February 23, 2014

Chassis Focus – Ryan Lutz

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Chassis: Team Durango
Engine: Alpha Plus
Tires: AKA
Radio/Servo: Futaba
Remarks – Team Durango factory driver Ryan Lutz is running a highly modified prototype version of the company’s DNX408 buggy. Happy with the handling and overall performance, the American ace told us he has been using pretty much the same chassis configuration since the Neo Race back in August. Heading into the finals his plans are to observe the track conditions to help choose the right tires for the main, where he will be starting from twelfth on the grid.

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February 23, 2014

Chassis Focus – Dakotah Phend

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Chassis: TLR 8ight-T 3.0
Engine: Orion CRF 722 Truggy
Tires: Pro-Line
Radio/Servos: Spektrum
Remarks – Team Losi Racing’s 17-years old talent declared himself pretty satisfied with the performance of his 8ight T 3.0 truck. Sticking with Drake’s standard setup, he said he has mostly been focusing on his driving since the beginning of practice. Performing well during qualifying on Holeshots in M3 compound, he will give the Blockades a try for the main event in which  he will line up third.

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February 22, 2014

Chassis Focus – Drew Moller

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Chassis: Mugen MBX7 Eco
Tires: Pro-Line
Motor/ESC: LRP
Batteries: Protek RC
Radio/Servo: KO Propo
Remarks – TQ’ing the Pro E-Buggy class the Mugen USA driver showed notable speed and consistency throughout qualifying, driving a completely stock MBX7 Eco with his standard setup. Without needing to dial-in the car for the track he instead focussed on his driving, refining his lines. Planning to stick with the same setup for the A-main, the tire of choice remains his trusty Blockade M3, he will start from pole position in the eight minute long final.

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February 22, 2014

Chassis Focus – Carson Wernimont

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Chassis: Mugen MBX7
Engine: OS Speed
Tires: AKA
Radio/Servos: Futaba
Remarks – The newly signed American driver is having a great start to the 2014 nitro season with his MBX7, sitting second after two rounds of qualifying on his racing debut with the car. Having paid a lot of attention to the aerodynamics, Carson chose to use a Bittydesign Force body with the addition of his own spoilers on both the front upper arms and the body sides to increase the overall downforce. His first race with his new ride he is playing around quite a bit with the set-up but in terms of tires he has chosen AKA Grid Irons in soft compound as he believes the Supersoft compound doesn’t behave that well on the bumps, preferring consistency over a possible quicker choice.

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February 22, 2014

Chassis Focus – Renaud Savoya

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Chassis: Xray XB8
Engine: Orion RS
Tires: Sweep
Radio/Servos: Futaba
Remarks – The Xray factory driver is running the newly released XB8 buggy, using a variation of his standard setup. To deal with the track conditions he has played a bit with the diff oils going 7k-7k-3k, and switched to a 2.5mm front sway bar. He is also using brass weights (15g) on both the front and rear hubs to help settle the car over the bumps. Having raced silver Hexagons, his plan is to try some different tires for the third and final round of qualifying.

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February 22, 2014

Chassis Focus – David Ronnefalk

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Chassis: Kyosho MP9 TKI III
Engine: Orion RS
Tires: AKA
Radio/Servos: KO Propo
Remarks – The reigning European Champion kicked off qualifying here at the DNC with a very convincing third using his stock setup. The only changes he has done to his buggy since arriving at the Fear Farm have been to use thicker shock oil to deal with the different temperatures and 1.3mm front piston holes instead of the usual 1.2mm. For Q2 he will try a softer clutch that is intended to help smoothen the engine powerband in the slippery conditions.

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