Rivkin secures 2WD TQ in North Carolina

Spencer Rivkin has wrapped up an early overall TQ at the JConcepts Indoor National Series Finals making it 2 from 2 in the second of the three rounds of 2WD Mod Buggy qualifying at Speed RC in North Carolina. The Team Associated driver topped Q2 by 1.7-seconds from Daimon Borkowicz as his main expected challenger for the overall TQ Jared Tebo had his run hampered by a slower car. Crashing as a result of hitting the almost stationary Serpent of Will McIver, Tebo would recover to claim third just ahead of Brent Thielke and Alex Kosciusze with JConcepts very own Jason Ruona completing the Top 6.

Maintaining his perfect run at JConcepts races, having TQ’d and won his previous two outings, Rivkin wasn’t overly happy with his latest qualifier saying, ‘I thought it wasn’t my best performance but I got it done’.  He added, ‘I felt a little worried about my tyre choice but I got stuck in and got the TQ’.  Running JConcept’s new Octagon the World Champion said his B6 ‘felt a bit sketchy’ and wanting to have it ‘more comfortable’ for the finals he ‘might now switch to a pin tyre’. In addition to improving how comfortable he is with the car the Arizona driver said ‘there is still time out there from me driving better’.

Claiming his first JConcepts INS win at previous round in Boston, Borkowicz said while his car felt loose in the warm-up once the qualifier started it was really good and he was able to run the pace.  Setting the fastest lap of Q2, the 16-year-old said ‘after Tebo’s incident, me, Brent and Jared got caught up together which gave Spencer an open track’.  Running JConcepts’ Spacebar tyre he said with his ‘rears getting low’ he will run a little higher pin in Q3 using the track time to break in tyres for tomorrow finals.

‘My car was just awesome, it was really, really, really good but I just had the one unfortunate thing’ was Tebo’s summary of Q2.  He continued, ‘after that (his contact with McIver) I was frustrated and crashed on my own at the triple’.  Having a mistake in Q1 after a camber adjustment left his car loose under braking, the Kyosho driver said, ‘my goal for the last qualifier is to have good round and see where I’m at as I haven’t had a clean run yet’.  Looking to secure 2nd on the grid he said, ‘from there we can race Spencer for the win’.

Commenting on Q2, Thielke said, ‘there was a little bit of chaos and we all got bunched up’, a reference to the effect of Tebo’s incident.  Despite posting his fastest 5-minute time, as he is also running in 40+ this being his fourth qualifier to run his B6,  he said the track ‘was a lot looser than expected for the tyres (he ran)’ and the track now drier than the first qualifier he would us his final 40+ qualifier to test a threaded tyre for the closing 2WD Mod Buggy heat.  Having crashed out of a potential TQ run in Q1, he said this time he ‘had no turn marshal mistakes but I blew out a few corners here and there’.

The only driver along with Rivkin to TQ & win 2WD in the series this season, Kosciuszek continued to have issue with his driving.  Summing up Q2 with ‘it was alright I guess’, the Connecticut driver added, ‘the car is OK but the driver just hasn’t turned up yet’. Running in the second fastest heat, Ruona’s Top 6 in Q2 together with a P7 from the first qualifier will see the former Pro racer reseeded into the top heat for the final round.

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Tebo 4WD Top Qualifier at JConcepts INS Finals

Jared Tebo is the 4WD Buggy Top Qualifier at the JConcepts Indoor Nationals Series Finals.  His first appearance in the series this season, the Kyosho driver claimed pole for tomorrow’s final with a repeat TQ run in the second of the three qualifiers. Unlike the morning’s opening qualifying, Tebo took the second round by simply out driving his rivals, ending it with a new fastest lap as the only driver to run a 15-second lap of the Speed RC track.  Having broke in Q1, while Spencer Rivkin would get a P2 for the round it was clear he has work to do as he finished over 8-seconds off Tebo’s pace.  As he did in the first qualifier Alex Kosciuszek would again complete the Top 3 ahead of Associated team-mate Damon Borkowicz, a last lap crash preventing Borkowicz from repeating his morning’s P2 result.

