Maifield tops FP3

Team Associated’s Ryan Maifield produced the fastest lap of the third free practice taking his heavily modified RC8 around in a best time of 43.963 in what were overall slower conditions as the track becomes more rutted.  Running in Group 7 of 12, Maifield was the only driver to record a 43-second lap with Lee Martin, Ryan Lutz and Ty Tessmann closest on pace with 44.044, 44.058 and 44.137 fastest laps respectively.

Changing to a harder compound of JConcepts’ new Metrix tyre and fitted with a softer insert, Maifield said the combination was good and despite a few driver errors as he tried different lines the 10-minute run went well.  Planning to run the same tyre in the days third and final free practice this evening he is planning to make a few adjustments to his set-up to ‘keep up with the track’.  With more ruts developing he said he will tweak the geometry to make the buggy roll more to help it over the bumps.

Driving a new prototype Durango, Lutz said they are still trying a lot of new things.  While happy to set the third fastest lap of the round despite an insect attack during the run the American said the buggy lacks consistency.  While some of this was down to the driver he said they need to improve stability through the high speed corners.

Tessmann, whose fastest lap of 43.274 from this morning’s first run remains the quickest lap of the Buenos Aires track, used his second run of the day to back to back Proline’s new Diamond Back against the Blockade.  The 19-year-old said the Diamond Back, which was only named yesterday and doesnt yet have the name molded into the tyre, gave him an easier buggy to drive but the Blockade gave better forward bite.  Based on the testing of the two tyres, for FP4 the Canadian will run the Blockade but change to a different front spring on his D8-12 to try and get benefit of the extra traction but make the buggy a little easier to drive.

A man that impressed so many of his rivals yesterday with his maximum attack driving style, British National Champion Elliot Boots took his Kyosho to the fifth fastest time in FP2 with a 44.214 lap followed closely by Mugen’s Robert Batlle on a 44.228 and Associated’s Yannick Aigoin on a 44.288.

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Tessmann tops 2nd practice in Argentina

Hot Bodies’ Ty Tessmann started day 2 of the 1:8 Offroad World Championship in Argentina at the top of the time sheets taking his D8’12 around the Buenos Aires track in a 43.274 second lap in the second Free practice with Mugen’s Robert Batlle second fastest with a time of 43.550 and Kyosho’s Jared Tebo third with a best lap of 43.615.  Running Proline’s new Diamond Back tyre, US National Champion Tessmann said his buggy felt really good on the new tyre but added the track which received some overnight repairs to fill ruts which appeared after yesterday’s single practice round had a lot more traction.  Running the tyre for the entire 10 minutes the Canadian said he will use the second of today’s three scheduled runs to back to back test the Diamond Back against the Blockade tyre. In terms of set-up Tessmann will change to a heavier oil in the centre diff.

Winner of the Worlds Warm-up race, Batlle said while the dusty conditions made track conditions loose his new MBX7 was comfortable to drive.  A much hotter day than yesterday the two time European Champion ran Pro Circuit Hot Dice tyres in green compound but said they were too soft and he plans to switch to the medium compound for his next run.  Having had problems with his throttle response he said the issue was due to the positioning of the servo horn which was causing the linkage to catch but the Spaniard said this is an easy fix.  Overall it was a good start to day 2 for Mugen with team-mate Lee Martin and A-Main Hobbies driver Chad Bradley, who is also running the MBX7, managing to break into 43 second laps.

Martin said he was very happy with the set-up on his buggy adding that the MBX7 has a lot more corner speed than the MBX6 which they used at the warm-up race. Running soft compound AKA Enduro tyres the British ace said Medium would have been a better choice.  Planning to leave his set-up the same for FP3 he said he needs to find a little more engine power and so he will change to a bigger venturi on his Novarossi along with fitting a different clutch.  Bradley, said his buggy was good but the driver needs to be more consistent.  For his second run of the day the American multiple World finalists plans to try the same spring set-up as Batlle.

