Tebo bounces back in penultimate 2WD Qualifier

Having failed to make the Top 10 in either of yesterday’s 2WD Buggy Qualifiers Kyosho’s Jared Tebo bounced back today at the Pro-Line Cactus Classic to TQ Q3 and put himself right into contention for Top Qualifier honours at the Arizona event. Just missing out on a 13 lap run, Tebo set the pace ahead of defending Cactus Champion Ryan Maifield by exactly 4/10th of a second with Q1 pace setter Ryan Cavalieri completing the Top 3.

Having struggled for traction on his Ultima RB5 in the opening qualifier in which he was only 13th fastest, Tebo changed tyres for Q2 which gave the buggy a lot of grip but not expecting such an improvement the former World Champion over drove resulting in him being classified 15th for the round. Dropped down to the second fastest group of heats following yesterday’s below par performance, Tebo said he knew what to expect from his Orion powered buggy in the penultimate qualifier and a TQ run was the result.

Maifield, who set the fastest lap for Q3, had little to say other than his B4.1 was good but just didn’t get it done. Running a fresh set of inserts for Q3, Cavalieri said it took most of the race before they started to feel right. Not wanting to continue with the same set of inserts he had already run in practice and the previous qualifiers, he said at the start of the run they caused the buggy to lack grip on landings but by the end of the 5-minutes they felt good. With the inserts ready for the final qualifier and tomorrow’s finals the World Champion said he he was happy to take third for the round.

Having finished 6th fastest in Q1 and then only 11th in Q2, 15-year-old TLR star Dakotah Phend said he went for a safe run with another Top 6 run his target so as to ensure he qualifies direct for the A-Main. A clean run took him to fifth and with the pressure now off he says he can push for a TQ run in the concluding qualifier. Fastest in last night’s Q2 Dustin Evans had a rough Q3. Crashing on the opening lap the US National Champion said he over drove trying to make back the time but that made things worse and he ended up only 8th fastest. With his TLR22 better in cooler condition, as proven last night, Evans said he is confident about his chances for this evening’s TQ deciding final heat.

Another driver to turn things around today was Team Durango’s Travis Amezcua. Having had his DEX210 shutdown in the opening two rounds he set the 5th fastest time. Improving his buggy from yesterday the main change being the angle of his shocks, Amezcua said the biggest factor in his improved pace was down to him driving much better today. Happy with his set-up now he said he will just reduce his drag brake a little for Q4.

Changing from silver to red compound Losi Taper Pins Tamiya’s Lee Martin said his TRF201 was more difficult to drive with more steering was quicker to drive then yesterday. Despite one of his rear tyres coming unglued three laps from the finish, which made the buggy very difficult on the turn in at the end of the main straight, the European Champion still managed the 6th fastest time. The British driver asked us to point out that he did not glue the tyres in question.

Round 3 Qualification (Top 6)
2WD Buggy
1. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 12/5:00.185
2. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 12/5:00.585
3. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 12/5:03.223
4. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 12/5:04.113
5. Travis Amezcua – Durango – 12/5:07.489
6. Lee Martin – Tamiya – 12/5:09.118

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Maifield is 2WD Short Course Top Qualifier

Defending 2WD Short Course Champion has put himself in the best position possible to retain his title at the Pro-Line Cactus Classic in tomorrow’s finals after the factory Associated driver made it three of of three in Q3 to become the first Top Qualifier at the 26th running of the prestigious American event.

Setting the pace for much of the run with his Reedy powered SC10, Maifield rolled his truck on lap 9 allowing Jared Tebo to take control of proceedings but the Kyosho driver was to throw it away with a mistake of his own on his last run through the quad section. Losing almost two and a half seconds Tebo, who set the fastest lap of the round, crossed the line 2.1 seconds off Maifield handing his rival early TQ honours at his home track.

With the crew from Hobby Town Scottsdale R/C Speedway carrying out maintenance work to the track overnight Maifield, who was critical of how the track broke up yesterday, said conditions today were better and the grip felt to be up. Running JConcepts high temperature running Orange compound Double Dee fronts and Barcode rears tyres, Maifield said he ran the truck unchanged from yesterday because with it working well it was best to leave it alone.

