Maifield leads at RROC as Cavalieri has rough 3rd round

With racing now half way through the 4WD rounds at the Reedy Race of Champions, it is Ryan Maifield who leads the points after becoming only the second driver to record a repeat win in the third round of action.  Starting from third on the grid, the Yokomo driver quickly got to the front from where he controlled the race while behind him the rest of Offroad racings well know trio fought for the consolation placings.  In the end, Jared Tebo would come through from 5th on the grid to claim another second place while from the back row Ryan Cavalieri had a rough round to finish as he started to put a 7 on the board which he will be hoping becomes his dropped 4WD result.  The other two races of the round produced first time winners of the 26th running of the event with Dakotah Phend taking a dominant win in Heat 2 over Cole Tollard.  Breaking the US domination of the event, Lee Martin took the first visitor’s victory with the win in Heat 1 ahead of Alex Kosciuszek, who had led the first half of the race, and Spencer Rivkin who came through from the back of the starting grid.

Starting on row 2 behind pole sitter Kouki Kato and Ron DeVoll, summing up his race Maifield said, ‘I was kind of nervous about the front row but it was a clean start and after the rhythm section I was took the lead when I got down the inside.  After that I tried to run clean. I cased the jump one time’.  Looking to the final round of the opening day of racing, the 2015 Champion said, ‘I’m just going to reset and think what to do with tyres for tomorrow.  The tyres are kind of wearing out now and start to balloon out’.

‘I kind of had a crappy start’, was Tebo’s reaction to his race, the defending champion saying, ‘I jumped on Ty in the first triple and dropped down to fourth.  Then I made a really good pace on Dustin and another good pass on Yusuke but made a mistake and he got by me again.  On the last lap then he had a mistake and I got the 2nd back’.  On his car, the Tekno driver said, ‘That was the best I felt out there so far.  My speed is really good’.

The points leader after two rounds but dropping to 5th after Round 3, Cavalieri said, ‘It didn’t really go that good that one.  I should have been more aggressive at the start when I am starting so far back.  I made a mistake at the triple and I could make it back up as no one made mistakes I could capitalise on. I was stuck were I was’.

‘I got a good start and put in clean laps’, was how Phend summed up his win, the TLR driver finishing almost 7-seconds clear of Tollard.  The former champion continued, ‘the car was awesome so I made no mistakes out there. I was just consistent from the start where as I made mistakes on my own part in the previous ones that made things more difficult for myself’.  Asked about tyres, the 2016 Champions said, ‘definitely the tyres are wearing a bit so I’ll keep an eye on that and what the track is doing’.

Asked about his first win having had two 5th places finishing in the opening two rounds, Martin, who started 4th, said, ‘the first few laps I just kept my nose clean and when the people in front made mistakes I picked up the places.  Once in front I switch to survival mode and made sure I left no opportunities to pass.  I had one scary moment when I landed in the triple but no one got passed.  Spencer’s mistake on the last lap gave me breathing room. It is always nice to win one’.  On his car, the Yokomo driver said,  ‘It was a little bit loose because one of my tyres is a slick and one isn’t’.  Suffering more excessive wear than others the British driver said he hopes he can adjust his set up to balance out the difference in tyres.

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Cavalieri doubles up in second round

After a win in the opening round of racing at the Reedy Offroad Race of Champions, Ryan Cavalieri became the first driver to double up at OCRC Raceway with a win over defending champion Jared Tebo.  Starting from 6th on the grid, Cavalieri worked his way to the front in his Sworkz getting by on lap 3 after a mistake from pole sitter Cole Tollard.  While he had the faster car and looked set to challenge Cavalieri for the lead on a few occasions, bobbles prevented Tebo from making it two out of two with Ty Tessmann completing the Top 3.  The other winners of Round 2 would be 17-year-old Broc Champlin who got by long time leader Ron Devoll with a well planned and executed pass on the final lap.  Finishing second to Rivkin in Round 1 after an early mistake having started from pole, Ryan Maifield convert a P4 start into a win reversing the Round 1 result as Rivkin came home second followed by pole starter Tommy Hinz who had led for the opening four laps.

‘Definitely went in the right direction, it was a lot more racey that time’, was Cavalieri’s reaction after his win, the multiple champion having made a number of changes to his car after Round 1.  He continued, ‘Somehow I got a really good start from the outside of the third row.  I got the jump on 5th and made 3 spots in the first corner. It was a really great start and I also capitalised on mistakes by the leaders, then I just kept my head down and drove for the W’.  On further set-up changes, the Cali driver said, ‘I am very happy with the car right now but I think I am going to go in one other direction with the set-up for the next one’.

