Vik claims 4WD TQ at JConcepts Indoor Nats

RC America team driver Tyler Vik is the Top Qualifier for 4WD Buggy at the JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals at Tacoma R/C Racway.  The San Francisco driver claimed the honour with his third TQ run of the day but  felt he didn’t deserve to top the Q3 saying the only reason he got it was because his rivals crashed more. Running old tyres he said this was a bad decision in terms of his front tyres which were too worn. Running AKA Deja Vu on the rear of his Xray XB4 he said for tomorrow he will run a fresh set of Pin Stripes.

Posting his best run of the weekend JC Johnson was very happy to record the second fastest time. Describing his TLR22-4 as ‘pretty awesome’ he said the handling felt like a slot car. Planning to stick with the set-up for Q4 he said after the race a number of onlookers said his drive train sounded rough and so he will strip down the buggy to check over the belts.

Claiming the third fastest time Steven Hartson said his LRP powered B44.2 was the fastest its been all weekend thanks to his tyres reaching the perfect wear point. Unfortunately a bad closing few laps cost the World Champion his first TQ run. First he got caught up in the aftermath of a crash by Vik crashing into the Xray as it got marshalled. After this he had a coming together with JR Mitch as the TLR driver recovered from an off. To top of the tough ending Hartson rolled just in front of the loop with the marshal throwing him over the loop meaning he had to manually be given a finish time.

4WD Mod Buggy Qualifying Round 3
1. Tyler Vik – Xray – 21/5:12.615
2. JC Johnson – TLR – 21/5:13.670
3. Steven Hartson – Associated – 21/5:14.600
4. Chris Gould – X-Factory – 20/5:04.150
5. John Walentia – Associated – 20/5:05.754
6. Luke Smith – Associated – 20/5:07.965
7. Anthony Honstain – Associated – 20/5:08.439
8. JR Mitch – TLR – 20/5:13.857
9. Tanner Denney – Associated – 20/5:14.079
10.Yoshii Harley – Associated – 20/5:14.256

View our event image gallery here.

Smith ends Schoettler’s qualifying reign

Luke Smith ended Michael Schoettler’s domination of qualifying at the JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals at Tacoma R/C Raceway, the Associated driver TQ’ing the penultimate round of qualifying by 1.685 seconds from the Q1 & 2 pace setter.  Kyosho driver Ryan Matesa made it an all local Top 3 with Team Associated’s Brent Thielke the best of the visitors with the 5th fastest time.

Making a number of changes to his B5M, Smith said everything worked as expected and he was very happy to pull off a TQ run putting himself in contention for the overall TQ honours going into tomorrow morning’s final qualifier. Having struggled with tyres that didn’t come-in in Q2, for Q3 he switched to a more worn set of AKAs which worked from the start.  The 20-year-old ran a stiffer shock package going up in oil as well as changing the front axle trailing from 3 to 4mm on his Reedy powered buggy. Asked about his plans for the final qualifier he said the plan is to leave the set-up but in terms of tyres he might try something different depending on how conditions fare out, the track set to get a watering ahead of the final day of the event.

Suffering a bobble on his opening lap, Schoettler said he was still happy with second for the round.  Posting another new fastest lap of the event, the 18-year-old would lose time after suffering a tangle with Thielke but said he threw away the round with some late driver errors as he tried to close down Smith.  In terms of his B5M he said his front tyres became too worn causing the front end to become too aggressive adding that he will fit a newer set for tomorrow’s action.

Matesa said he ran a more worn set of JConcept tyres which while making his Orion powered RB6 faster also made it more ‘sketchy’ to drive.  With the track set to watered overnight, the local teenager said expects the track to be looser for the final qualifier and with this in mind will run tyres with more thread along with stiffening up his shocks so to make the buggy a little easier to drive.

TLR driver JC Johnson posted the 4th fastest time.  Running thicker shock oil in his TLR22 for Q3 he said this allowed him to drive it a little harder.  Admitting he doesn’t have the outright speed of Schoettler or Smith he said for the morning he plans to run the same set-up.

