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Video – Practice Heat 1 Round 2
Tebo sets pace on Day 1
Kyosho’s Jared Tebo is the unofficial pace setter at the end of the opening day of the IFMAR 1:8 Off Road World Championships. The US Champion was fastest from defending World champion Atsushi Hara as he set the only 45 second lap of the day. Tebo said he focused more on his driving for the second run and was more comfortable with his Orion powered MP9 having changed from super soft to soft AKA Impact tyres. Describing conditions In P2 as being at an ‘inbetween’ stage he feels conditions should be better tomorrow and based on this will make some small set-up adjustments for his first run in the morning. Overall it was a strong opening day for the Kyosho team as France’s Jerome Aigoin set the third fastest lap time with a 46.343. Running AKA City Block on the front and Ibeam on the rear of his Novarossi powered MP9, a switch to the harder ‘soft’ compound in P2 along with a camber change had transformed the car making it much easier to drive.
Hara managed a 46.028 despite suffering a flame out but rather than restart the car his pitman had a second car already up and running and ready to go before the first car was returned to the pitlane. Hara said he had switched engine from this morning and the new unit was too rich which resulted in the flame out. The Japanese ace said the two D8s had different set-ups but on the track they had a very similar feeling to drive. Having run Pink Megabytes, the super soft compound, Hot Bodies tyres he plans to test the harder red ‘soft’ compound tomorrow.
Fourth fastest was 2008 finalist Travis Amezcua. The American team Mugen driver said the biggest change he made from P1 was a switch from Prolines Bulldog to the Shift bodyshell which made the car easier and more consistent to drive allowing him to post a best time of 46.609 and end the day as the fastest Mugen driver. Happy with his Ninja powered MBX-6 which was running on Proline’s M3 Sniper all day he is considering trying the new Revolver pattern tomorrow.
In the Team Associated camp Ryan Maifield was their top dog setting the fifth fastest time with a 46.765. Running JConcepts tyres on his Reedy powered RC8B, Maifield tried three different patterns in the second run with blue compound Crossbows proving to be the best option. Running a set-up from back home he said they are working their way back towards the set-up they left with after pre-event testing here in Pattaya due to the fact there is not as much grip as they had expected from the oiling of the track in preparation for the main event. Tomorrow he plans to start the day on a set yellow compound Sub Cultures. Associated’s other Ryan, Ryan Cavalieri, found himself over a second off the pace of his team-mate. Having switched from a 5 to a 3-port Orion engine for P2 he suffered from a sticking carb but he feels even without this issue his set-up was too soft for the fast conditions.
The winner of the Pre-Worlds, local driver Meen Vejrak set the sixth fastest time ahead of Cody King. Running a 46.824, the Mugen driver switched to lighter oil in the diffs of his Alpha engined MBX-6 which the 25-year-old said made a huge difference. Running a short wheel base he thinks further time can be found by lengthening it for tomorrow. Having used Proline’s Sniper in today’s two practices he plans to try Revolver and Eclipse on Day 2.
Completing the Top 10 is 2008 podium finisher Renaud Savoya with a 47.072, new Tamiya signing Lee Martin on 47.159 and the fastest of the Team Losi drivers Yannick Aigoin who managed a best lap of 47.201. Losi’s Mike Truhe and Adam Drake found themselves outside the Top 10 but both were happier with their second run. The Top Qualifier at the last World Championships, Truhe said track conditions were much better but he was still fine tuning his 8ight but overall wasn’t too concerned about his early pace. Drake said he changed his set-up for P2 and plans to continue in the same direction tomorrow planning further changes for the second of tomorrow’s two scheduled runs. Although not super fast, the changes to his Novarossi powered 8ight made for an easier to drive car and he his happy to start Day 2 from this footing.
Tomorrow’s schedule is made up of a further two untimed practice session that will give each driver a 5-minute Warm-up followed by a 10-minute run.
Unofficial Top 10 – Lap times
1. Jared Tebo – Kyosho/Orion/AKA – 45.998
2. Atsushi Hara – Hot Bodies/OS/Hot Bodies – 46.028
3. Jerome Aigoin – Kyosho/Novarossi/AKA – 46.343
4. Travis Amezcua – Mugen/Ninja/Proline – 46.609
5. Ryan Maifield – Associated/Reedy/JConcepts – 46.765
6. Meen Vejrak – Mugen/Alpha/Proline – 46.824
7. Cody King – Kyosho/Orion/AKA – 46.920
8. Renaud Savoya – Mugen/RB/Proline – 47.072
9. Lee Martin – Tamiya/Novarossi/JConcepts – 47.159
10.Yannick Aigoin – Losi/Novarossi/ProCircuit – 47.201
View the event photo gallery here.
