Evans & Cavalieri continue to share lead

Dustin Evans and Ryan Cavalieri still share the lead of the points table at the Reedy Race of Champions as the pair got the final day of the event underway with a win a piece this morning at West Coast RC Raceway in California.  The other win in Round 3 of 4WD went to Ryan Maifield who yesterday had a terrible start to the 4WD section of the competition when he had 9th place finish in the first round.

The first race of the day saw Dakotah Phend on the pole with defending champion Joern Neumann alongside and Cavalieri on the fourth spot.  15-year-old Phend lead away doing a great job with his aging TLR buggy to see off Nuemann’s Durango.  The turning point of the race and event for Neumann came on lap 6 when Phend had a moment at the wash board allowing the German down his inside but on the double leading onto the main straight the new leader got the landing wrong and was collected by Phend allowing Cavalieri through to the lead which he would extend to 4-seconds over the remaining 10 laps.  Recovering to run 2nd, Neumann desperately wanted the win to keep his title defense hopes alive but pushed a little too hard and got it all wrong at the wash board allowing Phend through along with Associated’s Steven Harston.  Finishing fourth for the round the result all but assures that the 19th Reedy Race title will return to an American driver.

In the second race Dustin Evans got passed pole sitter & last year’s open class champion Chad Due on the second lap and was never headed again although he did have to see off a challenge from former World Champion Neil Cragg until the British driver rolled on the landing off the table top.  Dropping back to fourth Cragg worked his way back to second by the finish with Durango’s Travis Amezcua, who started 10th on the grid, completing the Top 3.

Race 3 saw pole starter Kody Numedahl lead for 14 laps until Ryan Maifield pounced on his Associated team-mate.  Starting from 4th on the grid Maifield’s challenge took rather longer than usual to materialize.  Closing in on Numedahl after a number of wild laps that saw his B44.2 catch the piping a number of times, Maifield was ready to make his move with three laps to go.  Running right on Numedahl’s rear a slow exit by the leader meant Maifield ran into him spinning him out.  Maifield waited but caught up in the pipe Numedahl told his star team-mate to continue.  Maifield went on to take the win by over 4 seconds from Numedahl with HB’s Atsushi Hara completing the Top 3 having comes from last on the grid.

Round 3 4WD Buggy
Race 1
1.(4) Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 16/5:08.653
2.(1) Dakotah Phend – Team Losi Racing – 16/5:12.923
3.(7) Steven Hartson – Associated – 16/5:14.031
4.(2) Joern Neumann – Team Durango – 16/5:14.667
5.(6) Lee Martin – Tamiya – 16/5:17.690
6.(3) Peter Pinisch – Associated – 15/5:02.634
7.(8) Ty Tessmann – HB/HPI Racing – 15/5:02.878
8.(5) Cody Tuner – Kyosho – 15/5:06.739
9.(10)Ryan Lutz – Team Durango – 15/5:11.591
10.(9)Paul Bradby – Associated – 15/5:12.387

Race 2
1.(2) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 16/5:08.925
2.(3) Neil Cragg – Associated – 16/5:11.689
3.(10)Travis Amezcua – Team Durango – 16/5:12.113
4.(5) Rick Hohwart – Associated – 16/5:18.441
5.(7) Mike Truhe – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:00.057
6.(8) Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 15/5:05.074
7.(9) Stefan Pfeihofer – Associated – 15/5:09.429
8.(4) Rene Trauner – Yokomo – 15/5:13.002
9.(6) Kohta Akimoto – Kyosho – 15/5:15.791
10.(1)Chad Due – Associated – 7/2:23.918

Race 3
1.(4) Ryan Maifield – Associated – 16/5:08.395
2.(1) Kody Numedahl – Associated – 16/5:12.716
3.(10)Atsushi Hara – HB/HPI Racing – 16/5:18.281
4.(2) Josh Numan – Associated – 15/5:01.822
5.(3) Hupo Honigl – Team Durango – 15/5:06.124
6.(5) Tanner Denney – Associated – 15/5:09.773
7.(7) Matt Castellano – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:13.371
8.(9) Brian Kinwald – Associated – 15/5:16.801
9.(8) Brent Thielke – Associated – 2/0:46.410

View the overall invitational standings after 9 rounds here (PDF).

View our event image gallery here.

