Tebo secures Truggy TQ honours

Jared Tebo is the Top Qualifier for the Truggy class at the ‘The Dirt’ Nitro Challenge having secured the honour by backing up his opening qualifying performance with another TQ run in the second. The US Truggy Champion once again headed a Kyosho 1-2 at the top the time sheets improving his time by 6 seconds while team-mate Cody King set a new fastest lap time of 44.399 on his way to second.  Defending champion Ty Tessmann again set the third fastest time with his Hot Bodies despite losing 5 seconds with a mistake on lap 3.  Tebo said the extra time came from a combination of him being more settled, better gearing and having got his Maxima fuel released from customs, the World Championship Top Qualifier having borrowed fuel for his Q1 run.  With overall TQ honours sewn up he plans to use the third & final qualifier to test a slightly different set-up on his Orion powered Inferno ST-RR.

Mike Truhe described his second qualifier as ‘a lot better’, the Tem Losi driver setting the fourth fastest time.  Only tenth in Q1 after a number of driver errors, he still had one incident losing around 4 seconds on the opening lap. Other than making a small adjustment to the clutch on his N-Vision powered 8ight-T for Q2 he said the truggy is working really well and he just needs to try getting an error free run.  Team-mate Adam Drake and Matt Castellano set the 6th & 7th times respectively.  Drake was happier with the traffic this time round saying it was a much cleaner run while Castellano, the last driver to record 10 laps, said he lost time with a crash on his final lap.

For the Team Associated drivers it was a troubled round.  Ryan Cavalieri managed the fifth fastest time but believes he has a radio problem similar to that he experienced at the Neo Race 2 years ago which was later traced to a faulty throttle pot.  Pitting next to the Upgrade RC stand Cavalieri has borrowed one of the radio they are using to display their decal sets and hopes this will put him back in the game in Q3.  Ryan Maifield set the 9th fastest time behind Chad Bradley and ahead of ‘The Car’ designer Joesph Quagraine who is running a Mugen truggy. The Motorama winner is not happy with the Reedy engine he ran in the opening two qualifiers and will switch to the same engine he ran in the final at the World Championships in Thailand last November.

After a strong run in Q1 when he set the 5th fastest time, Mugen’s Dylan Rodriguez was again running a hot pace until he landed on a rock which caused his OS engine to cut.  There are a number of big name drivers here at the ‘The Dirt’ Nitro Challenge who are not part of the truggy action because their team’s don’t have a car.  Team Durango’s Renaud Savoya and Ryan Lutz are looking forward to tomorrow’s buggy action but have kept themselves occupied today by competing in the small field of Short Course trucks with Team Durango’s DESC410R prototype.  European 1:8 Buggy Champion Savoya said the track here is not really suited to the smaller 1:10 trucks.  Making the trip from Portugal former European Champion and JQ Products team driver Miguel Matthias is another not taking part today due to a lack of truggy.  One driver who has access to a Truggy but has opted out of running today preferring instead to use the time to get his nitro and 1:8 electric buggy ready is Mugen team driver Travis Amezcua.

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Qualifying underway at ‘The Dirt’

They are a world force when it comes to 1:8 Off Road racing and arriving here at the Nitro Pit for ‘The Dirt’ Nitro Challenge it is easy to see just why the current World Champion is an American. Race organiser Joey ‘The Dirt’ Christensen’s track creation for the 12th running of his big event is impressive with all the top drivers here in Arizona loving his work.  The track is situated in a motorsport complex that features tracks for pretty much everything including full size Short Course, Motocross, Drag racing down to a pretty cool looking BMX course. The first big 1:8 Off Road event on the annual US race calendar all the major manufacturers are here with their star drivers looking to secure ‘The Dirt’ title and get their 2011 outdoor season underway with a high profile win. Catering for four different classes, today it is three rounds of qualifying for 1:8 Truggy and 1:10 Short Course with 1:8 Nitro and EP Buggy making up Friday’s qualifying schedule.

The first round of Truggy qualifying has been completed with Kyosho’s Jared Tebo and Cody King setting the early pace in what was an ultra close run.  Seven minute qualifiers, Tebo recorded 10 laps in 7:41.235 compared with King’s 7:41.391 and reigning champion Ty Tessmann’s 7:41.824 whose Hot Bodies was third fastest.  Tebo, whose right leg is in a brace following a recent operation, said his Kyosho was a little under geared for the opening round but was really happy with performance of the new forward cab bodyshell design he and Cody are running here. Cody, who says he likes the track a lot, was pleased with his opening run but expects the track to get much faster later in the day.  The World Champion paid compliment to the track team who he said are doing a good job keeping the track damp enough between runs.

Tessmann, who is without his HB team-mate Jesse Robbers this weekend, said his truggy was really good but he needs to tidy up his driving.  The Canadian said the track is real good but would be even better without the moguls, a section he doesn’t like at all.

Chasing their fourth successive ‘The Dirt’ win in the blue ribbon Buggy class Team Associated come here riding high from their success at Motorama last week. Fresh from his Buggy/Truggy double in Pennsylvania, Ryan Maifield set the fourth fastest time in Q1 but was frustrated by a back marker who tried racing him.  Preferring the track layout over last year, Maifield said his Reedy engines are also a lot better developed than 12 months ago which is a big help over the many jumps.  Team-mate Ryan Cavalieri, who set the 6th fastest time with a nine lap run, said he is a little rusty with the truggy and is still trying to get his nitro finger back. Complaining of his wheels being out of balance, which caused him problems off the jumps, he said with a fresh set of rubber he should be more competitive in Q2.

Heading the Mugen challenge recording 10 lap on the way to the fifth fastest time was Dylan Rodriguez. Making the A-Main here last year in both Truggy and Buggy, the 17-year-old from Vegas was happy with his MBX-6T and feels with a few less mistakes and a fresh set of Pro-Line Holeshots he can build on that performance.  Hoping to making the big race again this year, he feels the track design should make for some really good racing.

Over in the Team Losi camp it is Matt Castellano who was the best 8ight-T setting the 7th fastest time.  Having not raced Truggy since the US Nationals last year Castellano described his run as clean other than some issues with traffic something his senior team-mate Adam Drake had problems with leaving him down in 11th.  Mike Truhe described his truggy as ‘awesome’ and set the fastest lap for the round with a 44.804 but too many driver errors meant he ended up only tenth fastest.

Elsewhere Tamiya USA lead driver Lee Martin has announced he has moved from Novarossi to OS engines.  Making his first big US race appearance since signing with Tamiya USA for the 1:8 Off Road race programme, the UK driver will actually still run Novarossi engines in his truggy due to lateness of the new engine deal which was only agreed earlier this week.  After the first round of the qualifying Martin is 15th fastest.

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