First Buggy TQ for Phend in Q3 of 2WD

Team Losi Racing’s young star Dakotah Phend took his first TQ of buggy at the Pro-Line Cactus Classic, the US National Champion taking Q3 of 2WD to become the third different driver to top a round at the Scottsdale event.  The 17-year-old headed the times by almost 1-second benefiting from a coming together between Q1 and Q2 pace setters Jared Tebo and Ryan Maifield.  Maifield would recover to take second for the round ahead of team-mate Ryan Cavalieri while defending champion Tebo ended up 9th fastest.

Almost throwing away the run on the last lap, Phend was happy to finally top a round having been the top seed for qualifying after topping Thursday’s controlled practice.  Having handed Q1 to Tebo in the last lap,  Phend nearly repeated that when got his Orion powered TLR22 up on two wheels through the same left hand section in which he crashed twice in yesterday’s 2nd qualifier.  Having backed off for the final lap he said he got caught out by his slower speed through the corner and turned ‘a bit too early’, saying in future he will just take the corner at the normal higher speed.  Happy with his Pro-Line equipped buggy, he said he plans to leave everything the same for the final qualifier when he goes head to head with Tebo & Maifield for the overall TQ honours.

Maifield was happy to get another good points finish for the round to go with last night’s TQ run saying the run ‘went alright’. Leading away the top heat following the reseeding after yesterday’s two qualifiers, the Arizona driver said he was forced to drive tight lines as he was lacking a little steering which left him not very comfortable with his driving.

‘It’s OK’ was how Cavalieri summed up his run.  The former World Champion said  he ‘really (hasn’t) been happy with his buggy’ but getting a second solid run was a positive.  Lacking pace he said he will try a few changes for the final qualifier as he looks to ‘get  more speed out of it’.

Making a big improvement in Q3 to recorded his best time and position finish of qualifying with fourth, Ryan Lutz was very happy with his first run of the day.  Changing to a geardiff in his Durango DEX210 along with going up in shock oil, he said this gave more predictable rotation through the corners.  Running AKA’s new Pinstripe front and Deja Vu rear, he said for Q4 he needs to scrub the tyres more before the start.  He also plans to raise his rear camber link by half a millimetre to try to get the buggy to ‘not dump as much on power’.

Also recording his best run was team-mate Travis Amezcua.  Changing nothing on his car over Q2 he said the main improvement came from him putting in his first clean round.  Running Panther tyres on his DEX210, he said for the final qualifier he will fit a new gear diff.  Running the same oil as Lutz ran, he said after the run when he compared the two his was a lot tighter as if it was running twice the weight oil.

Completing the Top 6 was another Durango, this time that of European Champion Joern Neumann.  The German said he needed a good run so he just drove safe and the result for 2WD was ok.  Running Pro-Line’s VTR wheel/tyre combo he said for Q4 he will consider reverting to the regular option but he needs first to see how the weather is, there being over 4-hours between runs.

Posting the seventh fastest time was a very disheartened Dustin Evans.  The TLR driver crashed in the run saying he is ‘struggling’ most probably with the track.  Not feeling comfortable with any of his cars this weekend he said its proving ‘very frustrating’.

2WD Buggy Qualifying Round 3
1. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 14/5:20.542
2. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 14/5:21.514
3. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 13/5:00.453
4. Ryan Lutz – Durango – 13/5:02.960
5. Travis Amezcua – Durango – 13/5:03.652
6. Joern Neumann – Durango – 13/5:03.783
7. Dustin Evans – TLR – 13/5:04.858
8. Steven Hartson – Associated – 13/5:05.091
9. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 13/5:05.194
10.Tanner Dennehy – Associated – 13/5:05.408

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Tebo puts in first 4WD TQ run of 2014 Cactus

It has been a good morning for Jared Tebo at the Pro-Line Cactus Classic with the Kyosho driver taking the overall Mod Truck TQ and then backing it up with his first TQ run of 4WD Buggy.  The Kyosho driver would take the first of today’s two qualifiers by .554 of a second over defending Champion Ryan Maifield with Dakotah Phend third.  Having stamped his authority on yesterday’s two qualifiers, Joern Neumann would only manage 7th after a bad opening lap.

Making a camber link change following Q2, which made the rear end of his prototype ZX6 ‘roll a little less’, Tebo said he was very happy with his run, adding he focused really hard on keeping it as clean as he could having ended up 6th fastest in Q2 following two driver errors.   Having some issues with shading on the track which caused him to turn a little to early for the corner, he said he got lucky once or twice.  Happy with his car he plans to leave it the same making only a small change to his rear wing which he plans to ‘trim a little’.