Cav & Evans set to battle for 2nd Reedy Race title

Team Associated’s Ryan Cavalieri and TLR’s Dustin Evans look set to battle it out for the honour of securing their second Reedy Race of Champions title tomorrow after the results of the Day-2’s closing round of races at West Coast RC Raceway left the pair equal on points.  Running in the same race in the second round of 4WD, Evans finished 2nd behind defending champion Joern Nuemann while Cavalieri crossed the line fourth behind team-mate Ryan Maifield.  The other two races of the round saw wins for TLR’s Mike Truhe and Kyosho’s Jared Tebo.

Winner of the title in 2011, Evans said his race was difficult due to a rear shock on his XXX-4 taking in air but having played catch up to Cavalieri all day he was very happy to be going into the final day of the event equal on points with the 2009 Champion. Starting from third on the grid with only Stefan Pfeihofer ahead of him as the No.2 spot was open, Evans said with his shock issue the race was for him all about trying to hang on for a decent result rather than the win even though he did lead for 3-laps.  The most heavily loaded race of the round with Neumann, Cavalieri and Maifield all starting behind him, he said coming out of out it with 2nd, and more importantly 2 places ahead of Cavalieri, was a ‘great result’.

Frustrated by his third place finish in the opening round of 4WD, a class the German prefers to 2WD, Neumann who took the lead on lap 6 almost threw away the win.  Conscious of the threat the two Ryans poised, the European Champion said he tried to make a gap but slightly over did it resulting in a ‘stupid’ mistake at the end of the straight which allowed Evans and the rest of the field to close right up.  Fortunately for the World Championship runner up with Evans not having the perfect car he could re-establish his lead to take the win by almost 2-seconds.  Although there is still four rounds of racing to go and much can still change the first European to win the Reedy Race really needs the perfect day tomorrow if he is to defend his title.

Round 2 4WD Buggy
Race 1
1.(4) Mike Truhe – Team Losi Racing – 16/5:14.603
2.(6) Neil Cragg – Associated – 16/5:15.434
3.(5) Steven Hartson – Associated – 16/5:17.399
4.(8) Lee Martin – Tamiya – 15/5:01.534
5.(3) Brent Thielke – Associated – 15/5:03.306
6.(1) Cody Tuner – Kyosho – 15/5:06.639
7.(10)Kohta Akimoto – Kyosho – 15/5:06.848
8.(7) Josh Numan – Associated – 15/5:07.200
9.(9) Tanner Denney – Associated – 15/5:08.089
10.(2)Brian Kinwald – Associated – 11/3:46.467

Race 2
1.(6) Joern Neumann – Team Durango – 16/5:09.949
2.(3) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 16/5:11.898
3.(10)Ryan Maifield – Associated – 16/5:12.811
4.(8) Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 16/5:13.368
5.(5) Ryan Lutz – Team Durango – 16/5:16.623
6.(1) Stefan Pfeihofer – Associated – 16/5:19.938
7.(9) Dakotah Phend – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:01.571
8.(4) Paul Bradby – Associated – 15/5:04.894
9.(7) Rick Hohwart – Associated – 15/5:07.409

Race 3
1.(3) Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 16/5:11.702
2.(5) Ty Tessmann – HB/HPI Racing – 16/5:13.815
3.(7) Kody Numedahl – Associated – 16/5:14.221
4.(8) Travis Amezcua – Team Durango – 16/5:17.410
5.(9) Atsushi Hara – HB/HPI Racing – 16/5:17.478
6.(4) Chad Due – Associated – 16/5:18.377
7.(1) Peter Pinisch – Associated – 15/5:01.080
8.(2) Hupo Honigl – Team Durango – 15/5:02.348
9.(6) Matt Castellano – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:03.710
10.(10)Rene Trauner – Yokomo – 15/5:06.019

View the overall invitational standings after 8 rounds here (PDF).

View our event image gallery here.

Wins for Cavalieri, Evans & Martin as Reedy Race moves to 4WD

The first round of 4WD at the Reedy Race of Champions saw Ryan Cavalieri, Dustin Evans and Lee Martin get the second half of the event off to the perfect start as they each secured relatively easy wins in their respective races at West Coast RC Raceway in California. Winning the opening race of the round, Cavalieri’s win brings his tally of victories to five and sees the former Champion maintain his lead at the top of the points standings. For Evans and Martin, who started from pole and took tone to tone wins, the result marks their second win at the 19th edition of the race Mike Reedy originally created in 1986 to celebrate his birthday.

