Chassis Focus – Mike Truhe

Chassis: Serpent Spyder SRX 2.0
Motor: Novak Vulcan 8.5T
Batteries: Trak Power 6000 saddle
ESC: Novak Pulse V2
Body: Kit body
Tires FR/RR: Pro-Line Scrubs X2 / Suburbs VTR X2
Radio/Servo: Futaba 4PK SR / Futaba BLS451

Chassis: Serpent Spyder SCT-2 SC truck
Motor: Novak Vulcan 7.5T
Batteries: Trak Power 5600 stick pack
ESC: Novak Pulse V2
Body: Kit body
Tires FR/RR: Pro-Line Suburbs X2 / Ions X2
Radio/Servo: Futaba 4PK SR / Futaba BLS451

Chassis: Durango DEX410
Motor: Novak Vulcan 6.5T
Batteries: Trak Power 6000 saddle
ESC: Novak Pulse V2
Body: Kit body
Tires FR/RR: Pro-Line Scrubs X2 / Suburbs X2
Radio/Servo: Futaba 4PK SR / Futaba BLS451

Remarks – Mike Truhe’s main goal with the car setup was to settle it down, trying to find a car that is easy to drive but also fast. For 2wd buggy he has done the usual setup changes but is also playing with weight balance, moving it more to the front as well as making the car heavier, the standard race ready car being very light out of the box. The former National Champion is also making his race debut with Serpent’s new 2wd Short Course having only received the car last week. With SC being difficult In these conditions and with no track time on the car there is a big learning curve but Mike is pretty happy with his progress so far. For 4wd buggy, with Serpent not making a car for this class yet, he is running the Durango chassis, which was built by Durango’s Gerd Strenge and given to him on the first day of practice.

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Neumann takes Q1 of 4WD Buggy at Cactus

Joern Neumann has TQ’d the first round of 4WD Buggy Qualifying at the Pro-Line Cactus Classic at SRS Raceway in Scottsdale, Arizona.   The Team Durango driver topped the time by just shy of a second over Kyosho’s Jared Tebo with Associated’s Ryan Cavalieri 3rd.  For defending champion Ryan Maifield it wasn’t a good start as he managed only the 18th fastest time.  Chasing a fourth consecutive 4WD buggy title at the 28th running of prestigious event, he summed up his run as ‘hurting’.

The only front running European attending this year’s event, Neumann was happy to kick off qualifying with a TQ run.  Describing his Orion powered DEX410 as ‘easy to drive’, the German put in ‘a clean run with no mistakes’ setting the fastest lap in the process.  Running Pro-Line’s new Transistor front & Suburb VTR rear, unlike many of his rivals he said the tyres ‘worked good from the first lap’. For Q2, the European Champion said the only change he will make is to fit a fresh set of tyres adding that with his 4WD Buggy track conditions have been very consistent since the event began.

Tebo described his opening run as a ‘good start’ adding he felt comfortable over the full 5-minutes.  In terms of his prototype ZX6 he said the rear springs were a little too soft, the rear end laying down too much out of the corners, and for the day’s second qualifier he will fit a harder one.  Feeling he is losing time through the uphill section on the right side of the track he said he needs to ‘get his line sorted better’ there.

Last year’s Top Qualifier, Cavalieri said the run was ‘pretty good’ but found his B44.2 a little loose at the start until the tyres came in.  Having to wait for them to scrub in he said he lost too much time, his time 2-seconds of that of Neumann, but once they did come in the buggy felt ‘good’.  Planning no set-up changes, the former multiple World Champion said he will scrub a fresh set of tyres in more before the start of Q2.

Setting the fourth fastest time, Team Losi Racing’s Dakotah Phend said his buggy was ‘really good’ but he had one bad crash together with a few bobbles through the S-section near the timing loop.  Happy that his TLR22-4 has the speed, the 17-year-old recording the second fastest lap, he will leave his set-up and tyre choice, Pro-Line XT2 Scrub fronts & XT2 Suburb rears, the same for Q2.  Team-mate Dustin Evans said he is ‘struggling’ with the ‘so grippy’ track with him managing only 10th for the round.

Billy Fischer took his Associated B44.2 to the fifth fastest time.  The Team Novak driver said he ‘wasn’t the fastest on the track by any means’ but by keeping the run clean as others crashed he was able to post a ‘solid first run’.  Driving at ‘about 90%’ he said there is ‘more speed in the car but not without risk’.

Having topped yesterday’s controlled practice, Ty Tessmann could only manage the 6th fastest time. The HB driver said his tyres didn’t break in as quickly as he had expected.  Struggling for the first half of the run, which led to a number of crashes,  he said his D4-13 ended the run well.  Planning no set-up changes the US National Champion will work the tyres much harder during the Q2 warm-up laps.

