Rivkin cruises to A1 win at JConcepts Finals (2WD)

Top Qualifier Spencer Rivkin cruised to an unchallenged win in the opening A-Main of 2WD Mod Buggy at the JConcepts INS in North Carolina, heading an Associated 1-2 ahead of his team-manager Brent Thielke.  The World Champion got a huge break when a first lap pile-up behind him left second place qualifier Jared Tebo eight at the end of the opening lap.  While Tebo would work his way back to the front, Thielke made his B6 wide with the pairing connecting numerous times but he would hold on for second with Tebo right on his rear wing with Rivkin’s winning margin 6.5 seconds.

‘I thought I drove well by myself as that’s not usually the case and I’m looking forward to A2’, was Rivkin’s reaction to the first 2WD encounter.  With traffic his biggest challenge over the 5-minutes, the Arizona driver said, ‘I had to double single the triple a couple of times with traffic but I was just being smart rather then risk landing on another car and breaking.  I had enough of a cushion to do that’.

Starting from fifth on the grid Thielke said, ‘I’ll take it’.  He continued, ‘basically there was a pile up with the three cars ahead of me and I found a way through it’.  After that he said, ‘I tried to hang on to Spencer for as long as I could but I knew he was faster’.  With his Reedy powered B6 ‘pretty loose at the end’, he said, ‘but I was able to keep it ahead of Jared’.  For A2, he plans to ‘turn up (his) brakes’.

Tebo said, ‘I think after the Dash for Cash (held last night) I started with more intensity.  Alex and Spencer seem to start slow and I ran in the back of them’.  He continued, ‘my car was unreal and I made so many passes, it was really fun, and I should have got second but Brent was playing the brake check game on the last lap’.  He added, ‘Its frustrating that me and Spencer have not raced each other yet in 2WD but I think we will in the next one (A2)’.  Behind Tebo, TLR driver Max Flurer would finish 4th from 6th on the grid with Damion Borkowicz, who came out of lap 1 in second, completing the Top 5.

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Tebo takes easy A1 win (4WD)

Jared Tebo took an easy win in the opening 4WD A-Main at the JConcepts Indoor National Series Finals at Speed RC.  The Kyosho driver was left to take a Sunday drive after just four laps when his main rival Spencer Rivkin had a moment which dropped the No.2 starter back to third behind Associated team-mate Damion Borkowicz. Borkowicz would later have a moment of his own allowing Rivkin back through to second while all the time Tebo was pulling off into the distance.  Winning by over 8-seconds on the 16-second lap, Tebo headed a Top 6 that finished up as they started.

‘Awesome’ was how Tebo summed up his A1 win.  Running a new set of tyres in last night’s third & final qualifier, having secured the overall TQ in the second round, he said the only change he made was to switch back to his previous set of Pro-Line tyres.  Describing the track as feeling ‘pretty good’ he added ‘it was a little looser’ than yesterday but he was still ‘super comfortable’ with his Orion powered ZX6.6. With 11 cars lining up for the A-Main, he said at the start he was a little ‘worried’ about traffic but ‘everyone was super respectful’ as he lapped the field.  Looking to A2 he said he would ‘just try and repeat’ and in terms of his car he just needs to ‘charge the battery and clean the tyres’.

‘Didn’t go as planned’ was Rivkin’s summary of A1 adding, ‘my car bunny hopped off a hump and I just spun out and dropped to 3rd’.  Setting the fastest lap, the 18-year-old said, ‘I feel my car & tyres are better than Jared’s’.   Planning to leave his Reedy powered B6 unchanged he said, ‘I’ve one more chance at it and hopefully can make it go to A3’.

‘The track was definitely different and it was a little sketchier because it had more grip but I made a lot of mistakes on my own’, was Borkowicz’s view of A1.  The Florida racer said, ‘I managed to get up to second but had a mistake and went back to 3rd so I’m hoping for better driving on my part in A2’.  Behind the 16-year-old Alex Kosciuszek took fourth, 1-second back, while home favourite Max Flurer finished a distant fifth.

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Final qualifying update

With Jared Tebo securing the overall 4WD and Spencer Rivkin the overall 2WD TQ after two round of qualifying, the third & final qualifier at the JConcepts Indoor National Series Finals was about deciding how the rest of the field would line up behind them. In 4WD Tebo would complete a clean sweep with another TQ run ahead of Rivkin, his Kyosho again the only car to do 19-laps of the Speed RC track.  For Rivkin, who broke in Q1, another P2 would secure the Associated driver 2nd on the grid for tomorrow’s triple A-Mains.  While Daimon Borkowicz would have his worst run in Q3, the Associated driver’s opening two heats would give him third on the grid ahead of team-mate Alex Kosciuszek.  Enjoying his best qualifier in the final round getting a P3, TLR’s Max Flurer completes the top half of the grid at his home track.  In 2WD Mod Truck, Flurer will start 2nd behind Tebo who also got the TQ in the second round with Rivkin carrying the No.3 in the finals.

In 2WD Mod Buggy,  Alex Kosciuszek finally delivered a TQ run in Q3 ahead of Tebo and Rivkin but P2 for the round was enough to secure Tebo second on the grid. With P5 for the first two rounds, Kosciuszek’s TQ allowed him to jump ahead of team-mate Daimon Borkowicz to secure third on the grid.  Brent Thielke completes the top half of the grid.  In the biggest class at the Series Finals, 2WD Stock Buggy, the Top Qualifier was decided in the final round with Rob Meyer repeating his Q1 performance to run a second TQ round in Q3 to take it ahead of Q2 winner Chris Pace.

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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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