Starting from 4th on the gird, Cavalieri took just 6 laps to find his way to the front taking the win by almost 4-seconds from early leader & pole starter Tanner Denney with TLR’s Dakotah Phend coming through from 6th to complete the Top 3.  Having opened the event with a win in his first 2WD race, the 2009 Champion said once he got out into the lead he ‘backed it down a little’ so as to avoid making any mistakes.  Having had two bad results in the closing rounds of 2WD, Cavalieri said it was good to start the second half of the event off with a win.

Cruising to victory by almost 8.5 seconds over Associated’s Josh Numann, Evans said it was much better starting up front. Having done well in 2WD starting further down the grid, the 2011 Champion said he needed to take full advantage of starting up front adding that he was ‘super happy’ with how his XXX-4 is working on the track.  Once he had established a lead, he said he was able to adapt a smooth driving style which proved to be quick and with a number of front row starts to come he is confident he can have a good go at trying to claim a second Reedy Race title, something which has only been achieved before by four drivers.

Running in the same race as Evans, defending champion Joern Neumann came away with third for the round a result the Team Durango driver was not happy with.  Caught up in crash on the opening lap that dropped him to the back of the field, he said his DEX410 was very fast, a fact highlighted by his fastest lap of the entire round, adding that it was capable of a lot more.

Race 3 was to be the closest affair of the first Round with Atsushi Hara getting to within 1.7 seconds of Martin’s Tamiya.  Describing his TRF502 as feeling a ‘little loose’, the British ace said afterwards he knew the Japanese legend was closing him in but he also knew he had enough in hand to control the race to the finish.  Believing that the diffs were the reason for his buggy not working as well as he would have liked he plans to build new ones which he hopes he can fit in time for his next race which will bring Day 2 of racing to a close.  If he doesn’t get it down he said he will definitely have them fitted for tomorrow’s final day of action.

Hara said he didn’t drive very well in the opening laps as he was still driving like it was 2WD but once he found his 4WD rhythm he was very happy with his pace. Using the same Durango that HB team-mate Shin Adachi used to contest the Japanese Nationals, he said he has done little to the set-up.  Describing the DEX410 as ‘super fast’ he said it was also ‘super aggressive’ but describing Round 1 of 4WD as a practice run he is confident he will be able to deliver some good results.

Round 1 4WD Buggy
Race 1
1.(4) Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 16/5:12.382
2.(1) Tanner Denney – Associated – 16/5:16.268
3.(6) Dakotah Phend – Team Losi Racing – 16/5:18.818
4.(7) Ty Tessmann – HB/HPI Racing – 15/5:00.014
5.(10)Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 15/5:00.601
6.(9) Kody Numedahl – Associated – 15/5:00.938
7.(2) Matt Castellano – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:03.385
8.(8) Rick Hohwart – Associated – 15/5:04.044
9.(5) Ryan Maifield – Associated – 15/5:07.274
10.(3)Brent Thielke – Associated – 15/5:23.043

Race 2
1.(1) Dustin Evans – Team Losi Racing – 16/5:08.589
2.(4) Josh Numan – Associated – 16/5:17.022
3.(7) Joern Neumann – Team Durango – 15/5:00.298
4.(6) Hupo Honigl – Team Durango – 15/5:02.292
5.(3) Neil Cragg – Associated – 15/5:03.015
6.(8) Chad Due – Associated – 15/5:03.578
7.(2) Kohta Akimoto – Kyosho – 15/5:03.789
8.(9) Cody Tuner – Kyosho – 15/5:05.000
9.(5) Peter Pinisch – Associated – 15/5:09.755
10.(10)Stefan Pfeihofer – Associated – 15/5:15.296

Race 3
1.(1) Lee Martin – Tamiya – 16/5:10.062
2.(3) Atsushi Hara – HB/HPI Racing – 16/5:11.703
3.(9) Steven Hartson – Associated – 16/5:18.257
4.(6) Mike Truhe – Team Losi Racing – 15/5:00.882
5.(2) Travis Amezcua – Team Durango – 15/5:02.196
6.(8) Ryan Lutz – Team Durango – 15/5:04.278
7.(4) Rene Trauner – Yokomo – 15/5:05.775
8.(7) Paul Bradby – Associated – 15/5:07.585
9.(5) Brian Kinwald – Associated – 15/5:14.403

View the overall invitational standings after 7 rounds here (PDF).

View our event image gallery here.