January 26, 2020

Tebo opens 2WD with win over Maifield

Defending Reedy Race Champion Jared Tebo has opened the 2WD action at OCRC Raceway with a win over 4WD points leader Ryan Maifield.  Starting from third on the grid the Tekno factory driver took his Associated to a 4-seconds win over the Yokomo driver who had come through from last on the grid.  Having endured a very tough time in 4WD, ending up 18th in the points, former two time champion Dustin Evans would come to the fore in 2WD taking the Heat 3 win over the races other multiple champion Ryan Cavalieri.  The same race wouldn’t net the start Dakotah Phend was in search of as the TLR driver finished 5th meaning he loses further ground to Maifield in the points table.  One of only two non North American drivers to win in 4WD, multiple European Champion Lee Martin open his 2WD account with a win heading home Yokomo team-mate Yusuke Sugiura and Ron DeVoll in an encounter that would see both Ty Tessmann, who led for a time, and Spencer Rivkin drop points to their rivals as they finished 4th and 5th respectively.

‘That was a good one’, was how Tebo summed up the first round of 2WD.  He continued, ‘I had a good start and got into second. I drove a little nervous. I thought I would catch Alex (Kosciuszek) quicker but he actually pulled away.  Eventually I settled down and could catch him. Then I had a bobble and dropped back but I got there in the end’.  Looking to the second round, which will bring Day 2’s action to a close, he said, ‘I drove a little nervous so I’m going to work on that but the car was good and I’ll leave it same for the next one’.

Summing up his race, Maifield said, ‘Any time you can get a Top 2 off the back row is good but it started off tough. I got tossed around a bit at the beginning’.  He continued, ‘Myself and Cole (Tollard) had a good race but I got into him.  It was pretty obvious it was my fault so I waited.  Alex (Kosciuszek) then made his mistake but I decided to wait.  I don’t want officials to make weird calls so I police myself.  Once I got by Alex, Tebo was gone but a second place, I’ll take that’.

Bouncing back into the event with the switch to 2WD, Team Associated’s Evans said, ‘I couldn’t figure out 4WD.  I also started from the back in the stacked heats but with no speed I wasn’t able to do anything. It was super frustrating’.  Happy to open 2WD with a win, he said, ‘I am out of contention (for the overall win) but I’m going to try and win as many 2WD races as I can’.

Commenting on his race, Matin said, ‘I had a front row start with Shin (Adachi) next to me so I knew if I didn’t crash in the first few laps I wasn’t going to be hustled too much’.  He continued, ‘Ty (Tessmann) got up the inside of me when I understeer but I had a stroke of luck at the triple and retook the lead.  I tried to keep good pace but safe enough not to scare myself and it seemed to work out well’.  He concluded, ‘my car is good, I just hope the tyres hold out’.

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January 26, 2020

4WD complete, advantage Maifield at Reedy Race

The first half of the 2020 Reedy Offroad Race of Champions is in the books with the concluding round of 4WD proving a tough encounter for the main title contenders however with 4 wins from the 6 races so far Ryan Maifield holds a comfortable advantage as things switch to 2WD at OCRC Raceway in California. The six round of racing would see the Open Champions all step up to the mark and register their first wins among the invite regulars. Kicking off the final 4WD battles, 2WD Open Champion Tommy Hinz took his Xray to the win ahead of Joona Haatanen and defending Invitational Champion Jared Tebo.  That was followed by one of the most stacked heats of this the 26th running of the Reedy Race – Maifield, Dakotah Phend, Spencer Rivkin and Ryan Cavalieri sharing the grid. Having shown impressive speed against Maifield a round earlier, Broc Champlin would lead from start to finish to move into 5th in the final 4WD standings as the main title contenders fought hard behind but made mistakes under the pressure. Starting from the pole, Phend, who was second in the points, didn’t get the start he wanted and that was compounded at the first triple when Maifield landed on the TLR dropping him back to third.  The battles continued with the four heavy hitters bunching together but all having bobbles.  In the end, Rivkin would come out top snatching a second from Cavalieri as he flipped his Sworkz on the final dash to the loop.  Ron Devoll completed the round with a win over young Japanese driver Kouki Kato to bring the tally of 4WD race winners to 11 from the 18 races.

Ending 4WD with his worst result, a 5th, Maifield explained, ‘I landed on Dakotah in the first triple.  We both got going and I tried to catch Broc.  He had a good race and didn’t make any mistakes so I tried to hold of Dakotah, Spencer and Ryan. I had a mistake and took Dakotah with me and we dropped back. After that I was just trying to take a point off him’. Going into the second half of the event with a four point advantage over Phend who holds second with Rivkin and Tebo on the same points, the Yokomo driver said, ‘I’m looking forward to moving on to 2WD and to keep the momentum going’.

