Tessman takes Q3

After a rocky start to 4WD qualifying, failing to make the Top 10 in the opening two rounds, Ty Tessman bounced back to TQ Q3 ahead of Team Associated’s Ryan pairing of Cavalieri and Maifield, the latter throwing away a TQ run the final lap of his run.  For Q1 & 2 pace setter Joern Neumann a bad landing at the quad after the main straight resulted in a bent chassis for the Durango driver who would only be able for 11th for the round.  The biggest news of the third qualifier however is that newly crowned 2WD World Champion Jared Tebo will not make the A-Main.  Having finished all three rounds well down the order even if the Kyosho driver was to TQ today’s remaining two rounds he would not make the Top 10.

Tessmann said not crashing in Q3 was a big reason for his TQ but the US National Champion said set-up adjustments to his HB D4-13 also helped a lot.  The changes saw a huge improvement in how easy it was to drive the buggy faster in particular the carousel corner after the start/finish line.

‘Getting there’ was how defending Champion Cavalieri described his run.  Half a second off Tessman, the American said he is ‘very close’ now adding the he probably would have been closer had he not had to run so closely on track with Japan’s Naoto Matsukura.  Having to keep an eye on the Yokomo driver as he ran very closely behind his B44.2, he said one advantage of this was that he found a number of sections he needs to find a bit more speed for racing.  Based on this the 4-time World Champion will make some small tweaks for Q4.

Team-mate Maifield was understandable annoyed with himself for throwing away a TQ run. Pushing too hard through the corner after the carousel he caught the pipe which sent his B44.2 directly in to one of the track cones losing him over 2-seconds.

Driving Durango’s standard kit DEX410 Ryan Lutz claimed 4th position ahead of the Kyosho of David Ronnefalk. The Swede said the run was ‘pretty consistent’ with just one traction roll which luckily saw the prototype ZX5 land on its wheels.  The 1:8 Nitro Offroad European Champion said they are now making progress having earlier lacked corner speed.  Running the same car as Tebo, the teenager said due to their different driving style their set-ups they each run are very different.  Behind Ronnefalk, Kody Numedahl completed the Top 6 followed by the similar B44.2 of Brian Strange.  Once again Dakotah Phend was the only TLR in the Top 10 taking his 22-4 to the 8th fastest time ahead of Carson Wernimont and Tamiya’s Lee Martin.

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4WD Qualifying times Round 3

1. Ty Tessman – HB – 11/5:08.820
2. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 11/5:09.218
3. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 11/5:10.098
4. Ryan Lutz – Durango – 11/5:10.214
5. David Ronnefalk – Kyosho – 11/5:11.386
6. Kody Numedahl – Associated – 11/5:11.762
7. Brian Strange – Associated – 11/5:12.051
8. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 11/5:12.441
9. Carson Wernimont – Xray – 11/5:12.778
10.Lee Martin – Tamiya – 11/5:13.204

Neumann again in Q2

Joern Neumann backed up his TQ run in the opening qualifier by making it 2 from 2 with the German again topping the time sheets in Q2.  This time the Team Durango driver took the round over Associated’s Steven Hartson and Tamiya’s Lee Martin with reigning champion Ryan Cavalieri repeating his Q1 result with another 4th fastest time.  Having posted the third fastest time in Q1, the biggest drama of the second qualifier was the retirement of Ryan Maifield who broke a steering servo horn on his warm-up lap.

A great run by former Team Durango young gun Carson Wernimont saw the take his Xray to the 5th fastest time.  Despite no official factory entry from Xray, the Slovakian manufacturer opting to skip the event having felt the sugar track would play into the hands of the America teams, the XB4 is having a good showing with Tyler Vik taking his example to the 8th fastest time.

Setting the 10th fastest time in Q1, Team Losi Racing’s young star Dakotah Phend continued to show improvement with the new TLR22-4. Running in the C Heat, the 16-year-old set the 6th fastest time 4/10th ahead of Durango’s Travis Amezcua.  Ryan Lutz once again made it three Durango’s in the Top 10, taking his standard kit DEX410 to the 9th fastest time 4/10th ahead of r/c legend and A-Main Hobbies team driver Barry Baher.

