1. Jared Tebo – Kyosho – 11/5:24.325
2. Dustin Evans – TLR – 11/5:24.540
3. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 11/5:24.780
4. Lee Martin – Tamiya – 11/5:25.370
5. David Ronnefalk – Kyosho – 11/5:28.508
6. Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo – 11/5:28.785
7. Darren Bloomfield – TLR – 11/5:29.610
8. Joern Neumann – Durango – 10:5:00.604
9. Kody Numedahl – Associated – 10:5:00.625
10.Tom Cockerill – Schumacher – 10:5:00.923
Car: Serpent Spyder SRX2
ESC: LRP Flow
Motor: Reedy 7.5
Batteries: Protek RC
Radio/Servo: Airtronics M11X/Hitec
Making its international race debut, Billy is running the all new Serpent Spyder SRX2 buggy. Designed by the former World Champion, the car only comes in rear motor configuration which is not the norm on this high traction surface, most drivers preferring to convert their cars to mid motor. Running the car in stock configuration, he has only chosen to run the optional front brass bulkhead. In terms of set-up, being the only driver running the car and with little experience running on this surface he has had to make quite a few adjustments from the standard set-up but feels he is making good progress.
Image Gallery
Car: Tamiya TRF 201XM
ESC: Viper
Motor: Muchmore 7.5T
Batteries: Protek RC
Radio/Servo: Sanwa/Xpert
Sitting 2nd after practice Lee Martin’s mid-motored Tamiya TRF 201XM is sporting a new chassis and gearbox, the longer aluminim chassis needed to mount the more compact gearbox which sees the motor more rearward and the shock tower more to the front. The result being more consistent traction. On top Lee is running the PL Phantom body which he helped develop along for Pro-Line which makes the car very stable but gives him enough steering when he needs it. On the rear he is using his all new LMR rear wing which is flatter than previous versions and sports a mini wing to help channel the air better, keeping the car planted in high speed corners. In terms of set-up the British ace is using a setup quite similar to what he uses at home, only adjusting the shocks to suit the different temperatures, running different oils.
Image Gallery
Practice for the 15th IFMAR 1:10 Electric Offroad World Championships is completed with Team Losi Racing’s Dustin Evans posting the fastest time in the ninth & final practice round ahead of Tamiya’s Lee Martin and Associated’s Ryan Maifield. Defending champion Ryan Cavalieri appeared less than happy with his final practice in which he posted the 5th fastest time behind Pre World Race winner Ty Tessman.
The top seed for qualifying, having posted the fastest 2-consecutive laps in last night’s first controlled practice, Evans described his final practice as ‘very good’ adding it was nice to run with 10 evenly matched drivers allowing him to finally get a clean 5-minute run in. Happy with his Orion powered mid motored TLR22, the former US National Champion and Reedy Race winner said despite the cooler conditions this morning at the Silver Dollar R/C Raceway the buggy felt ‘awesome’ and he planned to run it as is for the opening qualifier. Team-mate Mike Truhe, who posted the sixth fastest time, was also very happy with his Novak powered TLR22 adding that the buggy was there to get the job done and it was now just down to the driver. Making one mistake in the final practice he said this was a result of him over driving it in order to find the limit of what he said is a very easy buggy to drive.
Martin, who is happy he has cured the electric glitches he suffered in the 6th round of practice, shared Evans comments regarding the 10 car heats saying it was ‘nice to have less traffic’. Suffering one ‘excursion’ when he put his Viper powered TRF201 XM onto the piping, he said other than a fresh set of tyres, all drivers having to use Proline Suburb rears and Martin opting for Scrubs on the front, he was happy to leave his buggy as is for the first of the four qualifiers on today’s schedule.
Maifield said he lacked a little steering but put that down to the cooler conditions, there being a noticeable cold breeze today. Running JConcepts front tyres he said he plans to stick with them as the temperatures should come up by the time his first qualifier comes round although he said he probably will make a few minor tweaks to the set-up he ran this morning. Associated team-mate Cavalieri wasn’t giving too much away. Running in the second fastest heat, he said the only plan ahead of qualifying was to refresh his shocks but his body language hinted that the multiple World Champion who is chasing a 5th title is not happy with how things are going so far. Setting the 7th fastest time Associated designer Kody Numedahl reported a similar lack of steering to Maifield but also feels once the temperature comes up all will be good adding that his Centro converted B4.2 is ‘really easy to drive’.
Running in the second fastest heat, HB’s Ty Tessmann was pleased with how his Orion powered Kyosho RB6 ran but said the wind was a bit of an issue. Marshalling the top heat, the Canadian said the wind totally died down for their run but with much higher winds forecast for tomorrow this might having a bearing on the outcome of the finals.
In the Kyosho camp it was recently crowned Japanese National Champion Yusuke Sugiura who was quickest with the 7th fastest time. Best of the drivers posting a 10-lap run, he outpaced fellow Japanese driver and 2011 Finalist Naoto Matsukura who was 9th by 6/10ths of a second. Top European Kyosho driver 17-year-old David Ronnefalk posted the fastest lap time for the round, but the Swede said two mistakes cost him a total of around 5-seconds. Very happy with his RB6, he said the pace is there but he just has to cut out the mistakes and keep off the pipes. Kyosho’s big hope for the World title Jared Tebo ran a soft compound front AKA 3 Rib due to the cooler conditions but said it made his buggy very inconsistent. Switching back to the same medium compound he ran yesterday, the former 4WD World Champion said he is feeling pretty confident going into the opening qualifier.
View our event image gallery here.
After yesterday’s long delays and very late finish to proceedings, Day 2 of the World Championship for 2WD Electric Buggy is running to schedule with the second round of controlled practice gettting things underway. Having run 15 cars in the heats yesterday today only 10 buggies will be on track at a time, the running order is mostly determined by each drivers 2-consecutive fastest laps from last night’s first controlled practice. One noticeable adjustment to that is Darren Bloomfield who set the 12 fastest time but has been moved into the Top Heat as Buggy No.10. Once the final practice is complete things are set to step up a notch as we get down to the serious business of qualifying with four of the five 5-minute rounds making up today’s (Tuesday) programme. The first qualifier is due to hit the track at 10:10 local time here in California with the Day 2 set to wrap up shortly before 17:30.
In the first of a series of diary videos this week we catch up with World Championship debutant, up and coming Florida talent Daimon Borkowicz. The 13 year old Associated/JConcepts driver is the protege of JConcepts founder and World Championship finalist Jason Ruona.