January 21, 2018

Spencer opens final day with win to tie for the lead with Cavalieri

Spencer Rivkin got the final day of the Reedy Race of Champions off to the best possible start taking a win, while in the same heat overnight points leader Ryan Cavalieri got a third behind Joona Haatanen.  The win puts the Associated driver equal on 13 points with his team-mate and reigning champion Cavalieri.  For the other title contenders the day didn’t start so well with Dustin Evans having worked his way up to 2nd made a mistake that would drop him back to 4th.  Getting his first pole position start Ryan Maifield couldn’t convert it into a much needed win, the race the most stacked of the 7th round.  A mistake at the triple would allow Ty Tessman to go to the front and pull clear while a subsequent mistake would drop Maifield back to 5th with him recovering to take 2nd ahead of Dakotah Phend and Evans.  In the other of the encounters Rob Gillespie registered his first win of the event heading home the Reedy Race’s first ever female racer Malin Karlsen.

Starting from fourth on the grid, Rivkin summed up his race as ‘really solid’.  He continued, ‘I knew I had the points leader in my race and the more top guys in my race the better so I can race them and build points’.  Asked about track conditions, the 2015 World Champion said, ‘I was running bald tyres and had pretty good grip.  I was running on my own and didn’t have to race anyone but I think tyres in the next few races are going to be critical’.  For his next race, Rivkin will start from last on the grid.

Commenting on his race, third still his lowest finish of the 9 rounds of racing run so far, Cavalieri said, ‘I got a really good start but got tapped from behind at the first jump and then had my work cut out.  Everyone made it challenging’.  He continued, ‘the track is more slimmy so it made things more difficult but my mistake coming onto the straight was what really cost me. 3rd is not bad but now I’m sharing the lead so I need to buckle down for the next few’.

Sitting second a point behind Cavalieri going into the round, Evans who lined up 8th said, ‘It was a stacked heat but got a perfect start. I got up to second but then made the exactly same mistake as Cavalieri.  Everyone is making mistakes so I can’t be too hard on myself but the 4th hurts’.  Dropping to third in the points, he concluded, ‘I’m still in contention so I’ll keep pushing in the next one’.

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January 21, 2018

Cavalieri leads from Evans going into final day

Ryan Cavalieri leads the way going into the final day of the Reedy Race of Champions tomorrow but only by a single point from team-mate Dustin Evans.  The final round of action on the second day of racing at OCRC Raceway saw Joe Bornhorst hold on for the win ahead of Spencer Rivkin, the joint leader after 4WD, dropping to third in the standings as a result.  Next up, Cavalieri took advantage of an easy heat draw coming through from 5th on the grid to rack up his 5th win of the event ahead of Cole Tollard.  It was the concluding race though that was the most stacked with Evans, Ryan Maifield, Ty Tessmann and Jared Tebo in the field.  A good start saw Jake Mayo lead for 5 laps before Evans came through and pulled out a lead.  Behind, after a bad start, Maifield stormed his way back through the pack finally getting second with a great pass on Mayo when he jumped down his inside on the triple in front of the drivers stand. With the pass coming late in the race, the World Champion hadn’t time to do anything about Evan’s lead.

With just four more races between him and a potential 5th Reedy Race title, Cavalieri said, ‘I had a good jump on Cole (Tollard) and got up to second pretty much straight away and then Joona (Hataanen) had a mistake at the triple and I was in the lead.  I got my head down to put a solid run but ended up backing it down to save my tyres’.  Asked about tyre wear, the Associated driver said, ‘the track feels pretty good but its pretty abrasive. I think tyres will be a factor tomorrow’.

‘That was a stacked race’, was Evans description of the second 2WD encounter.  The former Champion continued, ‘Gillespie and Mayo were fast and Tebo was going well that time too.  I drove too timid at the start and Mayo pulled away but I knew Maifield was coming and told myself don’t let him catch you so I started pushing.’  Looking to the remaining four races, he said, ‘I’m excited to go into the final day with the opportunity to race it out for the the win’.

With second behind Evans moving Maifield up to fourth in the points ahead of Yokomo team-mate Lee Martin, the British driver having a tough start to 2WD having held the joint lead after 4WD,  he said, ‘It was ok. It was another stacked race. I though I had the inside line on Brent (Thielke) but he went as well and I got collected and was 9th on the first lap. I don’t know how but then I found myself in 3rd position.  Then I passed Mayo but by that time Dustin was too far ahead to catch’.   Going into the final day, the 2015 Champion said, ‘the track was a lot different in the last one, it’s weird, it feels both slimmy and grippy so for tomorrow I with try a different set of tyres’.  He concluded,  ‘I also have some better starts’, him starting out the day with pole position start and ending the event with a front row start.

View the event image gallery here.

January 21, 2018

Wins for Maifield, Cav and Tessmann in 2WD opener

There were wins for Ryan Maifield, Ryan Cavalieri and Ty Tessmann in the opening round of 2WD at the Reedy Race of Champions, Cavalieri’s win moving him back into the lead of standings.  Having tied on points with the reigning champion at the end of 4WD, Dustin Evans and Spencer Rivkin turned back row starts in second places while Lee Martin could only manage 4th from 5th on the grid.  The opening heat saw pole sitter Maifield jumped off the line by Jared Tebo.  Having had a lack lustre 4WD part of the event, it looked like the Kyosho driver might redeem himself with a good result but at the triple in front of the drivers stand his car broke handing Maifield a lead he would build to over 7-second by the end, Rivkin finishing second.  Next up Cavalieri took just two laps to get from 5th on the grid to the front with Cole Tollard and JP Richards providing the entertainment as they battled for second, Tollard taking it. Starting on his own on the front row and on the preferred outside line, Tessmann took full advantage having a lonely race as Evans worked his way through the field.  Recovering from an earlier crash, he would take second when Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski had a mistake in front of the drivers stand.

Summing up the first of the six rounds of 2WD, Maifield said, ‘that was my first front row start.  Tebo got a better start off the tone so I was just planning to be patient behind him but he ended up breaking at the second triple’.  The Yokomo driver went on, ‘I was doing the (Monster) triple but had a few issues so I went back to doubling it and my overall time was still fast’.  On his car, the World Champion said, ‘overall the car is really good. It is easy to drive and has good corner speed’.

Having declared 2WD was his preferred class at the end of 4WD, Cavalieri declared his win ‘a good start’.  The Associated driver continued, ‘the car felt pretty good and I just kept it out front’.  Planning a small set-up change for the day’s closing encounter, the multiple World Champion said, ‘I’m going to make a slight adjustment and hopefully that will make the car even better’.

Notching up his second win of the event, Tessmann said, ‘My car had pretty good grip but I thought it would be a little higher. Starting at the front I just cruised around’.  The Xray driver said while he is ‘happy how the car is working’ he had some concerns over his tyres.  He said, ‘my tyres are getting like slicks down the middle which I am worried about but I’m told they get better as slicks’.  Having had an easy start to 2WD, for the second round he faces a bigger challenge saying, ‘I started at the back for the next one so we’ll see what happens’.  Finishing second behind Tessmann, Evans said, ‘Starting from last I’m really happy with second especially with Ty starting at the front.  This is an important result’.

View the event image gallery here.