Video – 4wd, 2wd, Pro4, SC & 2wd Truck A-main 2

Maifield & Tebo take buggy titles at 27th Pro-Line Cactus Classic

For the first time in a number of years the blue ribbon buggy titles at the Proline Cactus Classic have gone to two different drivers with defending champion Ryan Maifield successfully retaining his 4WD title while Jared Tebo took the 2WD win, a crown he last held in 2008. In the truck classes, 4WD Short Course was also decided with Dakotah Phend wrapping up the title in the second leg of finals.

Starting from pole in 4WD, Ryan Cavalieri looked like he had done enough to force the event to the third & final leg. Controlling the race out front, while leg 1 winner Maifield and Team Durango’s Joern Neumann battled back and forth over second, on his penultimate lap the World Champion clipped the piping after the triple sending his buggy onto its roof allowing his Associated team-mate & arch rival together with European Champion Neumann to get passed. Cheered on by the crowd, this being Maifield’s home event, the Arizona ace completed two laps at the front to take his second A-Main of the day and with it his third consecutive Cactus Classic 4WD Buggy title. Clearly relieved at securing the win after a difficult start to the weekend, Maifield said the best phrase for his win was ‘never give up’. Describing the race as hectic, he said wind caused him trouble at the triple and then he traction rolled allowing Neumann to pass him to second but having made changes to his JConcepts equipped B44.2 he said it was ‘ridiculous’ which was backed up by his fastest lap of 20.145 which was over 3/10ths of a second faster than the second fastest which was put in by Neumann. Admitting he didn’t think he could get the win sewn up early he said ‘for sure I got lucky but having not given up earlier in the race meant I was there to capitalise’.

Tebo was delighted with his 2WD win which ends a decade of domination by Associated’s B4 at America’s longest running world famous international event. Benefiting from being able to run his Orion powered RB6 in mid motor configuration, the sugaring of the SRS Raceway creating super high traction, the Kyosho team leader said he just tried to repeat his Leg 1 performance avoiding mistakes. Having a little moment early on which allowed Top Qualifier Naoto Matsukura to pull out a lead he said he was forced to push a little harder this time round. Leaving his AKA shod buggy exactly the same as the previous final he said due to the extra midday temperature his shock oil was a little soft but the buggy still felt really good and pulling off some the best laps of the weekend he was able to catch the young Japanese star, getting right with him when the Yokomo driver clipped the pipe coming onto the main straight. A mistake three laps later was Tebo’s opportunity to move to the front where he would stay for the next four laps to take the win by 4/10ths from outgoing champion Maifield. While the overall winners of buggy have been decided the battle for the remaining podium places is sure to be hard fought with Top Qualifier’s Matsukura and Cavalieri determined somewhat to redeem themselves for the costly mistakes in the opening two legs.

In 4WD Short Course, Phend was made to work hard for the win in Leg 2 by Top Qualifier Billy Fischer. Having won Leg 1 when Fischer threw away a comfortable lead, the 16-year-old again got passed the veteran when he ran wide off the triple but this time he was able to fight back. Pressuring his junior team-mate it was Fischer who would ultimately crack making a mistake on the penultimate lap allowing the Team Losi Racing young gun to take the win and with it a Cactus Classic title for his Team Losi Racing team and the events title sponsor Proline, both Phend & Fischer running Proline tyres on their truck.

In the two other truck classes, having retired from the opening final, Neumann took his Durango to a comfortable win in Mod Truck ahead of a good battle between Leg 1 winner Maifield, Top Qualifier Cavalieri and Tebo which after a number altercations saw defending champion Cavalieri finish second followed by Tebo & Maifield who at one stage had led the encounter. In 2WD Short Course Maifild looked like he was on target to defend his first title of the weekend, leading for the majority of the race, but an error on the last lap allowed Cavalieri through to take the win and force the title to the 3rd leg.

