July 9, 2013

Track Focus – Reims

Tues-Track-4

Track Name – Reims
Club – Reims Enduro Model Car
Country – France
Location – Reims (129 km east-northeast of Paris)
Direction – Clockwise
Surface – Chalk

The 33rd running of the 1:8 Offroad European Championships takes place in France this week in Reims, a city famed for being the home to many of the largest producers of France’s most famous drink – Champagne.  Part of an impressive complex that also includes an 320 metre onroad asphalt track, the 340m offroad track has one very unique feature and that is its surface.  White in colour, the track is actually chalk which makes up the majority of the ground in the area with most of the champagne aged under the city in tunnels and caves carved from the chalk.  While most track surfaces are a dark colour causing them to absorb the heat, the white of the chalk reflects that heat which is an element drivers need to keep in mind when choosing tyre compounds, tyre choice set to be the key factor in deciding this year’s European Champion. Run by the Reims Enduro Model Car club, which was founded in 1987, the track opened in 1999 and currently has a membership of 130 drivers.

One of the tracks that makes up the highly competitive French National Championship, this is the second time the track has hosted the European Championship with David Tortorici winning the second of his European titles here in 2005.  In terms of the layout the track is proving very popular with drivers who like the speed and flow of the track which they say overall is not too technical.

Image Gallery

April 21, 2013

Evans wins Mod Truck at Spring Indoor Nationals

Evans

The only one of the feature classes at the JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals to go to the third A-Main, Mod Truck saw Team Losi Racing’s Dustin Evans secure the overall title as he took the win in Leg 3 backing up his A2 result to claim the top step on the podium at Mike’s Hobby Shop in Dallas, Texas, ahead of Leg 1 winner Ryan Maifield and Top Qualifier Cody Hollis.

Winners

Starting from second on the grid of what has been the most entertaining class at Round 2 of the JConcepts sponsored Indoor National Series, Evans moved to he front on lap 2 followed by Maifield setting the stage for a great showdown between the two pro factory drivers. Running faster laps than Evans, Maifield looked strong but on lap 5 through the double-double section leading on to the straight the Associated driver got it wrong dropping him back behind Hollis and handing Evans the break he needed. With the pressure off Evans was able to control the rest of the race to take the win at the end of 5-minutes by 6 seconds from Maifield who would find a way back passed Hollis. His second truck win of the event, the Colorado driver winning the 2WD Short Course title in Leg 2, Evans said after ‘a rough day yesterday it was good to be able to turn things around today’ and he was happy to take 2 of the 3 classes he contested this weekend.

Ryan Maifield

Always frank and to the point when asked to sum up a race, Maifield said he ‘blew out’ in Leg 3. With his truck the best it has been all weekend, he said he didn’t know how hard he could push and eventually found out. Running JConcepts Green Pressure Points while Evans ran Gold Barcodes he said his tyre choice made for his T4.2 to be a little more difficult to drive but ultimately it was his own mistake that cost him a chance at the win.

Mod 2wd Top 5

With Maifield dominating the opening two Mains in 2WD and 4WD Buggy, Leg 3 was all about deciding who would stand either side of him on the podium. In 2WD Buggy, after a ‘sketchy few laps’ at the start of the race that dropped him to 3rd, Evans worked his way back to the front to take the win ahead of series Champion Steven Hartson and Hollis to secure the overall runner-up spot ahead of the latter. Evans, who again set the fastest lap, said if yesterday had went better himself and Maifield could have really put on a show as his 22 was ‘awesome’ but starting third he could get with the Arizona driver early enough to race with him.

Taylor Larsen

In the closing 2WD Short Course A-Main, young TLR supported driver Taylor Larsen took the win ahead of Hartson’s SC10 to take 2nd overall on the all 22SCT podium, JR Mitch claiming the final step despite a terrible leg 3. In the last race of the event, A3 of 4WD Buggy, Hartson took his Reedy powered B44.2 to the win ahead of Trevor Nault to claim 2nd overall, Nault’s result making it an all Associated podium.