While he is struggling to find a tyre to suit his Short Course truck, which he said is fast but hard to drive, Ryan Cavalieri had no such problems with his Mod Truck notching up his second TQ run producing the only 13 lap run of the round ahead of TLR’s Dakotah Phend and team-mate Maifield who lost time after tangling with Matt Chambers. Topping the opening qualifier Maifield is the only driver who can deny Cavalieri, the defending champion, from becoming Top Qualifier in the evening’s fourth and final qualifier.

Round 3 Qualification (Top 6)
Mod Truck
1. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 13/5:21.625
2. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 12/5:02.006
3. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 12/5:07.530
4. Dustin Evans – TLR – 12/5:08.572
5. Brian Kinwald – Associated – 12/5:09.117
6. Mike Truhe – TLR – 12/5:10.688

2WD Short Course
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 12/5:08.660
2. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 12/5:10.706
3. Brian Kimwald – Associated – 12/5:13.157
4. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 12/5:16.149
5. Cody Turner – TLR – 12/5:20.822
6. Frank Roots – TLR – 12/5:23.629

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Evans TQs second 2WD Buggy Qualifier

Reigning US National Champion Dustin Evans has TQ’d the second round of 2WD Buggy qualifying for the Pro-Line Cactus Classic, the TLR driver driver setting a new overall fastest time for the largest of the classes at the 26th edition of the America’s longest running offroad event. Topping the time sheets ahead of Associated team-mates Ryan Maifield and Ryan Cavalieri the Top 3 all managed to pull off 13 laps this time round.

Running his JConcepts equipped TLR22, Evans said conditions were very tricky for the second round of qualifying. With the right side of the track breaking up he said the dust made it very loose while on the left side, which was more polished, the cooler conditions of the evening run meant there was a lot of grip. With so many variables over a lap, the 26-year-old said he just tried to drive as smooth as possible and he was really pleased with the overall result.

Setting a new fastest lap being the only driver to run 23-seconds, Maifield said his Reedy powered B4.1 had the pace for a TQ run but issues with traffic meant he ended up half-a-second shy of Evans. While they missed out on repeating their Q1 performance, in which Cavalieri TQ’d, the second round was a strong one for Associated with their cars filling 7 of the Top 10 spots on the time sheets. Behind Cavalieri, Steven Hartson pulled off the fourth fastest time just ahead of AE Race Team Manager Brent Thielke who was delighted with his run.

In 4WD Buggy Maifield set the pace taking Q2 by 7-seconds over Tamiya’s Lee Martin. Having replaced a number of worn parts on his B44.1 after Q1 in which he was 4th fastest, the defending Cactus Champion said the buggy was much improved but voiced concerns over how badly the track was starting to break-up. Thankfully following the completion of all 45 heats in Q2, the crew at Hobby Town Scottsdale R/C Speedway got to work on making repairs to the track in preparation for the final two rounds of qualifying that make up tomorrow’s timetable.

One of Europe’s top offroad racers Martin was very happy with second having turned around a bad start to the heat which saw his Speed Passion powered Tamiya needing marshalling twice. With a less than perfect opening to the 5-minute encounter the British ace said he opted for a ‘punch or die’ approach and this resulted in a really good final 3-minutes. In a touch of true luck for Martin as he crossed the timing loop to complete his run the spur gear stripped on his buggy.

Running an Associated chassis, Billy Fisher recorded the third fastest time despite crashing into a broken buggy on his final lap. The former factory Durango driver said the incident didn’t cost him a lot of time but was enough to allow Martin to finish ahead of him.

Having broke a rear hub in Q1, Joern Neumann said he tried to run a safe round. Two mistakes and some problems with traffic meant he lost around 5 seconds but with his DEX410 working much better in the cooler evening conditions the German was still able to record the fourth fastest time just ahead of Jared Tebo’s Kyosho. For team-mate Ryan Lutz a problem with a prototype Tekin speedo, which caused his buggy to shut down a number of times in the latter part of the run, cost him a potentially quick time. Setting the fastest lap for the round of 22.871 and ending up 7th overall, he said he was very happy with the speed and handling of his buggy and a software update by the Tekin staff at the track should ensure the issue is cured for tomorrow.