2WD Mod Buggy A-Main Leg 2 Result
1.(2) Jared Tebo – Kyosho/Orion – 15/5:09.248
2.(3) Ryan Maifield – Associated/Reedy – 15/5:09.668
3.(1) Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo/Yokomo – 15/5:11.139
4.(6) Dustin Evans – TLR/Orion – 15/5:13.587
5.(4) Ryan Cavalieri – Associated/Orion – 15/5:14.319
6.(5) Lee Martin – Tamiya/Speed Passion – 14/5:03.803
7.(8) Travis Amezcua – Durango/Viper – 14/5:05.479
8.(10)Steven Hartson – Associated/LRP – 14/5:06.717
9.(9) Cody Turner – Kyosho/Orion – 14/5:15.325
10.(7)Joern Neumann – Durango/Speed Passion – 12/4:21.250

4WD Mod Buggy A-Main Leg 2 Result
1.(3) Ryan Maifield – Associated/Reedy – 16/5:18.872
2.(2) Joern Neumann – Durango/Speed Passion – 16/5:20.576
3.(1) Ryan Cavalieri – Associated/Orion – 15/5:01.517
4.(4) Dakotah Phend – TLR/Orion – 15/5:02.222
5.(6) Carson Wernimont – Durango/Reedy – 15/5:05.912
6.(7) Jared Tebo – Kyosho/Orion – 15/5:07.675
7.(5) Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo/Yokomo – 15/5:09.174
8.(8) Dustin Evans – TLR/Orion – 15/5:10.708
9.(9) Travis Amezcua – Durango/Viper – 15/5:14.220
10.(10)Lee Martin – Tamiya/Speed Passion – 15/5:16.428

Mod Truck A-Main Leg 2 (Top 3)
1.(4) Joern Neumann – Durango/Speed Passion – 15/5:15.820
2.(1) Ryan Cavalieri – Associated/Orion – 15/5:19.613
3.(5) Jared Tebo – Kyosho/Orion – 15/5:21.602

2WD Short Course A-Main Leg 2 (Top 3)
1.(2) Ryan Cavalieri – Associated/Orion – 14/5:03.931
2.(1) Ryan Maifield – Associated/Reedy – 14/5:04.194
3.(3) Ryan Lutz – Durango/Tekin – 14/5:10.574

4WD Short Course A-Main Leg 2 (Top 3)
1.(2) Dakotah Phend – TLR/Orion – 15/5:12.544
2.(1) Billy Fischer – TLR/Novak – 15/5:15.747
3.(4) Hupo Honigl – Durango/DualSky – 15/5:18.993

View the event image gallery here.

Video – 4wd, 2wd, 2wd SC & 2wd Truck A-main 1

A1 wins for Maifield & Tebo at Cactus

Ryan Maifield and Jared Tebo claimed the wins in the opening A-Main of the Proline Cactus Classic’s blue ribbon classes with defending Champion Maifield taking a close win over Joern Neumann in 4WD Buggy while Tebo took a more convincing win ahead of Dustin Evans in 2WD Buggy.

Starting the 2WD encounter from second on the grid, Tebo found his way to the front on lap 4 when Top Qualifier Naoto Matsukura landed wide off the triple. Allowing Tebo’s Kyosho the inside line, the Team Yokomo ace tried to cut back on the former champion but they tangled, resulting in the Japanese driver ending up on his roof. Once out front Tebo drove a near perfect race except for one moment at the same spot as where he took the lead but with Matsukura who was hard on his tail also messing up the landing the Yokomo driver was unable to capitalize. Reverting back to the same set-up on his AKA shod RB6 as he used when he TQ’d the opening round of qualifying, Tebo said his buggy felt ‘really good’ and just tried to drive without mistakes. Facing a number of challenge from drivers who took turns at running at the second spot he said it was hard to stay calm as the drivers behind him were, in-between crashes, faster than him. In the end as every challenger made mistakes he was able to cruise the final few laps.

Finishing second Evans summed up the race by saying, ‘I told you my car was awesome’ referring to the set-up, which included positioning his Orion speedo to the front of his TLR22, which he came up with for the final qualifier which he was on target to TQ before a late mistake. The 2011 US National Champion said he just stayed patient throughout the race and didn’t crash. Coming from 6th on the grid he said its going to be hard to challenge for a win but he will take the same approach for leg 2 for which he will run a thicker shock oil due to the higher temperatures of the mid day race.

