Maifield tops opening qualifier

Team Associated’s Ryan Mayfield has set the pace in the opening round of qualifying for the 2010 World Championships being one of only two drivers to run 14 laps here at the Pattaya track.  The American topped the time sheets from Kyosho’s Cody King, the pair where the only drivers to break into the 43 second lap times.  With some fresh parts and a new bodyshell fitted to his RC8B overnight he ran the same set-up as yesterday with his focus on just staying calm and getting the job done.  Describing this morning’s conditions as nice and clean he doesn’t plan any adjustments for the second of the days qualifier but will be keeping an eye on the track surface regarding tyres choice.

Describing his Orion powered MP9 as ‘awesome’, King said he had a little trouble in the beginning of the run as he settled the nerves but once he got the head down he was able to run clean laps settling the best of the round with a 43.777.  Referring to the Q1 as the ‘nervous’ round, the 23-year-old was very happy to open his qualifying at the sharp end of the time sheets and with his car ‘as good as it gets’ he can just concentrate on his driving now for Q2.

European Champion Renaud Savoya was very happy with his opening run.  Like most of the drivers the 2008 podium finisher said the first round is always a little stressful.  Setting himself the objective of making no mistakes, the French ace drove safe and at the end was surprised himself with setting the third fastest time. The Mugen/RB driver feels there is a lot more in him and the car and plans to push harder in his next run.

Adam Drake, who was in the opening group that took to the track this morning, said while conditions were not ideal he was pleased with his run.  Having got his World Championship qualifying off to a rough start 2 years ago, the Team Losi star described his driving as ‘very conservative, something he can build on’.  Running the full 10-minutes without refuelling his Novarossi engine, the American clearly has no run time concerns saying ‘Pit stops are for the finals’.  Losi team-mate Mike Truhe suffered a flame out, which he thinks was caused by hitting a rock, leaving the 2008 Top Qualifier well down the order.

Reigning Spanish Champion Robert Batlle set the fifth fastest time despite having a less than perfect car.  The factory Associated driver had a major off in the warm-up which left him with a badly bent from driveshaft which he said he could feel through the steering.  The crash also caused his exhaust to break loose caused the tuning of his Novarossi to be off.  Considering the state of his car, the 6th place finisher from the last Worlds said he was very happy to opening with a competitive round.

Backing up his impressive run yesterday, Team LRP’s Joern Neumann managed an impressive sixth fastest time.  Running the team’s S8 BXR evo fitted with an LRP engine and the companies VTEC Banzai tyres, the former European 1:10 Champion was very happy with package and how the run went.

Finishing one place behind him Jared Tebo was a lot less happy with his performance. Having topped the opening day of practice and then taking top spot in the reseed yesterday the US Champion made two costly mistakes and afterwards the mood in Kyosho camp was not good with big changes being made to the car, a number of pre-built front and rear ends lined up on the pit table. Having been on for a potential Top 3 run Ryan Cavalieri was running a really fast but risky pace and after a big mistake backed off, dropping the Associated driver to 8th.

The fastest man in terms of lap time and over 10-minutes yesterday Matthew Castellano posted the 9th fastest time in the opening round ahead of the Losi/RB of former European Champion Miguel Matias.  Ending the round 16th fastest defending champion Atsushi Hara said he just made ‘too many mistakes’.

Top 10 Qualifying Times – Round 1
1. Ryan MAIFIELD (USA) – Associated/Reedy – 14/10:37.890
2. Cody KING (USA) – Kyosho/Orion – 14/10:45.124
3. Renaud SAVOYA (FRA) – Mugen/RB – 13/10:04.366
4. Adam DRAKE (USA) – Losi/Novarossi – 13/10:04.684
5. Robert BATLLE (ES) – Associated/Novarossi – 13/10:08.186
6. Joern NEUMANN (DE) – LRP/LRP – 13/10:08.207
7. Jared TEBO (USA) – Kyosho/Orion – 13/10:08.807
8. Ryan CAVALIERI (USA) – Associated/Orion – 13/10:11.734
9. Matthew CASTELLANO (USA) – Losi/OS – 13/10:12.324
10.Miguel MATIAS (POR) – Losi/RB – 13/10:12.694

View the official event results here.

View the event photo gallery here.

Tebo top seed for qualifying

One of the pre-event favourites for this the 13th running of the 1:8 Off Road World Championships, Jared Tebo made his intentions clear here in Thailand today by topping the reseeding for qualifying. The Kyosho driver completed the fastest three consecutive laps around the Pattaya track in the second practice to maintain his form at the top and again leave the track as top dog.  The American ace fitted a new Orion engine along with a fresh set of soft compound AKA Impact tyres to his MP9 for the final practice but otherwise ran the same set-up as he had used to convincingly top the morning time sheets. During his fuel stop taken at 8mins 30sec, pitman Joe Pillars took time to check the remaining fuel before refilling and afterwards said that while there was still a good amount of fuel remaining they planned to play it safe tomorrow and make a stop.

Team Associated’s Maifield was pleased with his performance describing it as ‘not a bad day’ as he set the second fastest time over the three combined laps. The American said his RC8B suited the hotter afternoon track conditions and other than checking over the car he has no plans to make any changes for the morning’s first qualifier. Asked if he could break Tebo’s run at the top of the time sheets he said he was just focused on doing his own thing and keeping his head down but added that if the track stays consistent all should be alright.