Following his receiver problem before the start of Q1, Tebo was helped out by fellow KO Propo sponsored driver Lutz who loaned him a reciever for his 4WD while he waits on a delivery of new receivers that are due to arrive at the track tomorrow. Increasing the front camber on his Lazer ZX5 the US National Champion said it made for a very twitchy buggy resulting in only fifth for the round.

Topping both buggy classes in Q1, Cavalieri was another to have his 4WD buggy shutdown intermittently. Afterwards it was discovered that both his receiver and speedo had come undone from the chassis and were just floating loose under the bodyshell which most likely resulted in the problem that left him down in 12th for the round. As a precaution they will change both the speedo and receiver for tomorrow.

In 4WD Short Course Lutz TQ’d Round 2 ahead of Mike Truhe. Having struggled for steering in Q1, Lutz who is running in the second fastest heat for the class said he was surprised to top the times as he had a lot of crashes in his run. TLR driver and defending champion Truhe said he also had a couple of stupid mistakes but overall he was very happy with the handling and power of his Orion powered Ten-SCTE. Team-mate Dakotah Phend who TQ’d round 1 was third.

Round 2 Qualification (Top 6)
2WD Buggy
1. Dustin Evans – TLR – 13/5:23.381
2. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 13/5:23.902
3. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 13/5:24.830
4. Steven Hartson – Associated – 12/5:00.378
5. Brent Thielke – Associated – 12/5:01.907
6. Billy Fisher – TLR – 12/5:04.799

4WD Buggy
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 13/5:05.301
2. Lee Martin – Tamiya – 13/5:12.384
3. Billy Fischer – Associated – 13/5:13.103
4. Joern Neumann – Durango – 13/5:13.670
5. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 13/5:14.003
6. Rob Gillespie – Associated – 13/5:16.560

4WD Short Course
1. Ryan Lutz – Durango – 13/5:22.659
2. Mike Truhe – TLR – 12/5:01.291
3. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 12/5:01.924
4. Frank Root – TLR – 12/5:02.531
5. Hupo Honigl – Durango – 12/5:04.231
6. Carson Wernimont – Durango – 12/5:11.879

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Q2 Truck Update

The second round of qualifying for the 2WD truck classes at the Pro-Line Cactus Classic saw Associated set the pace with Cavalieri and Maifield topping Mod Truck and 2WD Short Course respectively. Having dominated the morning’s opening qualifier, Maifield was unable to repeat his morning 13-lap run, taking third for the round behind defending champion Cavalieri and TLR’s Dustin Evans both of whom knocked 4 seconds off their 12-lap Q1 runs. Although he again set the fastest lap for the round, albeit slower then that he set in Q1, Maifield said the ‘track was really hurting’ second time round. Cavalieri who is the class’ defending champion said his T4.1 was ‘dialled’.

The US National 2WD Short Course Champion, Maifield took a convincing TQ run in the class finishing almost eight seconds clear of Kyosho’s Jared Tebo. Setting a new fastest lap the defending Cactus champion said his SC10 seems to always work irrespective of the track conditions. Cavalieri who set the third fastest time head of fellow Associated driver Kody Numedahl struggled with jumping at the quad section in front of the drivers stand. Running the same set of tyres he ran in the morning he said he struggled to get the traction he needed in the run up to the big air jumps. Due to the 400 plus entry for this the 26th running of the Pro-Line Cactus Classic, they are running a dry track which makes it very abrasive and heavy on tyres.

Round 2 Qualification (Top 6)
Mod Truck
1. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 12/5:02.005
2. Dustin Evans – TLR – 12/5:02.811
3. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 12/5:03.226
4. Mike Truhe – TLR – 12/5:09.394
5. Brian Kimwald – Associated – 12/5:09.506
6. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 12/5:09.791

2WD Short Course
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 12/5:08.844
2. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 12/5:16.518
3. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 12/5:17.567
4. Kody Numedahl – Associated – 12/5:20.439
5. Dustin Evans – TLR – 12/5:22.033
6. Cody Turner – TLR – 12/5:25.095

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Cavalieri fastest in first Buggy qualifier

Ryan Cavalieri has TQ’d the opening round of qualifying for both Buggy classes at the 26th running of the Pro-Line Cactus Classic. In 2WD the World Champion narrowly outpaced team-mate and dominator of the morning’s truck qualifying Ryan Maifield while in 4WD he had a decent advantage at the top of the time sheets over reigning US National Champion Jared Tebo.