‘Hot lapped it on the last lap’ declared a very pleased Tebo after his impressive run.  Improving on his opening time by almost 12-seconds, he said ‘I stiffened up the oil and the car is not going to get an better than it is now’.  With the change making it ‘less reactive and smoother to drive’, the result was he was ‘more confident all round with it’. Also wrapping up the Mod Truck TQ after 2 rounds, the third & final qualifier is now just extra track time for the former World Champion and he will use it to ‘run a different set of tyres to have 2 sets working good for the finals’.

‘Crappy’ was how Rivkin summed up Q2 adding, ‘I was off the pace and couldn’t keep up’.  Almost half a second a lap off Tebo, the Team Associated star said the lack of performance was down ‘a little to driving and a little to tyres’.  Planning ‘a few adjustments’ for the final qualifier he said, ‘we should be back up where Jared is at for the mains’.

Like Rivkin, Kosciuszek wasn’t pleased with his performance saying ‘it was alright’.  He continued, ‘the car is good, the tyres where on point and the speed is there but the problem was the bobbles by me’.  Planning no changes for the final qualifier,  he said the focus is to try ‘wrapping it up for the 5-minutes’.

Borkowicz said he had ‘a little too much front steering’ but ‘a 20-second last lap’ was the biggest problem and it left him 4th instead of 3rd.  Planning to change his front tyres to a set with more thread to reduce the steering, the 16-year-old said with ‘good points from the first two the aim is to try and improve (his) starting position’ for the triple A-Mains.  Behind Borkowicz, Matt Cline backed up his P4 in Q1 with a fifth, while current JConcepts INS points leader Max Flurer completed the Top 6.

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Rikvin from Tebo in opening JConcepts 2WD qualifier

Spencer Rivkin has TQ’d the opening 2WD Buggy qualifier at the finals of the JConcepts Indoor National Series.  The series’ first visit to North Carolina, Rivkin was quickest around the Speed RC track outpacing Tebo by half a second.  Having assumed the TQ pace after a spin by Rivkin four laps in, Brent Thielke was looking on target to take the first of the three qualifiers but a mistake on the penultimate lap would drop him to third with Damon Borkowicz and Alex Kosciuszek complete the Top 5.

‘I thought it was good’ was how Rivkin summed up the opening qualifier.  He continued, ‘I didn’t come out that fast and then spun out in front of Brent after which I put the head down’.  Describing his Reedy powered B6 as ‘fast’, it setting the fastest lap, the World Champion said, ‘maybe it was a little hard to drive’. Putting this down to his tyre choice, saying the track was pretty dusty for using a slick, the 18-year-old plans to change to from JConcepts new Octagon slick to the threaded Spacebar adding the switch was also to try and ‘get ahead of the game for the heads up racing tomorrow’.

Making a ‘minor camber change’ on his new RB6.6 since topping seeding practice yesterday, Tebo said the car was ‘a little harder to drive’.  Describing the change as having made it ‘loose under braking’, he said it was this that caused his early crash at the end of the straight.  Still happy with the overall feel of the car which he is still running on Pro-Line’s Electron front and Positron rear tyre he will ‘just go back’ with the camber setting for Q2.

‘Not much to say, I made a mistake’, was how Thielke summed up his first qualifying effort. Catching a corner which sent his B6 rolling down the step section, the Associated team manager continued, ‘the car is good, the tyres and motor are good but the driver made a mistake’.  With his team drivers giving him stick that his performance is down to the extra track time he is getting by also racing in 40+ 2WD Mod Buggy, which he TQ’d the first round of ahead of Jason Ruona, he is confident that he has the car for a good result and just needs to drive it.

