Hara fastest in Q3

Defending World Champion Atsushi Hara has topped the third round of qualifying on Day 4 here in Pattaya, the Hot Bodies driver taking maximum points for Q3 ahead of Team Losi’s Billy Fischer and Kyosho’s Jared Tebo.  The Japanese ace said it was another safety run on what he described as being a much more difficult track today.  With the Top 5 heats having been run at the beginning of the rounds yesterday they are now last to run and a lot of ruts have appeared since Q2.  Hara said the high speed sweeper has become very difficult with two bumps having developed since yesterday and they were to catch out a number drivers including yesterday’s pace setter Ryan Maifield who lost over 7 seconds when his Associated tipped over.  Asked about set-up Hara said his OS powered D8 was working really well but that the track was not really about car set-up but getting around without crashing.

Giving Losi their best round so far, Fischer put his run down to just crashing less saying his 8ight has been working great all the time.  Running Losi’ red compound Blockheads tyre he is however still making small changes to his set-up to suit the changing track conditions which he said has become really tricky now due to the ruts.  His team-mate Adam Drake once again set the fourth fastest time and is enjoying the tougher conditions saying bumpier tracks have always suited his technical driving style more. The American said he was pleased with taking his third top 4 run which brings him one step closer to ticking the first item off his check list which is qualifying directly into the Semis.  Overall Drake sits second in the qualification ranking equal on points with provisional Top Qualifier Maifield with Tebo third, a single point behind.

23-year-old Tebo changed his Orion powered MP9 ahead of the days first qualifier moving the positions of rear shocks and camber links but said it wasn’t suitable for the much rougher conditions.  Having to back off through the sweeper he will change the car for Q4 but will wait till nearer the time of his run to decide on what to change depending on how track conditions change.

Setting the fifth fastest time Renaud Savoya was the top Mugen.  A mistake free run, the European Champion is playing it safe for the moment working towards a Top 16 placing rather than overall TQ honours.

Despite getting a Stop&Go penalty for hitting a car as he tried to pass a group of three cars, Cody King took his Kyosho around in the 6th fastest time. After a troubled first day of qualifying 2008 Top Qualifier Mike Truhe finally managed a Top 10 time with his Losi 7th fastest ahead of Team Associated’s Ryan Cavalieri.  Describing conditions as being like running on a new track, Cavalieri said he was not fast but didn’t make mistakes allowing him to equal his best round so far.

Elsewhere Team Durango’s Ryan Lutz finally saw his luck change after failing to complete a full run yesterday.  Setting the fastest lap of the round with a 44.450, he was glad to do a full run but said while the car was good he made too many mistakes.

Qualification Ranking after Round 3 of 6
(Best 4 to Count)
1. Ryan MAIFIELD (USA) – Associated/Reedy – 14/10:35.283 – 543
2. Adam DRAKE (USA) – Losi/Novarossi – 13/10:04.684 – 543
3. Jared TEBO (USA) – Kyosho/Orion – 13/10:01.509 – 542
4. Atsushi HARA (JPN) – Hot Bodies/OS – 14/10:44.154 – 536
5. Renaud SAVOYA (FRA) – Mugen/RB – 13/10:04.366 – 530
6. Ryan CAVALIERI (USA) – Associated/Orion – 13/10:11.734 – 526
7. Billy FISCHER (USA) – Losi/Novarossi – 13/10:12.322 – 516
8. Tyler TESSMANN (CAN) – Hot Bodies/OS – 13/10:16.407 – 509
9. Matthew CASTELLANO (USA) – Losi/OS – 13/10:12.324 – 508
10.Darren BLOOMFIELD (UK) – Losi/NR – 13/10:16.116 – 505
11.Jeremy KORTZ (USA) – Hobao/Werks – 13/10:18.046 – 503
12.Teemu LEINO (FIN) – Xray/Orion – 13/10:18.660 – 503
13.Yannick AIGOIN (FRA) – Losi/NR – 13/10:11.614 – 501
14.Joshua WHEELER (USA) – Xray/OS – 13/10:18.611 – 499
15.Mark PAVIDIS (USA) – Kyosho/OS – 13/10:16.701 – 496
16.Tyler VIK (USA) – Kyosho/RB – 13/10:20.067 – 489

View the official event results here.

View the event photo gallery here.

Brazil set to host 2012 Off Road Worlds

Brazil is set to the host the next 1:8 Off World Championships.  The decision was made at a meeting of the sports governing body last night in Pattaya, Thailand, where the 13th 1:8 Off Road World Championship are currently underway.  Having hosted the 1:10 200mm Onroad World Championships in 2004, where well known buggy figure Adrien Bertin won the title, the city of Jundiai will get its second IFMAR World Championship. Although an off road track already exists at the facility, the local government plan to build an all new track for the event. The allocation is subject to issues experienced with the Brazilian customs holding up team’s equipment during the last visit being rectified.  Should IFMAR not get sufficient guarantees that this will not create the same headache it did for competitors in 2004, the event will be moved to Buenos Aires in Argentina.