Cavalieri said small changes to each of his buggies since yesterday’s practice had made them better.  Running a slightly harder front spring on his B44.1 and changing shock oil on his B4.1 he said they are both now where he wants them and they should be good for the rest of the event.  With all drivers reporting track conditions as loose, he said he adapted a smooth driving style to suit and this paid dividends as he was also able to take his Pro-Line equipped buggies to the fastest lap in each class.

Setting the third fastest time behind Maifield, Dustin Evans said while his TLR22 normally struggles in hot conditions when the track surface is as polished as it is here today at the Hobby Town Scottsdale R/C Speedway it felt really good.  Losing a little time when he got it wrong at the quad in front of the driver’s stand, the US Champion feels the cooler conditions of the second qualifier, which will run later this evening, should give him a real chance of a TQ run and other than changing to a different compound tyre he will leave his set-up as is.

One of the surprises of Q1, Cody Tuner was super happy with his run to the fourth fastest time.  Running a Novak powered TLR22, the 20-year-old said like everyone else conditions meant it felt a little loose but overall it was not a big problem for him. Looking to make his buggy a little easier to drive for Q2 he will move his rear hub positioning from the 1D to the 1B hole.

In 4WD Buggy Tebo said he was very lucky to even make the start of his run as he broke his receiver in the warm-up.  Super fast actions by his team, who pulled the receiver from his 2WD Kyosho and transferred it to the Lazer ZX5, meant he made the start and was able to set the second fastest time 2 second off Cavalieri.  Tebo, who was busy on the phone to KO Propo trying to arrange to get new receivers to the track, said his 4WD felt really good but his 2WD needed work as it struggled for grip resulting in him managing only the 13th fastest time for Q1.

Behind Tebo Team Durango’s Travis Amezcua set the third fastest time in 4WD despite his DEX410 needing to be marshaled during the 5-minute qualifier.  The Californian said his buggy was near perfect and the plan for Q2 is to leave everything alone and just drive it harder as in last nights second controlled practice it relished the cooler conditions.  Team-mate Joern Neumann was on a quick run until he broke a rear hub two laps from the finish.  Nursing the broken buggy to the finish the German still managed the 7th fastest time behind the Tamiya of fellow European Champion Lee Martin.

Fifth fastest for the Round behind defending Cactus Champion Maifield was Billy Fisher.  Having split with Team Durango, Fisher is running an Associated in 4WD this weekend and was another driver lucky to start the round.  On the run over the quad on the way to the start loop his B44.1 smacked hard on the landing causing his electrics to completely shut down. It eventually kicked back into life but with the computer giving him a forced start it cost him around 3 seconds in time.  Describing the run as ‘not perfect’ he said there is ‘definitely room for improvement in Q2’.

In 4WD Short Course Truck, which completes the round of 45 Heat groups, Team Losi Racing took a 1-2 with US Champion Dakota Phend setting the fastest time ahead of defending Cactus Classic champion Mike Truhe.  The TLR duo were the only drivers to run 13 laps.  The pace setter in yesterday’s practice Joern Neumann set the third fastest time followed by Durango team-mates Carson Wernimont and Hupo Honigl.

Round 1 Qualification (Top 6)
2WD Buggy
1. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 12/5:01.526
2. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 13/5:01.549
3. Dustin Evans – TLR – 12/5:05.815
4. Cody Tuner – TLR – 12/5:10241
5. Brian Kimwald – Associated – 12/5:10.351
6. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 12/5:11.228

4WD Buggy
1. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 13/5:10.648
2. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 13/5:12.726
3. Travis Amezcua – Durango – 13/5:15.200
4. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 13/5:17.989
5. Billy Fisher – Associated – 13/5:20.871
6. Lee Martin – Tamiya – 13/5:21.880

4WD Short Course
1. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 13/5:22.052
2. Mike Truhe – TLR – 13/5:24.067
3. Joern Neumann – Durango – 12/5:01.896
4. Carson Wernimont – Durango – 12/5:02.819
5. Hupo Honigl – Durango – 12/5:03.615
6. Kody Numedahl – Associated – 12/5:10.844

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