Making a ‘last minute decision’ to change from slicks to a threaded tyre and also going to the same set-up as team-mate Kosciuszek, Borkowicz said his ‘car was really good’.  With a crash on his second last lap, the Team Associated/JConcepts supported Florida racer feels a bit more work to lower the rear thread of his Spacebar tyres should further improve the car.  Sixth in seeding practice he said starting higher on the grid for Q2 should also help produce a better run.

‘The car was good and I though I drove good but the lapped traffic was hurting’, was Kosciuszek view of the opening 2WD qualifier.  He continued, ‘in the first round everyone is nervous so Q2 should be better and I’m ready to go back at it again’.  Behind Kosciuszek, who is one of four drivers vying for the overall 2WD JConcepts Indoor National Series title, contender Max Flurer completed the Top 6 at the controls of his TLR.

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Tebo take first 4WD qualifier at JConcepts Finals

Having topped seeding practice yesterday at the JConcepts Indoor National Series Finals, Jared Tebo picked up where he left off to claim the opening round of 4WD qualifying at Speed RC in North Carolina.  Topping the first of the three qualifiers from Damion Borkowicz by one second, Tebo’s run was far from perfect with the Kyosho driver benefiting from the mistakes of others namely Alex Kosciuszek who ended up third. Posting the fastest lap of Q1, Kosciuszek looked on target to open qualifying with a TQ until he rolled his Associated allowing Tebo to snatch the fastest time.  Having set the early pace Spencer Rivkin would fail to finish pulling an arm off his Associated half way through the 5-minute qualifier as he ran side by side with Tebo on the track, Tebo being delayed when he collected Rivkin’s broken car coming onto the straight.

‘I decided not to change shock oil and for sure it was too soft’ was Tebo’s reaction after Q1.  Describing his Orion powered ZX6.6 as ‘hard to drive’ he said ‘I will definitely go up (in the oil) for Q2’.  After traffic issues at the beginning of the run, he admitted this left him a little flustered dropping him to an early P5 pace. Working his way slowly back into contention but dropping behind Borkowicz after getting caught up in Rivkin’s error, a late charge that saw him finish with his fastest lap of the qualifier, would give him the TQ with him concluding ‘it was all good in the end’.

Borkowicz was content with his P2 but felt he had a good chance at the TQ until a mistake at the triple.  A mistake up the hill to the triple meant he had to double the jump this ‘possibly cost me the TQ’.  In terms of his car, the Florida driver who was 4th in seeding yesterday was much happier with his B44.3 today having made ‘a bunch of changes this morning’.  Changing both diff and shock oils in anticipation for today’s cooler weather he also ground down JConcepts new release Octagon tyres resulting in a better car which he said was also helped by the ‘track (being) a little better today’.

‘Bad’ was how Kosciuszek summed up Q1 adding ‘that should have been an easy TQ’.  The 17-year-old lost out when he rolled his B44.3 but said the problem was there was no marshal so it ended up being a ‘pretty big wreck’.  Changing the rear shocks this morning he said the change was pretty spectacular and with the car ‘amazing’ he is determined to make amends for his errors on his second qualifying attempt.

Posting the fourth fastest time Matt Cline said his Associated pushed a bit in the qualifier and he will make a front spring change for the next one.  Suffering an early mistake that cost him over 3-seconds, the Ohio driver added, ‘If I can take out the one wreck I can definitely improve’.

Racing at his home track, Max Flurer would take his TLR 22-4 to fifth a result he was far from pleased with.  Already a JConcepts race series winner this year, he said ‘I ran slicks when I shouldn’t have’.  ‘Struggling to get side bite’ leading to ‘2 or 3 wrecks’, he will go back to a pin tyre adding with side bite the pace for Q2 should be better.

Completing the Top 6 would be Chad Eubanks but the Xray driver felt he got his diff set-up wrong for the conditions.  Looking to improve the car by going down in the diff oils he said his XB4 was ‘diffing out’ and he needs to go back up a little for Q2.  In terms of the overall run he was happy he ran pretty consistent lap times but added ‘I need to bring down my lap times to get on everyone else’s pace’.

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