Mod Truck Overall Result
1. Dustin Evans – TLR – 200 pts
2. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 199
3. Cody Hollis – TLR – 197
4. Taylor Larsen – TLR – 197
5. Brent Thielke – Associated – 193
6. Trevor Nault – Associated – 190
7. Aaron Reynolds – TLR – 189
8. Eric Larsen – TLR – 188
9. Dustin English – Kyosho – 188
10.Spencer Rivkin – Associated – 184

Mod Truck A-Main Leg 3
1.(2) Dustin Evans – TLR – 16/5:08.656
2.(3) Ryan Maifield – Associated – 16/5:14.715
3.(1) Cody Hollis – TLR – 16/5:18.414
4.(5) Taylor Larsen – TLR – 15/5:06.058
5.(4) Brent Thielke – Associated – 15/5.11.938
6.(6) Trevor Nault – Associated – 15/5:13.893
7.(10)Dustin English – Kyosho – 14/5:02.089
8.(7) Aaron Reynolds – TLR – 14/5:03.526
9.(9) Eric Larsen – TLR – 14/5:18.252
10.(8)Spencer Rivkin – Associated – 14/5:18.726

View the rest of the results here

April 21, 2013

Evans gets Mod Truck win in A2

Dustin Evans

Mod Truck, which has been the most exciting class at this year’s JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals, will be decided in the third & final leg of the A-Main after Team Losi Racing’s Dustin Evans took the win in Leg 2 as Leg 1 winner Ryan Maifield pulled up 3-minutes in after a troubled race that saw him last at the end of the opening lap. While Maifield didn’t feature in the race, Evans didn’t have it easy having to contend with TLR team-mate Cody Hollis and the same traffic issues that cost him the win in A1.

Cody Hollis

Top Qualifier Hollis drove a very strong race keeping Evans at bay for 8-laps until the No.2 22T squeezed passed at the off camber corner after the AE double on lap 9. Able to pull out a bit of a gap 2-laps later Evans would get caught up in a three car pile up involving Maifield who he was about to lap. Losing almost 3-seconds in the incident, this allowed Hollis back to the front but with his truck ‘dialed’ a determined looking Evans put in the fastest lap of the race as he set about closing in on the leader. Two laps later in the exact same place as he got the lead first time, Evans moved back to the front with 2 laps to go to take a much deserved win. Evans said he couldn’t believe his luck when he got caught up in traffic again but said this time round he kept patient and was able to recover for the win.

Maifield said he ran a different tyre compound on his T4.2 which made it very difficult to drive resulting in his moment on lap one that left him last as the 10-car field passed the loop for the first time. Running the rest of the race as a backmarker managing only to recover to as high as 6th he said after getting caught up in the incident that almost cost Evans the win he decided to pull up, a decision he said he may come to regret later today.

Evans

In 2WD Short Course, Evans secured that he will leave Dallas with at least one JConcepts Spring Indoor Nationals title as he took another tone to tone win in Leg 2 over TLR team-mate JR Mitch to secure the overall win.

Mod Truck A-Main Leg 2
1.(2) Dustin Evans – TLR – 16/5:10.698
2.(1) Cody Hollis – TLR – 16/5:12.339
3.(5) Taylor Larsen – TLR – 15/5:00.968
4.(4) Brent Thielke – Associated – 15/5.19.564
5.(7) Aaron Reynolds – TLR – 14/5:03.911
6.(6) Trevor Nault – Associated – 14/5:04.308
7.(10)Dustin English – Kyosho – 14/5:15.886
8.(8) Spencer Rivkin – Associated – 13/5:19.004
9.(3) Ryan Maifield – Associated – 9/3:12.630
10.(9)Eric Larsen – TLR – 4/1:28.631

2WD Short Course A-Main Leg 2
1.(1) Dustin Evans – TLR – 15/5:04.055
2.(3) JR Mitch – TLR – 15/5:13.827
3.(2) Taylor Larsen – TLR – 15/5:21.374
4.(10)Kyle Skidmore – Associated – 15/5:23.521
5.(7) Cody Hollis – TLR – 14/5:02.226
6.(5) Michael Twilling – Kyosho – 14/5:04.814
7.(4) Steven Hartson – Associated – 14/5:05.305
8.(6) Mike Stoll – Associated – 14/5:05.451
9.(8) Daimon Borkowicz – Associated – 14/5:13.197
10.(9)Gary O’Brien – Durango – 14/5:15.175

View the event image gallery here.