hartson – Team Associated – 14/5:03.767
3.(5) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 14/5:04.119
4.(10)Mitchel Gardner – Kyosho  – 14/5:10.981
5.(6) Matt Gosch – Team Associated – 14/5:15.915
6.(2) Nick Gibson – Team Associated – 14/5:20.297
7.(7) Aydin Horne – Team Associated – 13/5:01.244
8.(4) JR Mitch – Team Losi Racing – 13/5:06.689
9.(9) Carter Flotron – Caster – 13/5:15.354
10.(8)Chad Due – Team Associated – 12/4:33.607

2WD Short Course A2 Result
1.(1) Ryan Maifield – Team Associated – 14/5:20.509
2.(2) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 13/5:00.156
3.(3) Matthew Olson – MIP – 13/5:09.556
4.(5) Steven Hartson – Team Associated – 13/5:11.359
5.(8) Cody Hollis – Team Losi Racing – 13/5:19.383
6.(7) Mack Vanderbeek – Team Associated – 13/5:22.357
7.(4) Alec Walters – Team Losi Racing – 13/5:23.897
8.(6) Taylor Larsen – Team Losi Racing – 12/4:46.637
9.(9) David Fast – Team Associated – 12/5:08.033
10.(10)Mike Maldonado – Team Durango – 12/5:08.467

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December 15, 2013

Chassis Focus – Taylor Larsen

Sun-Larsen22-1

Car: TLR 22 2.0
Motor: Orion
Battery: Orion
ESC: Orion
Radio/Servos: Spektrum
Tires: JConcepts

Top qualifier in the ultra competitive 2wd buggy class, Taylor Larsen is one of the few front runners in the class to run the car in rear motor configuration. Saying this suits his driving style more than mid motor, following Friday’s free practice he decided to add brass weights to the car which helped to settle it down over the bumps. Running a standard setup for these conditions he too has focused on tire prep and is currently running worn tires, instead of sanding down new tires, and says the traction is coming up every run because of this.

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December 15, 2013

Chassis Focus – Steven Hartson

Sun-HartsonB44.2-1

Car: Team Associated B44.2
Motor: LRP
Battery: Reedy
ESC: LRP
Radio/Servos: Futaba
Tires: JConcepts

Current 4wd World Champion Steven Hartson is running his B44.2 in the same configuration as his car that won him the World title, with the exception of using ball diffs in place of gear diffs. Running his standard indoor setup he has just made the front oil a little softer to make the car roll into the corners a bit more but apart from that has decided to focus his attentions on tires and tire prep. Sanding down the tires to scuff and lower the pins, along with applying his self mixed traction additive, he says this is helping improve the car’s traction on this particular surface.

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