Practice gets underway in Pattaya
Formula 1 commentators always say that TV does not reflect the true elevation and spectacle of the famous Eau Rouge corner at Spa-Francorchamps and nothing could be more true about the beautifully presented track here in Pattaya, Thailand. The 13th running of the IFMAR 1:8 Off Road World Championships this is the most competitive world title fight yet for a class that is enjoying huge popularity around the world. Ask any of the international off road paddock regulars who they see as being the winning come Sunday and they all struggle to pick a shortlist let alone who the one person they see as being crowned champion.
On the schedule for the opening day of the championships are two untimed 15-minute practice run. With the top drivers first out on track there was some tense moments for a number of the drivers after the official event bus got lost on the way from the hotel to the track eventually arriving just 10 minutes before the Group 1 went out on track.
In that top group was defending champion Atsushi Hara. Essentially a home race for the now Thailand based racer, the Hot Bodies driver looks very relaxed ahead of the event and declared that everything went well in the opening practice. Pitting in the Hot Bodies cabin alongside the team’s other finalists from 2008, Ty Tessmann and Jesse Robbers, Hara said the track felt a little loose in the beginning due to the fresh oiling of the surface but by the end of the session he was pleased with the feeling of his OS powered D8. Together with Robbers, Hara is running a prototype Hot Bodies shell with aerodynamics becoming more and more important in off road as the speeds of the buggies increase. The former electric Touring Car World Champion has done a lot of work with different rear wing set-ups in pre-event testing saying its starting to play a bigger role in the overall feeling of the car. Differing slightly from his team-mates in that he runs Pro-Line tyres and bodyshells, 17-year-old Tessmann said everything felt good during his first run.
Top Qualifier at the last World Championship but having to settle for the runners-up spot behind Hara, Mike Truhe together with Adam Drake heads the Losi challenge. Truhe ran a different set-up to that used on previous visits to the Pattaya track but said afterwards it was hard to tell if it was the track or the set-up that was at play in the opening practice. The American said he runs the set-up a lot back home and feels it should work here too. Planning to run it again in the second practice he can easily revert to the set-up used here previously which he knows works well. Drake said it was hard to gauge anything from the opening run as the track had a lot of marbles on it but watching other drivers running later on he said it already looked a lot better and he was confident they have a package that is up to the job.
Heading the Mugen challenge is the third of the podium finishers from 2008 Renaud Savoya. The current European Champion, a title he has held for the last three years, said after his first practice that he was happy enough for the moment. Running a standard kit chassis which he built up just after his move to the US three weeks ago, he said the MBX-6 was easy to drive but admitted the lack of the extra lightening work normally seen on his cars did effect the feeling. Finding the traction similar to his last visit to the Pattaya track he plans to focus on getting a good tyre set-up.
The most successful manufacturer in the history of 1:8 Off Road with seven World titles Kyosho have three off road World Champions as part of their big factory effort here. For 2006 Champion Mark Pavidis the event did not get off to a good start and he lost valuable track time when he broke a front arm on his MP9 on the opening lap of practice. Kyosho team-manager Joe Pillars, who is also pit man for 2007 1:10 off road World Champion Jared Tebo, said the track was much improved since they had come here for testing thanks to greater elevation in the jumps. Reigning US Champion Tebo ran a set-up very similar to that used in pre-event practice and was happy to run the full 15-minutes without any issues. Currently enjoying a very strong winning run back in the US, Cody King also reported his opening practice as good. Pillars said the final preparation to the track surface had made a major difference to tyre wear with Tebo’s AKA tyres still looking like new after the run.
The other of the big manufacturers here in force is Team Associated with 7 official factory drivers present. Off those the team is pinning its hopes on Ryan Maifield, Ryan Cavalieri and Robert Battle, all of whom made the final last time round. Team Manager Brent Thielke, who is also pit man for Maifield, said his driver looked comfortable in the first run with them just making a few adjustments to the ride height during the session. Cavalieri, who runs Team Orion engines in his RC8B, wasn’t happy with his first run as he didn’t like the feeling of the 5-port engine, the extra power not suiting his driving style. Having run 3-port engines here previously he will switch back for the second practice.
View the event photo gallery here.