Neumann & Tebo join Cavalieri on World Championship podium

Joern Neumann and Jared Tebo complete the podium at the 2011 IFMAR 4WD Electric Buggy World Championships joining three time 4WD World Champion Ryan Cavalieri, who successful pulled of the Worlds double in the second of the A-main.  With Cavalieri sitting out the third main it was left to four drivers to battle it out for the final two podium places with Neumann pulling off a last lap last corner pass on Top Qualifier Ryan Maifield to win.  Added to his 3rd place finish in Leg 2, the win secured the runners-up spot for the Team Durango driver who tied on points with Kyosho’s Jared Tebo, the American who was only fifth for the leg, having to settle for the final step on the podium.

After the tough luck he suffered in A1 when his motor failed while he held a 5-second lead, Neumann said he was delighted to finnish runner-up as his target coming to Finland was to make the A-Main. Never expecting to be such a strong contender for the title he paid tribute to his Durango team and team-mates who he said all worked well together.  Asked if he would have done anything different in the finals the 20-year-old joked he ‘maybe should have change motor before the first A-Main’.

Third on the podium in 2WD, 2007 Champion Tebo said he felt he had a better chance at the 4WD title but in the end it ‘just wasn’t really’ his week.   Pleased to come away from the bi-annual event with two podium places he said the event marked a big move forward for his team with who he feels he has built up a strong communication between him and Japan.

His second time being Top Qualifier in 4WD, Maifield had little to show for his qualifying efforts as he ended up fourth overall.  Looking like he might end the event with a win and put the disappointment of the opening two mains behind him, he had that and a place on the podium snatched from under him by Neumann just at the line.  Suffering a steering servo fault in the practice final and from a loose slipper in A1 Maifield said the day didn’t go his way and while very disappointed said ‘that’s racing’.  One of the biggest stars of the offroad scene, the Team Associated driver must now wait two years to have another go at claiming his first ever World title. With the 2013 Worlds set to be staged in his home country, the American will be more determined than ever to get the job done.

Making his first Worlds final former European Champion Hupo Honigl had a great third leg finishing 3rd which was good enough to place the Team Durango driver 5th overall ahead of Neil Cragg. In with a chance of making the podium Cragg failed to finish the final encounter dropping him to sixth overall, the same result the British ace achieved in 2WD.

For Cavalieri becoming double World Champion will bring many rewards one of which was an opportunity to test 1:1 scale motorbike engined buggy at the adjacent kart racing track.  Under the watchful eye of Ford World Rally team driver Mikko Hirvonen and his co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen, who were patrons of the Electric Buggy World Championships, he acquitted himself well once he got the hang of getting started.  Cavalieri’s first full size motorsport encounter lead to a que of drivers willing to pay for a go with Tebo the first in line.  1:8 Buggy World Champion Cody King was the first to find the limits spinning off backwards into the tyres but no damage was done. Getting the biggest cheer as he got strapped in for his run Naoto Matsukara was the only one to acknowledge the onlookers before pulling up after just two laps saying ‘enough, enough’.  To top of what have been a truly world class organised event Hirvonen, having got some last minute tips from Cody King, showed his skills behind the wheel much to the appreciation of the large gathering of r/c racers.

Red RC would like thank everyone of the 100 volunteers in the Vaasa club who helped put on an event that sets a new standard for our sport.  Sadly one of the main people responsible for bringing the 2011 Worlds to Finland informed us that they don’t intend applying for future IFMAR events feeling the sports governing body did little to support their efforts.

We hope you enjoyed our coverage and would like to thank our sponsors Team Durango, LRP, Speedpassion and Team C for making it possible.

Full results can be found here.

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Cavalieri is double World Champion

Ryan Cavalieri is the new 4WD World Champion, becoming only the third driver in the 26-year-history of the IFMAR Championships to win both the 2WD & 4WD title at the week long event.  The factory Team Associated driver secured his fourth World title by backing up his victory in the opening leg of the A-Main with a more convincing win in Leg 2.

The race saw Top Qualifier Ryan Maifield lead the opening laps but just like in the first encounter the American got it wrong at the double allowing Joern Neumann to take the lead.  Looking like the German might get justice for the earlier cruel luck, it wasn’t to be for the highly talented Team Durango driver.  Chased by Cavalieri, Neumann made a mistake on his eighth lap allowing the No.3 car to go to the front and take a 2-second win over Jared Tebo to wrap up his third 4WD World Championship.

After the race Cavalieri said doing the double felt as good as winning his first title did back in 2003 but being a few years older now he appreciates what he has achieved a lot more.  Having always aimed to win at least one World title since he was a kid he said he never thought about doing the double before but said getting it done felt ‘awesome’.  Becoming the second most successful driver in electric offroad after the legend that is Masami Hirosaka, Cavalieri made a better start and said once he hit the front and knew the title was his for the taking he drove a safe race not wanting a repeat of the 2005 Worlds.

Receiving congratulations from 3 time Touring Car World Champion Marc Rheinard, Cavalieri joked with the German that he was delighted to give the Tamiya driver motivation to go for a fourth title.  Cavalieri will be a spectator for the third A-Main which will determine the final podium places as the excellently organised 14th World Championship comes to a close in Vaasa, Finland.

Full results can be found here.