Travis ‘Peanut’ Amezcua was classified third based on his morning run. The Mugen driver said he opted for the wrong tyre in the afternoon choosing Proline Sniper when he should have went for Holeshot. Due to the hotter conditions this left him with too much traction but heading into qualifying the 2008 Finalist said he has a good set-up that makes his MBX-6 easy to drive and it was just a matter of choosing the right tyres to suit the conditions at the time of each run.

Making it four different manufacturers in the Top 4 was 20-year-old Matthew Castellano. Although the day was about getting three fast consecutive laps together the Team Losi drivers ended the day with the quickest 10-minute run also recording the fastest lap of the event on the way with a 43.88.  Other than switching to a slightly heavier shock oil in his OS powered 8ight, he has been running a very close set-up to that which he normally uses back home and is very happy with his event so far. Having traveled to the Pattaya track for some pre-event testing in early October, the American said he was glad of the mileage and he was now looking forward to qualifying getting underway. The Top Qualifier at the last World’s, team-mate Mike Truhe was classified a lowly 17th in the reseeding but the Californian was upbeat about his day saying his car was easy to drive allowing him to run 10 minutes without crashing.

Despite having his fuel tubing come off in FP4, Cody King put Kyosho top in terms of team performance by getting a second car of the 1:8 Off Road’s most successful manufacturer in to the Top 5. The highest ranked non-American was Canada’s Ty Tessmann, the 17-year-old being classified 6th in the ranking due to a new points system IFMAR applied to determine the final order, despite having actually recorded the fourth fastest time. The factory Hot Bodies driver said he drove the final practice solely focused on achieving three quick laps and was happy with his performance. Team-mate and the defending World Champion Atsushi Hara tried new lines over the jumps and was unable to get three trouble free laps together and so ended up 12th. The Japanese ace again tried to run 10 minutes without fuelling but with his OS set very lean it cut when he rolled his D8. Encouraged by his fastest lap of 44.160, which he said he set when he drove safe, he will play it safe tomorrow and stop for fuel. Both drivers will run the same set-up again tomorrow but will fit new chassis plates.

Team Durango’s big new signing Ryan Lutz claimed 7th followed by Germany’s Joern Neumann driving LRP’s S8 BXR evo. Neumann looked very strong today and actually set the fifth fastest reseed time but the over engineered points system doesn’t reward him for his driving. European Champion and 2008 Worlds podium finisher Renaud Savoya was 9th with his RB powered Mugen but remains confident while fellow countryman Yannick Aigoin completed the Top 10 with his Novarossi powered Losi.

View the complete final heat listing here.

View the event photo gallery here.

Tebo raises the bar on Day 2

Fastest yesterday, Kyosho’s Jared Tebo continued to set the bench mark in terms of outright pace as he recorded the fastest lap so far of the championships in this morning’s third free practice. Running on a track that underwent a lot of patching, he set a 44.840 lap to top the time sheets by the biggest margin yet ahead of fellow countryman Travis Amezcua. Kyosho team-manager Joe Pillars, who is pitman for Tebo, described the morning run as near perfect saying everything came together with driver, car and tyres all performing really good.  In the second group to take to the track Tebo found the track still a little too oily after the overnight treatment and plans to wait for the track to come up rather than change anything on the AKA shod MP9.  It was a good morning for the Kyosho/Orion/AKA squad with Cody King setting the third fastest time

Running his Mugen the very same same as he did yesterday when he ended up being fourth fastest, Travis Amezcua said the track work had made his MBX-6 a lot easier to drive.  Other than running wide a couple of times as he adapted to the new conditions, the 2008 Finalist described the run as clean and like Tebo doesn’t plan to change anything for the day’s second and final practice.  Today’s practice will determine the reseed for qualifying with each driver’s three fastest consecutive laps being used.

After a difficult opening day new Team Durango signing Ryan Lutz is much happier with his pace managing the fourth fastest time this morning.  Having been set back by a sticking throttle linkage, the American said the patching of the track had really helped as it was now more suited to his driving style.  Planning to focus on his driving in FP4, the only change planned to his set-up is a switch to a heavier centre diff oil.

Setting the fifth fastest lap, Team Associated’s Ryan Maifield said he liked the track better today and was also happier with his Reedy powered RC8B.  Having changed to lighter diff and heavier shock oil along with adjusting the rear sway bar the car felt better overall but at the cost of a little steering.

Darren Bloomfield was fastest of the Team Losi drivers, the British Champion setting the sixth fastest lap time despite him not having been to the Pattaya track previously.  Setting a best time of 46.068, Bloomfield admitted he is getting on a lot better than expected.  Having heard it was a very difficult track to learn he said after just three runs he is really comfortable with it and likes the neat and tidy driving style that the track requires.

Defending champion Atsushi Hara could only manage the 10th fastest time but the Japanese driver had the disadvantage of being in the first group on the reworked track. Afterwards the Hot Bodies team leader said for the conditions his D8 felt good and he was able to run very consistent laps.  Running short of the ten minutes in terms of fuel Hara plans to run the same set-up in the final practice as he looks to take it to Tebo.

View the official event results here.

View the event photo gallery here.