Having laid down the early TQ pace, Thielke was very happy with his B5M after a rear ball cup stud adjustment.  He said he was also able to put what he learned from running behind Schoettler in Q2 to good use running his fastest lap of the weekend on the second lap of Q3.  Unfortunately a misunderstanding by both himself and Schoettler as he tried to let the latter through cost both drivers time as the Associated’s got tangled.  Again running JConcepts Barcode tyre on the front of his buggy he said for tomorrow he will probably try running a fresh set  along with making a front camber link adjustment to try and sharpen up the steering.

2WD Mod Buggy Qualifying Round 3
1. Luke Smith – Associated – 20/5:02.561
2. Michael Schoettler – Associated – 20/5:04.246
3. Ryan Matesa – Kyosho – 20/5:05.669
4. JC Johnson – TLR – 20/5:06.185
5. Brent Theilke – Associated – 20/5:07.307
6. John Walentia – Associated – 20/5:10.781
7. Tanner Denney – Associated – 20/5:13.581
8. Rudy Rico – Associated – 20/5:13.621
9. Mike Brown – Schumacher – 20/5:13.984
10.Harley Yoshii – Associated – 20/5:14.554

View our event image gallery here.

Vik doubles up in second 4WD qualifier

Tyler Vik made it two out of two at Tacoma R/C Raceway as he topped the second round of 4WD Buggy Qualifying at the JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals again outpacing World Champion Steven Hartson, both drivers pulling off 21-lap runs.  Only 9th fastest in Q1, Team Losi Racing’s JR Mitch improved his pace by almost a full lap to complete the Top 3.

Fitting a front swaybar to his Xray XB4 for Q2 as well as removing screws from the chassis for more flex, Vik said the ‘changes were good’.   The San Francisco racer said the track had become ‘super abrasive’ and for the penultimate qualifier, which brings today’s proceedings to a close, he will run a different set of tyres saving the set he ran in the opening two qualifiers for tomorrow’s finals.  Having run in the lowest heat, something he said he quite liked, a reseed after Q2 will now see Vik running in the top heat but set to start first he said he should be fine.

Posting the fastest lap of the round with a 14.392 second lap, Hartson said his Associated B44.2 was on pace but once again he made too many mistakes. Running his car the same as he did in Q1, when he switched to geardiffs, he said he will continue to run at as is but added that with the traction coming up a lot ‘which is better to a point’ he may have to make some small adjustments for the morning’s final qualifier.

JR Mitch was very happy with his second run.  Struggling with his TLR22-4 on the step-up to the table top he said his front shock oil was ‘way too light’.  Going up ‘a lot’ in oil weight for Q2, he said it transformed how the buggy landed on the table top.  With the track getting more abrasive like Vik, the Florida driver plans to save his current tyres for tomorrow and so will run a new set of JConcepts Dirt Webs for Q3 to see how the car works on fresh tyres should that be needed.

Fourth fastest John Walentia headed the local challenge in Q2.  Changing his set-up after Q1 he said his B44.2 felt weird at first to drive.  Taking some time to figure out how to drive it he said once he did it was faster and by the end of the 5-minutes he was pleased with the changes.  For Q2 he plans to switch to a slightly lighter rear spring as he looks to make the buggy a little more comfortable to drive.

Posting the fifth fastest time local racer Anthony Honstain said he is enjoying the opportunity to run with some of the sports top racers, the JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals being the biggest event for Scott Brown’s track to host.  Running a stock kit B44.2, he said the buggy is running well and for Q3 he doesnt plan on making any changes.

4WD Mod Buggy Qualifying Round 2
1. Tyler Vik – Xray – 21/5:10.107
2. Steven Hartson – Associated – 21/5:13.723
3. JR Mitch – TLR – 20/5:02.024
4. John Walentia – Associated – 20/5:04.068
5. Anthony Honstain – Associated – 20/5:07.976
6. Luke Smith – Associated – 20/5:09.052
7. Chris Gould – X-Factory – 20/5:09.669
8. Brent Theilke – Associated – 20/5:10.372
9. JC Johnson – TLR – 20/5:12.779
10.Dion Denison – Associated – 20/5:15.452

View our event image gallery here.