Commenting on his contrasting races Maifield summed up his 4WD win by saying ‘I didn’t crash and they did’. Describing his JConcepts equipped B44.2 as ‘fine’ he said for the left side of the track he needs to make some changes for Leg 2 as the buggy feels like a ‘squid’ over the double leading onto the main straight. Starting third the Arizona ace, who has huge support here at his home event, got passed the no.2 Durango of Neumann when the German made a mistake on lap 9 and then moved to the front when team-mate Ryan Cavalieri got out of shape on 5 laps later. Commenting on the 2WD final Maifield said the race was ‘just gnarly’. Involved in a last lap, last corner incident with Cavalieri, which cost the World Champion 3 spots, he said he was just going for the finish and he never meant to hit his team-mate. After the contact he waited to give back position but Cavalieri on its roof and Matsukura and Tamiya’s Lee Martin coming he darted across the finish line to claim 3rd.

The last driver to hold the Cactus buggy titles before Maifield, Cavailieri said he had good cars for both mains but in 4WD he just drove too hard and the result was he tracton rolled. Having started 2WD from sixth on the grid the US National Champion said his race was ‘going fine until the last corner’.

Having really impressed this weekend, Top Qualifier Matsukura said he just had a ‘little bad luck’ referring to his contact with Tebo. Contesting the 27th Proline Cactus Classic as part of his preparations for this year’s World Chamionships which will take place in the US, the 19-year-old said while fourth was not the result he was looking for, the race was very productive as he got to race hard with all the main contenders for the 2013 World title.

In the first leg of Truck A-Mains, Maifield lead an Associated 1-2 in both Mod Truck and 2WD Short Course while in 4WD Short Course Dakotah Phend took the win. Starting Mod Truck from second on the grid Maifield took the first A-Main win of the day when defending champion & Top Qualifier Cavalieri threw away a comfortable lead when he rolled his SC10.2 while holding a commanding lead. Starting from 5th Tebo worked his way through to third by the finish. In 2WD Short Course Maifield, the defending class champion and Top Qualifier, controlled the race to take the win from Cavalieri who came under pressure from Lutz, who having run second, eventually crossed the line 3rd.

In 4WD Short Course, Top qualifier Billy Fischer looked to have the race under control but with 2 minutes to go he rolled his TLR coming on to the straight which allowed team-mate Phend through to take the win leaving Fischer to see off the challenge of Durango’s Hupo Honigl who completed the Top 3, all drivers running Proline tyres. Defending Champion Neumann had a fraught race eventually finishing down in 9th.

2WD Mod Buggy A-Main Leg 1 Result
1.(2) Jared Tebo – Kyosho/Orion – 15/5:12.009
2.(6) Dustin Evans – TLR/Orion – 15/5:14.292
3.(3) Ryan Maifield – Associated/Reedy – 15/5:18.790
4.(1) Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo/Yokomo – 15/5:19.580
5.(5) Lee Martin – Tamiya/Speed Passion – 15/5:19.996
6.(4) Ryan Cavalieri – Associated/Orion – 15/5:20.966
7.(10)Steven Hartson – Associated/LRP – 14/5:00.866
8.(7) Joern Neumann – Durango/Speed Passion – 14/5:04.000
9.(9) Cody Turner – Kyosho/Orion – 14/5:07.572
10.(8)Travis Amezcua – Durango/Viper – 14/5:08.294

4WD Mod Buggy A-Main Leg 1 Result
1.(3) Ryan Maifield – Associated/Reedy – 16/5:15.438
2.(2) Joern Neumann – Durango/Speed Passion – 16/5:15.810
3.(1) Ryan Cavalieri – Associated/Orion – 16/5:16.793
4.(10)Lee Martin – Tamiya/Speed Passion – 15/5:04.282
5.(4) Dakotah Phend – TLR/Orion – 15/5:08.702
6.(5) Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo/Yokomo – 15/5:12.927
7.(7) Jared Tebo – Kyosho/Orion – 15/5:17.739
8.(6) Carson Wernimont – Durango/Reedy – 12/4:16.114
9.(9) Travis Amezcua – Durango/Viper – 10/3:24.592
10.(8)Dustin Evans – TLR/Orion – 3/0:50.632