Maifield leads the way after the first day of qualifying

The first day of qualifying is complete and there was no question that it belonged to Ryan Maifield, the factory Team Associated driver dominating proceedings.  Q2 saw the American ace improve on his earlier time, recording the fastest lap we have seen here yet in the process.  Describing qualifying as being all about not crashing and collecting enough points for a place in the Semis he said he was driving well within himself but admitted it did feel good to end day one at the top.

After a disappointing Q1, defending World Champion Atsushi Hara was second after taking a safe approach to the 10-minute run. Switching to the medium white compound of Hot Bodies’ Mega Byte tyre he said it worked really well in the hotter afternoon conditions and he was very happy to break into the magical 14 laps considering how safely he drove.  Happy with the end result he will continue this approach tomorrow before trying a more aggressive style on the final day of qualifying.  The Japanese star was clearly impressed with Maifield’s pace admitting he was much faster than he had expected he would be.

After an under par performance in the opening qualifier Jared Tebo managed the third fastest time despite a very trying run.  During the warm-up laps the front brakes on his Kyosho locked up and melted leaving him with a very challenging car.  He was also given what he saw as an unfair drive through penalty for contact with fellow American Dakotah Phend.  Phend landed sideways off a jump and Tebo could do nothing to avoid hitting his car.  The US Champion summed up the day by calling it a ‘test to see how badly he really wants this race’ but he thinks he passed and is looking forward to better things tomorrow.

Adam Drake was best of the Team Losi drivers as he was again fourth fastest albeit in a slower time.  Team-mates Yannick Aigoin and Matthew Castellano finished 7th and 8th fastest respectively with Castellano saying his 8ight was set up too soft for the hot conditions.

The big surprise of Q2 was young Australian driver Kyle McBride.  Making his World Championship debut, the 14-year-old Mugen driver made it five different manufacturers at the head of the time sheets.  Very happy to find himself up with the best in the World he could have been faster than Drake if it were not for a costly crash during the run. A State Champion back home, McBride said a move to a soft AKA Impact tyres had really improved his MBX-6 and he hopes to build on his performance tomorrow.  Another teenager controlled Mugen completed the Top 6 for Q2 with  Elliot Boots enjoying a strong run with his RB powered example.  The emerging British talent was very happy with the handling after switching to the blue compound of JConcepts new Hybrids tyres but like McBride also had an incident which cost him a few seconds.

For the first time we saw Xray inside the Top 10 with RC America’s Josh Wheeler and factory Xray driver Teemu Leino going around in the 9th and 10th fastest times.  Elsewhere Kyosho’s Cody King, who was second fastest in Q1, broke the front left wishbone off his MP9.  The American switched to a medium Impact AKA tyre for the hotter conditions which gave the car a different feeling and resulted in an altercation with the fence that was to come off the better of the two.   Third in Q1 France’s Renaud Savoya ran too soft a compound in Q2 and could only manage 17th. Fifth fastest this morning Spanish Champion Robert Batlle suffered a steering servo failure in his Associated while another of the morning’s fast guys LRP’s Joern Nuemann suffered a flame out.  Hot Bodies Jessie Robbers was on a good run but suffered two engine cuts and Team Durango’s Ryan Lutz didn’t even make the start as he again had electrical problems.  The American managed to get the car running by the end of the heat and had a chance to complete one essential test lap.

Tomorrow’s schedule sees two more qualifiers for the capacity 180 entries when we will see if anyone can take the challenge to Ryan Maifield and Team Associated.  Red RC would like to thank Team Durango, LRP, Reds Racing and Team C for making it possible to bring you coverage of the 2010 IFMAR 1:8 Off Road World Championship.

Top 10 Qualifying Times – Round 2
1. Ryan MAIFIELD (USA) – Associated/Reedy – 14/10:35.283
2. Atsushi HARA (JPN) – Hot Bodies/OS – 14/10:44.154
3. Jared TEBO (USA) – Kyosho/Orion – 13/10:01.509
4. Adam DRAKE (USA) – Losi/Novarossi – 13/10:09.445
5. Kyle MCBRIDE (AUS) – Mugen/OS – 13/10:11.375
6. Elliott BOOTS (UK) – Mugen/RB – 13/10:11.516
7. Yannick AIGOIN (FRA) – Losi/Novarossi – 13/10:11.614
8. Matthew CASTELLANO (USA) – Losi/OS – 13/10:14.482
9. Josh WHEELER (USA) – Xray/OS – 13/10:18.611
10.Teemu LEINO (FIN) – Xray/Orion – 13/10:18.660

View the official event results here.

View the event photo gallery here.

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.