November 13, 2017

Chassis Focus – Ty Tessmann

Chassis – Xray XB2 2018
Motor – Orion VST2 LW 6.5T
ESC – Orion HMX
Battery – Orion 5000mAh 110C
Radio/Servos – Sanwa / MKS
Body – Kit Body
Tyres R/F – Sweep (Handout) / Pro-Line Scrubs
Remarks – Starting out with a mixture of a sugar track setup and what they left the Hudy Arena with, having spent 3 weeks in Slovakia prior to attending the event in Xiamen, Ty Tessmann has focussed on the rear of his Xray XB2. Happy with the front of the car, the Canadian focussed on getting more stability in the rear, opting for thicker shock oil and changing the roll centres while also using heavier rear springs. Having also tried a gear diff, they switched back to the ball diff following first practice.

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November 13, 2017

Orlowski takes Q1 from Cavalieri on final lap

Top seed Michal Orlowski has taken the opening round of qualifying at the 2WD Offroad World Championships in China. After rain delayed the start of Day 2’s action, the first of the five qualifiers got underway with Orlowski making a cautious start as from the back 10th seed Ryan Cavalieri showed Team Associated had finally found their way on the challenging Xiamen track. Going to the top of the timing screens, Cavalieri looked to have bagged the first TQ with a big enough gap over the recovering Orlowski but contrasting last laps threw up a surprise. With Cavalieri touching the pipe on his final lap, Orlowski would post his fastest lap on his last lap with Cavalieri’s advantage turning to a 1/10th of a second deficit, the duo the only drivers to make 12 laps. Behind, fastest man on the track Bruno Coelho would somehow salvage a 3rd despite a number of crashes, with David Ronnefalk, Lee Martin and Dustin Evans completing the Top 6. For defending champion Spencer Rivkin the first qualifier would net the American the 11th fastest time.

Surprised to get the TQ, Orlowski said, ‘On the last lap I didn’t know if I had finished or not so I drove the best lap I could. It was to be my fastest lap and it gave me the TQ’. The Schumacher driver continued, ’It was a bit sketchy at the start. The first laps were not the best as I was a bit nervous. I hit the pipe and spun and then David (Ronnefalk) was behind me so I pushed a bit harder and starting climbing up the order. When I was in second I just want to try to get to the finish but then I had a few small mistakes. I knew it was very close but to get the TQ is a big confidence boost for the next one’. Asked about track conditions following the rain, the Polish teenager said, ‘the car is always on the edge, you don’t feel when it is going to spin out so it is hard to keep it on the track. For the next one we will make some set-up changes for this.’

‘Overall it was pretty good’, was Cavalieri’s reaction after Q1, the American happy to finally be on the pace but at the same time a little frustrated to lose the TQ on the final lap. He added, ‘I was really surprised how good my car felt in the warm-up and it was a flawless run until the last lap. I knew it was really close with Orlowski and when I messed up in the middle of the last lap I tried to make back the time but got a little tight to the pipe’. Asked about his marked improvement in pace, he replied, ‘we made really good changes to the car today. They have made it really comfortable and in the jumps section its now really good. We also improved the corner speed which helps a lot’.

Commenting on his first qualifying attempt, Coelho said, ‘I am kind of surprised with the place I made. My pace was good but I crashed a lot’. The Xray driver continued, ‘the track is very difficult after the rain and there was cars everywhere so like I said before the guy who makes the least number of mistakes will come out on top. I had three mistakes and flipped twice but fortunately I got 3rd place even though I lost 5-seconds in mistakes’.

‘Considering I was marshalled 3 times I’m happy to get 4th’, was Ronnefalk’s reaction. With two mistakes in the jumps section, the HB Racing driver said, ‘I lowered the punch in the electronics for that one and went too low so I will go back up a bit for the next one so I feel more comfortable on the jumps’. On track conditions, the Swede said, ‘the grip is down a lot I think so I will make a few changes but mainly to the electrics’.

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November 13, 2017

Chassis Focus – Kohta Akimoto

Chassis – Kyosho RB6.6
Motor – Orion VST2 LW 7.5T
ESC – Orion HMX
Battery – Orion 5000mAh 110C
Radio/Servos – Futaba/Futaba OS
Body – Kyosho Lightweight
Tyres R/F – Sweep (Handout)
Remarks – Japanese front runner Kohta Akimoto is running Kyosho’s latest 2wd offering, the RB6.6, powered by Orion electronics. Having started practice with his standard setup, following 3 rounds of practice in which he tried many things he reverted back to that setup but still continues to make changes. The biggest of which is to move from a 3 gear to a 4 gear laydown transmission in the search for an easier and more predictable car. To deal with the loose conditions and to prevent wheel spin he also lowered the turbo setting on his speedo.

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November 13, 2017

Chassis Focus – Ryan Maifield

Chassis – Yokomo YZ2 DTM
Motor – Orion VST2 LW 6.5T
ESC – Orion HMX
Battery – Orion 5000mAh 110C
Radio/Servos – Sanwa/MKS
Body – JConcepts F2
Tyres R/F – Sweep (Handout) / JConcepts
Remarks – Ryan Maifield is running the YZ2 DTM from Yokomo and having arrived in China with his base setup which has a number of changes made to it to help make the car less edgy. Looking for a balance between corner speed and being easy to drive, he has tried a number of different gear diffs and arm lengths but has reverted back to the standard length and stuck with the ball diff. In the end he went for a higher roll centre, reverted back to their standard spring and set the car with more droop on the front and rear.

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November 13, 2017

Chassis Focus – Michal Orlowski

Chassis – Schumacher Cougar KC
Motor – LRP X22 6.5T
ESC – LRP Flow X
Battery – LRP 3500 Shorty LCG
Radio/Servos – Sanwa
Body – Aerox
Tyres – Sweep (Handout)
Remarks – Top seed after Controlled Practice, Polish ace and current EOS Champion Michal Orlowski is running the Cougar KC from Schumacher. Arriving in China with his standard dirt setup they made only minimal changes, going to a harder shock package due to the high grip, switching from a 7.5 to 6.5 turn LRP motor prior to hitting the track and switching to less boost. In terms of geometry he has just added 0.5 more rear camber to make the car slide less in the low grip sections of the track.

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November 13, 2017

Man made rain delays start of qualifying

Man made rain has delayed the start to qualifying at the 2WD Offroad World Championships in Xiamen, China. With no rain in the area for almost a month, the Meteorological Authority conducted ‘cloud seeding’ which involved the launch of more than 30 missiles at clouds to induce rain.  Containing chemicals such as frozen carbon dioxide this helps bring on precipitation.  The process is common practice in China.  Unfortunately unaware that the Worlds best RC drivers are in town, the effects of the process took effect in the early hours of this morning with drivers waking to rain. Luckily however race organisers had covered the track overnight so the track was largely protected from the rain.  With the rain eventually stopping around 11:00 local time, the process of pumping the water off the tarpaulins began. The knock on effect is that the third round of controlled practice, which was only to determine the starting order of the heats which were already decided by the best time of CP 1 & 2, has been scrapped and replaced by a round of free practice. The delayed start also means that instead of 4 qualifiers today with the fifth tomorrow, there will now only be 3 rounds with Q4 moved to finals day.

View our event image gallery here.