Mod Truck A-Main Leg 1 (Top 3)
1.(2) Ryan Maifield – Associated/Reedy – 15/5:16.127
2.(1) Ryan Cavalieri – Associated/Orion – 15/5:19.550
3.(5) Jared Tebo – Kyosho/Orion – 15/5:20.120

2WD Short Course A-Main Leg 1 (Top 3)
1.(1) Ryan Maifield – Associated/Reedy – 14/5:05.268
2.(2) Ryan Cavalieri – Associated/Orion – 14/5:08.899
3.(3) Ryan Lutz – Durango/Tekin – 14/5:09.636

4WD Short Course A-Main Leg 1 (Top 3)
1.(2) Dakotah Phend – TLR/Orion – 15/5:12.389
2.(1) Billy Fischer – TLR/Novak – 15/5:16.465
3.(4) Hupo Honigl – Durango/DualSky – 15/5:17.759

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Cavalieri Top Qualifier for 4WD Buggy

Ryan Cavalieri is the Top Qualifier for 4WD Buggy at the Proline Cactus Classic, the World Champion putting in his third TQ run of event in the final round of qualifying ahead of Joern Neumann and defending champion Ryan Maifield. The slowest of the four qualifiers, Cavalieri topped Q4 by 1.3-seconds from Neumann’s Durango which will line up second on the grid and separate the two Associated stars who between them have won the 4WD Buggy Cactus title for the past four years. The last driver to beat the Ryans was Jared Tebo but the Kyosho driver will have to pull off something very special tomorrow if he is to be any challenge after a difficult days qualifying leaves him lining up 7th on the grid.

The only driver able to challenge Cavalieri for the overall TQ honours going into the fourth & final qualifier was 2WD Top Qualifier Naoto Matsukura but a serious of mistakes left the Japanese to claim the 6th fastest time. As a result the Team Yokomo driver will start the triple leg A-Main from 5th on the grid behind TLR young gun Dakotah Phend and Durango teenager Carson Wernimont who has shown well in 4WD this weekend.

4WD Mod Buggy A-Main Grid
1. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated/Orion – 0 pts
2. Joern Neumann – Durango/Speed Passion – 4
3. Ryan Maifield – Associated/Reedy – 5
4. Dakotah Phend – TLR/Orion – 6
5. Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo/Yokomo – 6
6. Carson Wernimont – Durango/Reedy – 9
7. Jared Tebo – Kyosho/Orion – 9
8. Dustin Evans – TLR/Orion – 13
9. Travis Amezcua – Durango/Viper – 14
10.Lee Martin – Tamiya/Speed Passion – 15

4WD Mod Buggy Qualifying Round 4
1. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated/Orion – 15/5:17.677
2. Joern Neumann – Durango/Speed Passion – 15/5:19.044
3. Ryan Maifield – Associated/Reedy – 14/5:00.130
4. Ryan Lutz – Durango/Tekin – 14/5:02.660
5. Dakotah Phend – TLR/Orion – 14/5:03.425
6. Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo/Yokomo – 14/5:03.624
7. Hupo Honigl – Durango/DualSky – 14/5:03.659
8. Cory Crosley – Associated/Reedy – 14/5:05.760
9. Brent Thielke – Associated/Reedy – 14/5:06.630
10.Cody Turner – Kyosho/Orion – 14/5:07.160

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Matsukura Top Qualifier, Maifield TQs Q4

Naoto Matsukura is the Top Qualifier in 2WD Buggy at the 27th Proline Cactus Classic, the Japanese driver securing the honour thanks to his TQ runs in Q2 & 3 at SRS Raceway. Going into the fourth and final qualifier only Q1 pace setter Jared Tebo could deny the young Japanese star pole for tomorrow’s final but the Kyosho driver could only manage 5th as defending Champion Ryan Maifield posted his first TQ run finishing 2.7 seconds up on Matsukura.