Once again US National Champion Ty Tessman struggled with mistakes, the HB driver only posting the 12th fastest time almost 7-seconds off the lead pace. Kyosho’s Jared Tebo didn’t look anything like the driver who earlier this week took the 2WD World title, his second qualifier even worse in terms of mistakes than the opening round.

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4WD Qualifying times Round 2

1. Joern Neumann – Durango – 11/5:06.766
2. Steven Hartson – Associated – 11/5:08.530
3. Lee Martin – Tamiya – 11/5:09.207
4. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 11/5:09.985
5. Carson Wernimont – Xray – 11/5:10.113
6. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 11/5:11.006
7. Travis Amezcua – Durango – 11/5:11.464
8. Tyler Vik – Xray – 11/5:11.922
9. Ryan Lutz – Durango – 11/5:12.120
10.Barry Baker – Associated – 11/5:12.512

Video – 4wd Qualifying Rd1

Neumann TQs opening 4WD qualifier

Joern Neumann TQ’d the opening 4WD qualifier at the Electric Offroad World Championships in California, the Team Durango driver recovering from an early roll to snatch it by 3/10ths from Naoto Matsukura and Ryan Maifield with defending champion Ryan Cavalieri completing the Top 4.  It was a strong start to qualifying for Durango with Neumann being joined in the Top 6 by team-mates Ryan Lutz and Travis Amezcua.

Running second to Maifield on the time clock, Neumann dropped back to 8th after a mistake on lap three which lost him 2-seconds.  Having made the front end of his prototype DEX410 stiffer to try & stop it from 3-wheeling in the corners, he said this made it feel too easy to drive.  Ultimately it wasn’t as forgiving as he thought as carrying too much speed to the 180 corner in the centre of the track he thought he could save it by giving full lock resulting in him rolling off the track.  Happy to kick off qualifying with a TQ run he said for Q2 he will go with a front end set-up somewhere in between what he used in final practice and Q1.

Running in the B heat along with Cavalieri, 2011 Worlds Finalist Matsukura was pleased with his opening run.  The Yokomo driver was happy with his B-Max4 III and said his focus for Q2 is to repeat the 5-minute run.

Having broke on the warm-up lap of the opening 2WD qualifier, Maifield said compared to that his 3rd place was a ‘great start’.  The Associated driver, who was one of the few drivers to put in a totally clean 5-minutes, said he drove ‘probably a little too cautious’ and this cost him a few places.  Team-mate Cavalieri said his B44.2 was a little too easy to drive and for Q2 he will try a different front spring.  In contention for his 5th World title this weekend, he said during the qualifier he had a intermittent drive problem which they discover afterwards was a broken rear hex pin.  The problem being unveiled after the had problems getting the rear wheel off the buggy.

Finishing just under 3/10th behind team-mate Lutz, Amezcua was pleased with his run to the 6th fastest time.  Like Neumann, Lutz having destroyed his in practice, Amezcua is running the prototype chassis but unlike the German who is running it in saddle pack configuration he is running a shortie pack.  Making the car lighter he said he started out like this so they could make a comparison but said he will stick with it for the rest of the event as he is happy with the performance.  Planning to thicken up his front shock for Q2 he said his main focus is better figuring out his braking points.

Seventh fastest was Steven Hartson, the LA driver saying afterwards he ‘wish(ed) he hadn’t crashed that one time’.  Losing around 2 seconds, which would have potentially given him a top 3 for the round, the Associated driver said besides that it was a perfect run and he will continue with his B44.2 as is for the next one.

Having topped the final practice, Lee Martin struggled with a ‘twitchy’ car in Q1.  Having a bobble on the opening lap he had a bigger mistake later in the run.  The Tamiya driver said he was not comfortable with the TRF511 and as a result he couldn’t push for a good time.  For Q2 the British ace will fit new arms which are made from a different plastic in the hope that he can get his confidence back with the car.  Behind Martin, Associated designer Kody Numedahl set the ninth fastest time with Dakotah Phend ensuring one of Team Losi Racing’s new TLR22-4 made the Top 10.

Elsewhere HB’s Ty Tessman posted the 14th fastest time the Canadian saying afterwards he just made too many mistakes which he needs to tidy up for the next one.  Jared Tebo also had a run full of errors with the Kyosho driver ending up 44th.

Due to a high possiblity of the rain which interrupted the 2WD World Championships returning tomorrow, officials have revised today’s timetable with all 5 rounds now set to be run today.

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