World Champion to be crowned after dark

Sterling work by the A-Main Hobbies track crew, and most of the drivers on their race team, have meant that despite last nights heavy rain which flooded the track we will be crowning the 15th 2WD Electric Buggy World Champion today.  Following a team-managers meeting IFMAR have issued a new time table which will begin with a round of 4-minute rolling practice with drivers running in the order in which they have qualified for their respective finals.  After this the finals will begin at 17:10 with a practice run of the A-Main Final before the original schedule will be followed albeit considerable later than planned.  This will mean that it is almost certain to be dark here in Chico, California by the time we crown the World Champion.  Having dried the track the track team have also managed to sugar water the track which in turn has been gone over with a blow torch.  Full credit to A-Main Hobbies for their work with even the owner of the online r/c retailer Kendall Bennett being full hands on driving the diesel roller.

View our event image gallery here.

Tebo ‘rains’ as 2WD Top Qualifier

Jared Tebo is Top Qualifier for the 2WD Electric Offroad World Championships after heavy rain last night led to the cancellation of this morning’s fifth and final round of qualifying.  Originally the stage was set for Tebo and defending champion Ryan Cavalieri to go head to head to start onpole position for the finals but with the track unraceable this morning there was little option but to cancel Q5.  Originally 3 of the 5 rounds were to count but with only 4 rounds complete the grid has been determined by each drivers two best heats leaving Cavalieri second on a grid that will see the Top 5 places filled by drivers representing 5 different manufacturers.

Behind Tebo and Cavalieri, Q2 pace setter Lee Martin will line up his Tamiya third ahead of Team Losi Racing’s Dustin Evans and Team Yokomo’s Naoto Matsukura.  The team with the most World titles in electric offroad, Team Associated are not surprisingly the best represented car in the final with four Centro mid motor converted B4.2s on the grid.  Ryan Maifield starts sixth, with AE designer Kody Numedahl 9th while Neil Cragg, Top Qualifier in Finland, scraps in to complete the 10 car field.

The big surprises are the failure of two of America’s talented young guns to make the cut.  Unfortunately for Pre Worlds winner Ty Tessman he just ended up 11th taking the unenviable honour of BQ.  16-year-old US National Champion Dakotah Phend, who won that title at this track in August, will also feature in the B-Main.  While Europe’s 1:8 Offroad Champion David Ronnefalk has made the final in 8th right behind the driver he took that title off Darren Bloomfield,  the reigning 2WD Buggy European Joern Neumann hasn’t. The German Team Durango ace will line up 3rd in the B-Main.

2WD A-Main Grid
1. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 0 pts
2. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 3
3. Lee Martin – Tamiya – 4
4. Dustin Evans – TLR – 4
5. Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo – 8
6. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 8
7. Darren Bloomfield – TLR – 8
8. David Ronnefalk – Kyosho – 12
9. Kody Numedahl – Associated – 12
10.Neil Cragg – Associated – 13

View our event image gallery here.

‘From Race Control’ – Day 3 of 2WD Buggy

Today should have been the day on which the 15th 2WD Electric Buggy World Champion was crowned but heavy rain last night just as the fourth round of qualifying finished up has left the Silver Dollar R/C Raceway unraceable this morning.  Officially racing has been cancelled until 13:00 local time with IFMAR Electric Chairman Frank Mostrey confirming that the 5th round of qualifying has been cancelled and that the priority is to give the A-Main Hobbies track team what ever time is required to prepare the track so they can run the Mains even if that means running under floodlights later tonight.  An update on the situation is due at 12:30 local time.

Normally the IFMAR rules state that the track must be changed between the 2WD and 4WD, as they are classified as separate events, but we are glad to hear from Mostrey that due to the extreme circumstances, the heavy ran unusual for Chico at this time of the year, they may not insist on this ruling giving priority instead to ensuring that drivers are presented with a well prepared track to race on.  The Belgian said IFMAR will go on the advice of the track team, who so far have done a superb job in preparing and maintaining the track, but added early reports are they will need at least 5 to 6 hours to get the track right from its current condition.  The concern is that should they rush the preparation of the track for the 2WD finals this may result in excess damage to the surface which will not be able to be rectified in time for the 4WD World Championships.

Video – Daimon Borkowicz Worlds Debut diary – Day 2

In the second of a series of diary videos this week we catch up with World Championship debutant, up and coming Florida talent Daimon Borkowicz. The 13 year old Associated/ JConcepts driver is the protege of JConcepts founder and World Championship finalist Jason Ruona.