Another TQ run for Schoettler

Michael Schoettler put in another flawless drive at his home track to TQ the second round of 2WD Buggy qualifying at the JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals.  Having topped Q1, this time round the 18-year-old’s took the qualifier by an even larger 6.2-second advantage from Steven Hartson.  The Top 3 for the second of the four scheduled qualifiers at Tacoma R/C Raceway was completed by another quick local as Kyosho driver Ryan Matesa laid down his first 20-lap run ahead of TLR’s JR Mitch.

Again posting the fastest lap of the round with a new outright fastest lap time of 14.657, Schoettler was pleased to put in another clean run.  Running his B5M the same as he did in Q1, the 18-year-old said it felt good but with traction coming up a lot between rounds for Q3 he will go to a heavier shock oil for Q3.  With the increased traction he said tyre wear is increasing.  Set to run his JConcepts Dirt Web tyres for a third time he said he expects them to be done after the 5-minutes but said the run should also show whether slicks will work for the conditions.

Taking a slower approach to his driving for Q2, Hartson said other than a pretty spectacular flip at the end of the straight his second run was a lot better.  Having changed the receiver in his car before travelling out to Washington State for the race, he said a switch back to his older receiver after Q1 improved the feeling of his B5M which he described as being ‘really good now’.  Still the 4WD World Champion feels he is well of the pace of Schoettler saying even without his one mistake he wouldn’t have been able to close down the 6-second advantage.

Matesa said being able to see properly made a huge difference to his driving and he was very happy with his run. Having had problems judging the track from the position he was forced to use in Q1, he said his RB6 was again really good.  Planning to again leave it unchanged the 18-year-old said his focus is on trying to just repeat how he drove in Q2.

Leaving his TLR22 untouched JR Mitch said he just drove around looking for another strong points haul so as to lock himself into the A-Main.  Very happy with where his mid motored buggy is compared to yesterday he said there is definitely a few more seconds in his own driving.  Looking to save the set of JConcepts Dirt Web he ran in the opening two qualifiers the Florida driver will run a new set in Q3.

Having failed to make the Top 10 in Q1, Associated Team Manager Brent Thielke said Q2 was ‘quite a bit better’.  Running a different front tyre, switching from JConcepts Dirt Web to Barcode, he said this made his Reedy powered B5M much smoother to drive.  Starting the heat last and having to let Schoettler, who started first, by he said he learned a lot from following the local teenager who he said despite his blistering pace is not driving as hard as he expected.

Second fastest in Q1, Luke Smith completed the Top 6 with a ‘not so good’ second run.  Changing to a new set of AKA tyres for Q2 he said they ‘never really came round’.  For Q3 he will run the same set of rears but after he has run them on his 4WD in Q2 which he said should help break them into where they need to be at.

Rolling his B5M three times at the end of the straight, Tanner Denney could only manage 10th for the round.  The driver who gave the B5 its first big win when he won the opening race of the JConcepts Indoor National Series in St.Louis back in February, the 18-year-old said the front end is rolling too much and for Q3 he will switch to heavier front shock oil.

2WD Mod Buggy Qualifying Round 2
1. Michael Schoettler – Associated – 20/5:01.117
2. Steven Hartson – Associated – 20/5:07.341
3. Ryan Matesa – Kyosho – 20/5:08.642
4. JR Mitch – TLR – 20/5:10.612
5. Brent Theilke – Associated – 20/5:11.886
6. Luke Smith – Associated – 20/5:11.895
7. Mike Brown – Schumacher – 20/5:13.300
8. Tyler Vik – Xray – 20/5:13.978
9. John Walentia – Associated – 20/5:14.609
10.Tanner Denney – Associated – 19/5:02.757

View our event image gallery here.