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Maifield last lap win from champion Tessmann
Ryan Maifield snatched a last lap eBuggy victory over defending champion Ty Tessmann at the Dirt Nitro Challenge to successfully convert the first of the three TQ starts the TLR driver has secured this weekend at the Fear Farm. Leading the first 3-minutes of the race, a mistake by Maifield at the second step up would hand team-mate Dakotah Phend a lead. Starting 7th on the grid, the 19-year-old would only stay out front for a lap before he crashed coming into the right side triple. Allowing Tessmann to the front the Canadian looked like he would successfully defend his title as Maifield trying to put a pass on his team-mate at the berm caused the two cars to tangle. But with a lap to go the race would come alive as Maifield caught a slowing Tessmann making contact with the HB twice before the World Champion got out of shape allowing Maifield through for the win into the final corner. While further crashes would drop Phend back to 7th, a recovering Ryan Cavalieri who started third would complete the podium for Team Associated.
With the crowd appreciative of the exciting finish, Maifield was ‘stoked’ to add his first DNC eBuggy title saying the track conditions were ‘really crazy’. ‘Super tense’ early on in the race, the Arizona driver said couldn’t find his rhythm adding this was compounded by the electric buggies having ‘so much fricken power’. Describing his error on the left side step as ‘retarded’, he said he was searching all over for the right line through the difficult section and once he started using the far end side his 8ight 4.0 was dialled, as highlighted by his penultimate lap on which he set the fastest lap of the race. Catching Tessmann, who he said drove a good race’, Maifield said ‘While I didn’t set out to get into him it was the last lap and we had a big enough gap over third so I went for it. When we did hit I let him go. Then he cased the step-up and I could get by. Describing the race as ‘intense’ he said his car and electrics where dialled adding he ‘had plenty of battery left’.
Running two short packs in his Orion powered D815, Tessmann said the race was the best his car has been but he knew because of his batteries he had to drive more conservatively than before. However at the end his power started to fade with him having a cut out at the step-up leading to his late error. Declaring himself happy with how he drove he added ‘it just wasn’t to be’ but after his performance he said ‘Truggy will be good’. Commenting on the two incidents with Maifield, he said ‘he bonzai’d me. The first time it back fired and he took out Dakotah but he got me with the second one’.
Getting passed Tessmann on lap 1 before settling into third, Cavalieri said his race started off good until he crashed at the step up. Dropping back to 7th, he said with ‘bobbles from a few guys in front’ helped him make his way back to third and he was able to ‘hold on to it’ until the end. Behind Cavalieri, 2014 Champion David Ronnefalk would finish 4th the HB driver having held a podium placing before a mistake with 2-minutes to go. Tekno’s Joe Bornhorst and Kyosho’s Jared Tebo completed the Top 6.
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New in the Pits – JConcepts
JConcepts are debuting a number of new items here at the 2016 Dirt Nitro Challenge, the first of the recently released Triple Dees and the Lil Chasers. Available in a variety of compounds they work very well on slightly damp track conditions and are working very well here this weekend with Ryan Maifield taking the top spot in both buggy classes this weekend. The next new item is the Hybrid polycarbonate rear wing which is a pre trimmed wing that comes supplied with a two depths of plastic rear gurneys and two versions of each depth that can be mounted with or without the centre centre divider and all are mounted to the wing with a rear plastic brace to added strength and durability. Finally there is a set of Titanium turnbuckles for the TLR 8ight 4.0 for light weight and high strength.
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Denney, Rivkin & Savoya complete DNC Truggy grid
The 15 drivers who will battle it out to become the Truggy Champion at the 17th running of the Dirt Nitro Challenge tonight is complete. With the B-Main offering the Top 3 a place on the back of the A-Main grid, it was pole sitter Tanner Denney who controlled the 30-minute encounter from start to finish, the new TLR signing winning by 6.5-seconds from former team-mate Spencer Rivkin and TLR’s other new recruit Renaud Savoya. Finishing 4th, the 2013 Top Qualifier Adam Drake will for the first time since the DNC moved to the Fear Farm not be on the grid for the main event. It was a disappointing race too for Drake’s Mugen team-mate Barry Pettit, running a competitive 3rd just after the 10-minute mark last year’s direct A-Main qualifier would suffer a plug failure.
Booking his first DNC Truggy A-Main start, Denney said ‘I started 1st, drove smooth and didn’t make any mistake other than just one bobble so it was a good race’. Running Pro-Line X3 Holeshots on his 8ight-T 4.0, he said ‘it got sketchy towards the end allowing Spencer to catch me but I was putting around’. His first race with Reds Racing and fitting a new engine for the final, the 20-year-old said it ran great despite having only two tanks on it before the race.