‘It was not the best start, I was too cautious at the start’, was how Phend described his race adding, ‘this is how it goes sometimes’.  Unable to drop the 4 he got from the second round, asked about 2WD, the former Champion said, ‘the plan is to keeping plugging away. I know the car is good’.

Commenting on his second place, which allowed him to drop the 3 from the previous round, Rivkin said, ‘that as definitely an insane race.  My start was not that great, Maifield got the holeshot on me.  Then he landed on me which screwed me but the race turned out good when I go by Cav at the end.  It was a good second for me. The Top 3 had bad races, more so Dakotah as he has to count a 4 now, Maifeld not so much’.  Asked about the switch to 2WD, the World Champion replied, ‘I am really looking forward to 2WD. It was my strong suit last year. This is when the big boys come out to play’.

Summing up his race, the 3rd allowing him to drop a 4th from yesterday evening, Tebo said, ‘It was a really good and a really bad race’. He continued, ‘I felt I was driving better and worked my way through the pack but unfortunately JP (Richards) crashed on the straight away. I thought I had the room to get around him but I hit him.  That’s just part of the race’.  Heading into the first of the 6 rounds of 2WD, the Tekno team driver said, ‘I am really looking forward to 2WD. I enjoy driving 2WD more than 4WD.  I am not going to over think the points. Sure Maifield has a good gap but I am just going to go out and do the best I can do and see how the points work themselves out’.

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January 25, 2020

Maifield opens Reedy Race Day 2 with big win

Having ended Day 1 of the Reedy Offroad Race of Champions as the points leader with 3 wins from four races, Ryan Maifield kicked off Saturday’s action at OCRC Raceway with a big win from the back of the starting grid.  Lining up 8th for the penultimate round of 4WD action, a row behind his closest points challenger Spencer Rivkin, the Yokomo driver didn’t have the best of starts.  Hitting the wing of team-mate Yusuke Sugiura he dropped back off the pack in last position. Getting back in touch with the main pack, the 2015 Champion got a big break at the end of lap 4 when he somehow managed to avoid carnage and come out in third place from where he set about chasing down the lead battle between front row starters Broc Champlin and Joona Haatanen. Mistakes from both drivers gave Maifield the lead which, despite a strong comeback from Champlin, he held to the end to guarantee no matter the outcome of Round 6 he will go into the 2WD action as the points leader.  In the other races Dakotah Phend opened the round with another dominant win ahead of Alex Kosciuszek from sixth on the grid to make it three wins in a row.  Heat 2 of the round ended with with a heated debate between defending champion Jared Tebo and Ty Tessmann, as the duo came together at the end of the final lap in which Tessmann was able to grab the win.

Summing up his latest win, Maifield said, ‘In the rhythm section I hit Yusuke’s win and thought it is going to be tough to come back but Spencer was back there too.  He cased a jump so I got passed him and then I managed to to get around the carnage and come out third. I was content with third from the back row’.  Complimenting Champlin’s attempt to get back the lead he had held for more than half the race, the former World Champion said, ‘Broc raced me pretty good and he drove smart too. He could have thrown it down my inside at the chicane’.  Asked about his tyres, Maifield said, ‘They are slicks.  The problem is new ones have no forward traction so you’ve got to run old tyres to be competitive but it means you have to hang on for dear life at the end of the race’.

Asked about his first win of the event, which came from starting last on the grid, Tessmann said, ‘we made some changes to the car it was probably the best it has been for racing’.  The Xray driver continued, ‘I was able to avoid a major pile up and pick people off. I had my own mistake at the first rhythm section when I landed down on the pipe’.  On his pass on Tebo, the Canadian said, ‘It was aggressive. I pushed him the corner before when he got loose and then he tried to close and there was no where to go.  I was trying to pass and he was trying to block.  I didn’t think there was anything wrong and that’s why I didn’t stop’.

A frustrated Tebo, who didn’t have the best start from pole dropping to P3 for a time before moving into the lead on lap 12, said, ‘I was trying to be patient and get the win.  Yesterday I took out Ty on the first lap. Today he took me out on the last lap for the lead so I guess we are even now’.

On his race, Phend said, ‘I was patient moving my way through and waited on mistakes’.  Asked which tyres he ran, the TLR driver said, ‘I ran my newer ones.  They were not quite as fast but it was safe to drive’.  Looking to the final 4WD encounter, the former Champion said, ‘I start the last one on the front row so I’ll try to get a good start and make it happen so I can drop my four’.

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