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Cavalieri wins hectic opening A-main

Ryan Cavalieri has given his chances of doing the double at the Electric Buggy World Championships in Finland a major boost after winning what was a hectic first leg of the 4WD A-Main.  Crowned the World Champion of 2WD on Wednesday, the factory Associated driver benefited from a number of incidents the most cruel of which was the demise of Team Durango’s Joern Nuemann, who with almost 5-seconds of a lead had his buggy shut down with less a minute and 30 seconds left on the clock.

A relatively clean opening lap it was Top Qualifier Ryan Maifield who lead the way but on lap 5 the American got it wrong at the quad allowing the No.2 buggy of Neumann to go to the front with Jared Tebo on his tail.  Next time round however Tebo made a mistake coming to the double and it looked like the former European Champion was on his way to claiming the win.  Unfortunately it wasn’t to be.  Coming off the straight to complete his 10th lap an electrical failure caused the DEX410 to come to a halt in the middle of the track just before the step-up.

Promoting Cavalieri to the lead, the former two time World Champion was pressured by Tebo, who recovered from a clash with Lee Martin, until the Kyosho driver had a moment on the final lap.  Taking the win by half a second, Cavalieri said he made a poor start to the race but once he settled in and picked up his pace he was able to work his way up through the field.  Admitting he got lucky with Neumann dropping out the American said ‘sometimes thats just how things roll’.

Mounting a challenge on Tebo after his last lap moment, Neil Cragg couldn’t get passed and had to settle for third.  Although the fastest man on the track, setting the fastest lap of the race, Maifield was clearly annoyed with his opening performance as he finished a frustrated 4th.

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Maifield is 4WD Top Qualifier

Ryan Maifield is Top Qualifier for the 2011 IFMAR 4WD Electric Buggy World Championships in Vaasa, Finland.  The American claimed pole position for the main event with a third TQ run in the fifth & final round of qualifying this morning.  Team Associated’s second TQ honour of the week, Ryan Cavalieri having taken the top spot in 2WD, Maifield will start ahead of Joern Neumann who came close to snatching the No.1 spot for this evening’s triple A-Main.

With drivers best two of four rounds of qualifying to count following the cancellation of Q4 due to rain, only Maifield and Neumann had a chance at becoming the Top Qualifier in this morning’s final run.  Setting the pace and holding a 2 second advantage over Maifield, Neumann looked to be on target to take Q5 which due to his TQ run in Q3 being the fastest of the weekend would secure the German his and Team Durango their first Worlds TQ.  Catching fellow Durango driver Joseph Quagraine in the final minute of the run Neumann got out of shape on the step-up which in turn led to a bad run in to the quad resulting in the former European Champion putting his buggy on its roof.  Trying to push to make back the time he made a second mistake going into the double which dropped him to 3rd for the round behind Cavalieri.

Still searching for his first World title, this is Maifield’s second time to top qualify at the 4WD Worlds having started from the No.1 spot in Italy in 2005.  Asked what his game plan is for the race he said ‘things happen too fast out there to have a plan’ and he was just going to ‘take it one round at a time’.  Commenting on the track’s potential for those behind him to race for the win, Maifield said he is aiming to stay clean so as not to need to race anyone but if he has too he feels comfortable with that.  Having finished runner-up in Japan in 2007, the last time we had a legitimate World Championship, he is confident he has the equipment to get the job done this time round.

Starting from second, Neumann said ‘maybe it’s better than starting first’. Admitting passing on this track layout will be hard he said he has the package to win and now it’s just a matter of waiting and seeing what the finals throw up. In the 2WD final the former European Champion showed great race craft as he came from 9th on the grid to finish 3rd in the second leg.

Running his best qualifier in Q5, newly crowned 2WD Champion Cavalieri said he was glad to be back up there.  A two time former 4WD Champion the American ace said the switch from 2WD to 4WD had been a problem but he feels he cracked that this morning and now has the pace to race for a fourth IFMAR World title.  Believing there are good opportunities from 3rd on the grid he said he has three chances of gettinG it done this afternoon.

2007 Champion Jared Tebo starts fourth and in 2WD showed it possible to win from there taking the opening leg of that A-Main.  The Kyosho team leader feels the 2WD track layout was better for racing but happy with his Lazer ZX5 FS2 said ‘we will wait and see how it goes’.  Running a TQ round in the cancelled Q4, the US Pro feels the set-up on the opening lap is going to be ‘sketchy’.

The Top Qualifier in 2WD Neil Cragg knows only too well how it can all go wrong in the finals. Starting from fifth on the grid, the factory Associated driver will be hoping for better luck this afternoon.

After many years of trying to make the final at the Buggy World Championships Austria’s Hupo Honigl was delighted to secure 6th on the grid making it two Team Durangos in the final.  Starting behind the 2007 European Champion will be the reigning European Champion Lee Martin.  The Tamiya driver was the winner of the Warm-up race but will have is work cut out for today if he is to even make the podium.  The grid for the 14th running of these World Championships is completed by Kyosho’s Kohta Akimoto, young American talent Dakotah Phend of the TLR team and Team Yokomo’s Naoto Matsukura. Just missing out on the final due to the fact that Naoto Matsukura scored the exact same finishing time as Neil Cragg in the final round and therefore shared the same 6 points, Finnish driver Ari Heinonen will start the B-final from pole position.

Full results can be found here.

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