Summing up his race, Tebo said, ‘I feel I threw away a possible win. I had a really hard time staying accurate on the third triple but it’s more solid points on the board’.  The Tekno driver explained, ‘I added toe-out in the steering to get better steering but this seems to affect the car on the angle jump so I will put it back for the next one’.

Commenting on his start to the 26th running of the iconic Reedy Race, Maifield said, ‘As I said yesterday I am still figuring out my new electronics and in the first round I didn’t have the best feeling in the jump section which lead to my mistake at the start.  I was still able to come back through the field and get a 2.  You want the 1 & 2s’.  The Yokomo driver continued, ‘I adjusted my speedo for Round 2 and I was way more confident with the car. It was a much cleaner round, I think I had 8 mistakes in the first round.  I started 4th and made my way passed guys as they made mistakes. I knew Spencer was second but I could hold him off and got the win.’  Maifield’s Round 2 winning time is the fastest race time so far which could prove vital in the final result.

Rivkin said, ‘that was as good as it can go without taking the win’.  The Associated driver added, ‘I had Maifield ahead of me but I wasn’t able to catch up so I accepted second for the round. I started 5th and finished 2nd for the round which for my mid pack starts is most important’.  On his car, the Arizona driver said, ‘I ran the car the same and it got better from Round 1 to Round 2 which is good. I’m going to continue to run it the same for the next one’.

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Tebo opens Reedy title defence with first round win

Reedy Race Champion Jared Tebo has opened his title defence with a win in the first race of the 26th running of the iconic event. Starting from pole position with Ty Tessmann alongside, Tebo and the Canadian would go at it for the full 5-minutes with Dakotah Phend joining the battle for what was the most exciting race of the opening round.  A mistake by Tebo would allow Tessmann to go to the front until he then had a moment handing the lead back to Tebo.  In the end the Top 3 would cross the line covered by less than 3/10th of a second.  In the second encounter, Spencer Rivkin took the win over Ryan Maifield, Maifield having started from pole position but dropped down the order after any early mistake in the centre rhythm section.  The third race saw the No.4 starting Ryan Cavalieri avoid contact between early leader Shin Adachi and young French driver Clement Boda and once in front the Reedy Race’s most crowned champion pretty much controlled the race.

‘Not a bad start at all’, was Tebo’s reaction to winning the first of his 12 races.  Winning the event for the first time last year on his switch to the Tekno team, he continued, ‘It was a tough nerve wrecking 1st race.  The car was good, I was just fighting the first race nerves.  It was a good clean fight with Ty and we just swapped mistakes.  It’s good to get the nerves out of the way with a win’.  Asked about his car, the former World Champion said, ‘I’m going to stick with the same set-up for the next one because I know I can drive better in a couple of spots.  The car is consistent and that’s key’.

Commenting on his opening attempt, Tessmann said, ‘It could have been better but it was a safe start.  It is always nerve wrecking starting the first race from the front row’.  The Xray driver continued, ‘the car was good and I had got by Cavalieri but made a mistake on my own and lost the lead.  I knew third was not far behind so I didn’t want to risk anything’.  Regarding his car set-up, the Canadian said for Round 2 he will, ‘stick with what we’ve got’.

Having set the pace in 4WD practice yesterday, Phend summed up Round 1 as ‘not too bad a result’ but the former Champion was less happy with his start from 4th on the grid’.  The TLR driver explained, ‘I had a bad start. I just messed it up.’  Set to start his next race from the back of the grid, the races this year each featuring 8-starters, Phend concluded, ‘The car is really good so I will just keep plugging away in the next one ‘.

Rivkin described his race as a ‘solid run’.  The Associated driver said, ‘I started 4th and took advantage of everyone else’s mistakes and then hung in there till the end’.  Chasing his first Reedy Race title, the newly crowned 2WD World Champion said, ‘my car was good but coming of the drivers stand I was thinking I need to make it easier to drive but then looking at the lap times its one of the fastest out there so maybe I was just a little too excited for the first race.  I think I will pretty much leave it as is for the next one’.

‘A good start to the day. I got a good jump off the line and capitalised on mistakes from a few guys in front.  Once out in clean air I could dictate the race from there’, was how Cavalieri summed up his race.  The Sworkz driver said in the latter part of the race he could feel something wasn’t right and afterwards found that his rear swaybar mount had disconnected.  Looking to Round 2, he plans to make a couple of changes including shock oil change saying, ‘the pace os close but I could use just a little more speed’.

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