Reverting back to geardiffs in his B44.2 combined with a front shock adjustment, Maifield said the buggy felt ‘pretty good’.  Making one mistake that cost him a few seconds, he said this dropped him back too far to be able to challenge Tebo although he was encouraged at being able to pull back some of the lost time.  Describing his buggy as ‘easy to drive’ he said he needs to find a little more steering for the final qualifier.  Team-mate Ryan Cavalieri who had two Top 4 runs yesterday, ended up only 14th for the round after he popped a front dogbone on his B44.2.

Phend said his TLR22-4 was good but he just had two moments over the run.  Suffering one bobble he said he also had a crash after a marshal attending to another car blocked his view.  Despite this he said he was pretty happy with the result of the round as 3rd replaces the 5th he had from Q2 when he suffered a stripped front belt.

Posting fourth for the round, HB’s Ty Tessmann said his D4-13 ‘felt alright’ but he ‘just crashed’.  Running regular Pro-Line front wheels for the round the US National Champion will go for a VTR set-up all round for the final qualifier.  He also plans to move out his shock position on the front tower.

Fifth fastest in the opening qualifier, Billy Fischer said he just did the same as yesterday, ‘cruise around and not crash’.  Claiming another 5th for the round, the Team Novak driver said he will be a ‘filler in the A-Main but (he) is happy to take it’.  Having been afraid to make any changes up to now incase he went the wrong way on the tricky track, with two good results he said he will now try a different set-up on his B44.2.

Completing the Top 6, Schumacher’s Carson Wernimont said his K1 Aero felt a lot faster than yesterday following some camber link changes.  The 17-year-old said the was ‘car was good’ and he was able to maintain a more consistent pace. Still looking for a little more speed he is going to make a front spring change for the final qualifier.

Firmly in the hunt for his first Cactus Classic Buggy TQ, with only Tebo able to deny him, Neumann said his DEX410 was great but he had a ‘stupid first lap’.  Crashing twice on the opening lap, the German lost almost half a lap but showed he still is the fastest driver by posting the fastest lap of the round.

4WD Buggy Qualifying Round 3
1. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 14/5:09.890
2. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 14/5:10.444
3. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 14/5:11.801
4. Ty Tessmann – HB – 14/5:14.522
5. Billy Fischer – Associated – 14/5:15.904
6. Carson Wernimont – Schumacher – 14/5:16.362
7. Joern Neumann – Durango – 14/5:17.697
8. Steven Hartson – Associated – 14/5:18.577
9. Travis Amezcua – Durango – 14/5:19.011
10.Ryan Lutz – Durango – 14/5:19.306

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Tebo is Mod Truck Top Qualifier

Jared Tebo is the first driver to secure an overall TQ for the main classes at the 28th running of the Pro-Line Cactus Classic. The Kyosho driver put in his third TQ run in Mod Truck to ensure himself pole position for tomorrow’s A-Main at SRS Raceway.  Behind the US National Champion, Ryan Cavalieri enjoyed his best run setting the second fastest time over 4-seconds behind with Billy Fischer completing the Top 3.

Tebo said he struggled a little with his front tyres coming due to the much cooler conditions of the run, racing having resumed an hour earlier today. Taking half the run to come in he said once they did his RT6 was good and he was able to pick up his lap times.

Top Qualifier in Mod Truck last year, Cavalieri said Q3 was the best his Associated T4.2 has been since the start of the event.  Describing his pace as being really close to that of Tebo he said he had a real shot at TQ’ing the round until he clipped a pipe.  The improvement in the truck was due to adjusting his C-hub set-up to the outer hole which made it roll better.

In 2WD Short Course, Cavalieri claimed his second TQ run after reverting back to the tyre combination he ran when he topped Q1 yesterday.  Fitting AKA Grid Iron fronts and Typo rears, he said it was a lot better than in Q2 when he managed a distant third.

The man who TQ’d that round Ryan Maifield, who was last year’s Top Qualifier, would claim a second ahead up & coming offroad talent Spencer Rivkin.   Maifield said his JConcepts tyres struggled a little in the cooler conditions and work best in the hotter afternoon run so he was ‘just playing the game’ in Q3.

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‘From Race Control’ – Day 3, Qualifying

It’s the deciding day of qualifying at the Pro-Line Cactus Classic.  After yesterday’s two qualifiers, today sees another two rounds giving those who had a bad first day the opportunity to turn things another with the best 2 of 4 to count for the final qualifying order.  With 10 direct spots up for grabs in the A-Main, those who qualify in the B-Mains of both Modified Buggy classes will get an opportunity to take up the 11th spot, this ‘Last Chance Qualifier’ single race B-Main taking place this evening at SRS Raceway.