Not happy with his own performance over the race, Team Associated’s Rivkin said ‘I made a few driver errors and didn’t drive very well but I still bumped up which was the main thing and now I have a chance to win the A-Main’. Running blue compound JConcepts Reflex tyres on his RC8T3, the 17-year-old said his truck ‘was good’ but he plans to make a few changes ‘right before the Main’ for the cooler conditions, the B-Main running in what are distinctly much hotter conditions than those experienced in qualifying.
Finishing just 3/10ths off Rivkin, Savoya described his race as ‘great’. The Frenchman, who was a buggy podium finisher in 2014, started from 8th on the grid said he found his race form after switching to a JConcepts Silencer body for the final. Struggling with a lack of steering in qualifying, he said his RC Concept powered 8ight-T 4.0 now had extra steering in the 180 corners which allowed him to be competitive. It was ‘the best feeling (he had) with the truck’ but due to his starting position he struggled to get the full benefit of the new found pace saying ‘driving in the middle of the pack was tough’. Getting some clear track he would close on the leaders over the final 10-minutes but with Drake 15-seconds behind and it being ‘fricking fast at the front’ he settled for the final bump position on what he added were difficult conditions due to the track and the heat.
In the eBuggy B-Main, Drake would win the 10-minute encounter comfortably ahead of pole starter Steven Harris who had a close battle with Mark Sousa with all three Mugens progressing to the Main event. While he would set the fastest lap of the final, new Mugen signing Mike Truhe, who qualified directly for the Truggy A-Main, would miss the cut finishing fourth 2.7-seconds back on Sousa.
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Pit Focus – Ryan Cavalieri
Team: Associated
Neighbours: Spencer Rivkin (front), “Dyno” (left)
Charger: Orion Touch
Tools: MIP/Team Associated/Makita drill
Setup Tools: Upgrade RC buggy setup board, Tuning Haus truggy setup board, GHEA ride height gauges
Car Stand: Upgrade RC
Transport Bag: OGIO
Features: AKA mini pump bottle/CA Glue, Kicker wireless speaker, Mx fuel can, Simple Green spay bottle, iPhone6+, LV wallet, Prada sunglasses case, Starbuck’s iced coffee.
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Phend to start 2nd as TLR claim Buggy 1-2 in quali
With Ryan Maifield having wrapped up the overall Buggy TQ at the Dirt Nitro Challenge in the second qualifier, the third & final round was all about determining the starting order behind the defending champion. Despite a poor concluding heat it would be Dakotah Phend who gets second on the grid for a TLR 1-2 as their rivals failed to deliver. With a P3 each, only Ty Tessmann and David Ronnefalk could demote Phend from the second he held all day behind his team-mate but needing a TQ to separate the two TLR driver at the front of the grid they could only manage 5th and 8th respectively in Q3. Maifield, showing no signs of letting up despite having bagged his third class TQ of the Fear Farm event earlier in the day, would make it a clean sweep as he again put his 8ight 4.0 at the top of the times. The slowest of Maifield’s three TQ runs in buggy, it would be the closest of the qualifiers with long standing rival Ryan Cavalieri getting to within half a second while an impressive drive from TLR’s Cole Ogden gave him a P3 for the round. Cavalieri’s P2 time would secure the Associated driver 3rd on the grid with Tessmann set to start 4th and Ronnefalk 7th in front of Ogden.
Pleased to get second overall, Phend said for Q3 he ‘just tried some tyres for the final and they didn’t work’ leaving his 8ight ‘way too edgy’. Struggling to the 10th fastest time, the 19-year-old said he would ‘rather try now and know they (the tyres) don’t work rather than find out in the final’ adding the poor result was ‘no big problem’. Planning to run different tyres in the Sunday A-Main practice, he said with the track ‘not super abrasive’ it gives all drivers more tyres options for the 45-minute encounter and overall he is pretty confident he can fight for his first DNC title.
‘The transponder counted’ joked Cavalieri as he put in his best showing the day, the former champion adding ‘we had that speed all day’. Suffering transponder issues in Q2 which left him with no time, he changed both his receiver and transponder leaving him with no issues over the final 7-minute qualifier. Needing a result from Q3, he said ‘I could have pushed harder but needed a result. I’m happy to be right there (in terms of pace)’. ‘Pumped with third’ on the grid, the Californian feels his complete package is ‘looking good for the final’. Cavalieri’s team-mate Spencer Rivkin managed only a 7th in Q3 but his earlier P6 & 4 run means the 2WD World Champion starts 5th with Jared Tebo, who ended qualifying with a P4 run, completing the Top 6 line-up.
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