13-year-old Damion Borkowicz put in an impressive first qualifier to set the 7th fastest time.  Running in the second fastest heat, the JConcepts team driver said his B44.2 was ‘super easy to drive’.  Taking off the front sawy bar for the qualifier he said he improved the buggy a lot over what it was like in controlled practice.  Running JConcepts red compund Dirt Web on the rear and orange compound Barcodes on the front, he said other than a fresh set of rubber he will run the same for Q2.  Behind the Florida driver, Associated designer Kody Numedahl and team driver Rob Gillespie and Evans completed the Top 10.

4WD Buggy Qualifying Round 1
1. Joern Neumann – Durango – 14/5:05.266
2. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 14/5:06.222
3. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 14/5:07.369
4. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 14/5:09.654
5. Billy Fischer – Associated – 14/5:13.708
6. Ty Tessmann – HB Racing – 14/5:14.661
7. Damion Borkowicz – Associated – 14/5:16.408
8. Kody Numedahl – Associated – 14/5:21.083
9. Rob Gillespie – Associated – 14/5:21.275
10.Dustin Evans – TLR – 14/5:21.700

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Tebo & Cavalieri TQ opening truck qualifiers

Jared Tebo and Ryan Cavalieri TQ the opening round of truck qualifying at the Pro-Line Cactus Classic, Tebo taking his Kyosho to the fastest time in Mod Truck with Cavalieri topping the times in 2WD Short Course. Joern Neumann and Cavalieri completed the Top 3 in Mod Truck, while Ryan Maifield was second fastest in 2WD Short Course followed by TLR’s Chris Wheeler.

Describing the track as being ‘so edgy for truck’, he said he ‘was just hanging on for dear life’.  Able to keep the run clean he said he was ‘able to back to down a bit’ by the end as his rivals crashed.  Running his RT6 in mid motor configuration he said for Q2 he will most probably try a different tyre.

Neumann, who is running a prototype truck that features prototype parts based on their new 2WD buggy parts, said he made a mistake as he pushed to try and catch Tebo.  Setting the fastest lap of the round, he also suffered a tangle with Billy Fischer, but overall the German was pleased with his pace joking that ‘l beat Cavalieri, it must be good’.  Running 2-stage foam for the first qualifier he said on looking at his Pro-Line tyres after the run he will switch to closed cell for Q2.   Unfortunately for Fischer, having topped controlled practice yesterday, an ‘unexpected wheelie’ on the main straight caused him to pop a ball cup on his Associated Centro CT.4 putting him out at the 3-minute mark.

Defending 2WD Short Course Champion Cavalieri was pleased with his Short Course but admitted running rear motor in Mod Truck was a struggle.  Running AKA Grid Iron 2 fronts and Typo rear, both soft compound, he said this was a good choice making the truck ‘neutral to drive’.  Planning to leave his chassis & tyre set-up the same for Q2 he said he will increase the power output of his Orion Speedo.  Commenting on his T4.2, he said its too hard to drive with the rear motor on the sugared track making it hard to keep the front wheels on the ground.  He said they will work on trying to improve the track over the weekend adding that ‘maybe (they) will get lucky’.

Wheeler described his opening 2WD Short Course qualifier as ‘very good’.  Having switched to a gear diff in his 22SCT he said for Q2 he will go up in the oil as by the end of the 5-minutes it was starting to ‘diff out a little’.  Team-mate Dustin Evans took his example to the fourth fastest time with a run he said was just ‘OK’.  Suffering one crash he said overall he just ‘wasn’t quite fast enough’.

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Chassis Focus – Dakotah Phend

Chassis: TLR 22 2.0
Motor: Team Orion 7.5T VST
Batteries: Team Orion Carbon Pro 5500 Saddle
ESC: Team Orion R10 Pro
Body: TLR 22 Cab Forward
Tires FR/RR: Pro-Line Scrubs X2 / Suburbs VTR X2
Radio/Servo: Spektrum DX4 Pro / Spektrum 6070

Chassis: TLR 22-4
Motor: Team Orion 5.5T VST
Batteries: Team Orion Carbon Pro 5500 Saddle
ESC: Team Orion R10 Pro
Body: TLR 22-4 Cab Forward
Tires FR/RR: Pro-Line Scrubs X2 / Suburbs X2
Radio/Servo: Spektrum DX4 Pro / Spektrum 6040

Chassis: TLR SCTE 2.0
Motor: Team Orion 4.0T VST
Batteries: Team Orion Carbon Pro 6500 Stick
ESC: Team Orion R10 Pro
Body: TLR High Performance SCT body
Tires FR/RR: Pro-Line Ions X2
Radio/Servo: Spektrum DX4 Pro / Spektrum 6090

Remarks – Dakotah has been working on making his cars easier to drive and more stable in the high speed corners by running thicker oils as well as stiffer shock springs. On his 22-4 4wd he also raised the top shock mounting position on the front shocks and he is running the regular Pro-Line Suburbs on the rear of the car as he felt the new VTR were too grippy and causing the car to be too twitchy at high speed.

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