Only his third time racing offroad in the US, his previous two outings being the 2009 & 2011 Cactus Classic, the Team Yokomo star said he was ‘more than happy to TQ in the US, American racers widely recognized as the best offroad drivers in the world. Matsukura said his B-Max 2 MR, which was fitted with a new motor from Yokomo for Q4, was again very good but ‘the driver’ just made too many mistakes the first of which came just as he completed his second lap. Asked for his thoughts on the finals, the 19-year-old said having run with the main contenders throughout qualifying he feels ‘comfortable’ going into the A-Main as he has had the opportunity to see where his mid motor mounted buggy is better around the SRS Raceway track. Hoping to stay out front for the 5-minute finals he said the layout and high traction would make overtaking hard so his focus would be to try and run two error free Mains.

A much happier Maifield, whose TQ run got a big cheer from onlookers, summed up his qualifier by saying ‘the doors are not open yet but they are getting ready to open’. Trying a different set-up he said his B4.2 was a lot better for Q4 and he is confident he has the ability to go faster tomorrow. Commenting on the finals the Associated driver said it was hard enough to run on your own in qualifying without getting out of shape so he expects the racing to be crazy with the end of the straight set to be a particular flash point.

Cavalieri, who took third in the final qualifier, said his buggy was really good and he was pretty happy with his own driving but his arch enemy, the step up to the sweeper before the main straight, again caught him out. Expecting passing to be difficult the World Champion said running rear motor, a fact that disadvantaged them in qualifying, could play to their advantage in the finals. While the mid motored buggies are good for cruising around in qualifying, Cavalieri believes the rear motored B4.2 will be better in a dice in what he says is going to be some ‘very interesting’ racing.

Having got qualifying off to the best possible start with a TQ run in the opening round, the rest of qualifying proved tough for Tebo. A two time previous winner of the event, the factory Kyosho driver summed up today as ‘crappy’ although a second in Q3 helped secure him second on the grid. Running a mid motor mounted RB6, he said tomorrow is a new day and planning to revert to the set-up he used in Q1 he is pretty confident he will be alright starting from second adding that the winner is going to be the driver who crashes the least.

Having changed his rear camber link and rebuilt the diff on his TLR22, Dustin Evans showed great pace in the final qualifier. Setting the fastest lap, he looked on target to TQ the round but with 2 laps to go he rolled coming off the straight loosing a massive 4-seconds as his buggy got marshaled. Ending up fourth fastest for the round, the incident cost him 3rd on the grid with the former US National Champion now set to start 6th behind Tamiya Racing Factory’s Lee Martin. Evans said his buggy was really good in Q4 and he wasn’t even pushing when he was running the TQ pace but getting up on two wheels coming of the straight he said he tried to save it but it was too late. Confident he now has the pace to win he said unfortunately his starting position is going to make any challenge really difficult.

2WD Mod Buggy Qualifying Round 4
1. Ryan Maifield – Associated/Reedy – 14/5:06.346
2. Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo/Yokomo – 14/5:08.970
3. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated/Orion – 14/5:09.065
4. Dustin Evans – TLR/Orion – 14/5:10.390
5. Jared Tebo – Kyosho/Orion – 14/5:11.351
6. Joern Neumann – Durango/Speed Passion – 14/5:11.395
7. Cody King – Kyosho/Speed Passion – 14/5:14.588
8. Cody Turner – Kyosho/Orion – 14/5:15.606
9. Travis Amezcua – Durango/Viper – 14/5:15.607
10.Billy Fischer – TLR/Novak – 14/5:15.897

2WD Mod Buggy A-Main Grid
1. Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo/Yokomo – 0 pts
2. Jared Tebo – Kyosho/Orion – 2
3. Ryan Maifield – Associated/Reedy – 4
4. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated/Orion – 6
5. Lee Martin – Tamiya/Speed Passion – 7
6. Dustin Evans – TLR/Orion – 7
7. Joern Neumann – Durango/Speed Passion – 8
8. Travis Amezcua – Durango/Viper – 13
9. Cody Turner – Kyosho/Orion – 14
10.Steven Hartson – Associated/LRP – 19

View the event image gallery here.