Having fitted a bigger venturi to his Orion engine for today, 2010 Worlds Top Qualifier Tebo said his MP9 felt ‘really good’ and was comfortable to drive although he did break the buggy in the final moments of the run.  Trying different lines on the step up the American said he landed a little too far to the inside resulting in the break. Running soft AKA Impacts as he did yesterday he said he was happy with his tyre choice and his plan for his next practice was to try a different shock set-up.  Team-mate and defending World Champion Cody King, who also tried Proline’s new Diamond Back will try a shorter rear link on his MP9 having struggled with a lack of rear grip.  His mechanic, and father, Paul said they will also make a few other minor adjustment and will use the next run to compare different tyre patterns. One of only seven drivers to do a 43 second lap this morning, Warm-up Race Top Qualifier David Ronnefalk said conditions today were much better and although the rear end of his AKA equipped MP9 was too loose he said his car was now much better on the concrete section of the track and the Swede felt they were going in the right direction with their set-up.

Team Associated’s Ryan Maifield set the fifth fastest lap with a time of 43.843 despite having some issues with traffic.  Running JConcept’s new Metrix tyre he said while he went for too soft a compound his heavily modified RC8 felt good.  Having changed his set-up slightly from yesterday the American will revert back and in terms of tyres run a harder compound of the Metrix but fitted with a softer insert. Associated have come to the Worlds with a buggy specifically re-engineered for this track and which team manager Brent Thielke said is a one off and not intended for general release. Former European Champion Yannick Aigoin who set a time of 44.039 was pleased with his RC8 saying the track is quite like what he used to in Europe and so they already have a good set-up with his attentions being on finding the right balance in the oils used in the shocks and the diffs.

Running the 11th fastest lap with a 44.092 just behind yesterday pace setter Jerome Aigoin, Dakotah Phend was quickest of the TLR drivers in this morning’s practice.  The teenager said the track was a lot better than yesterday and he described his run as consistent.  With a good base set-up on his 8ight for the track he said they were just working on fine tuning the buggy.  Running Proline’s Blockades in M3 compound he said they were easy to drive but he intends to back to back test different tyres in his next run to give himself a better idea of his options.

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Subdued start to 1:8 Offroad Worlds

Day 1 of the 1:8 Offroad World Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, can be best described as a rather subdued affair with the timetable consisting of just one 15-minute round of practice. Lacking the air of excitement that is normally associated with the opening day of a Worlds, most drivers treated their single run as a systems check and to learn the track layout which has been reversed since teams attended the Warm-up race held at the end of September.  For the first group of drivers to take to the track, HB’s Tyler Vik being one of them, it was nothing more than a cleaning exercise with the dust causing a rapid evacuation of the grandstand situated next to the drivers stand.  The heavy dust was due to recent flooding of the track after a nearby river burst its banks and further rain yesterday which led organisers to spread wood shavings on a number sections to help dry the surface as much as possible in time for the 14:00 start time.

With the track improving with every run it was hard to get a true indication of pace but based on fastest lap times that honour fell to French Champion Jerome Aigoin who running in the top group took his Kyosho around the track in a best time of 43.738 followed by Kyosho team-mates Elliot Boots, 43.881, and David Ronnefalk, 44.320, who both ran in earlier groups. Boots & Ronnefalk both said they drove their respective MP9s as hard as they could to find the limits.  Boots, who like Aigoin had never driven the track before today, said his Novarossi powered buggy felt good and his plan for the first of tomorrow’s three 10-minute free practice runs is to leave the set-up as is.  Ronnefalk, who was Top Qualifier at the Worlds Warm-up race, was also pretty happy with his Orion powered example in the first outing and the Swede does not expect to make any major changes for the morning.

Defending World Champion Cody King, who ran a best lap of 44.637, said his focus for the opening practice was to get used to the track running in the opposite direction which he added he felt was a little easier than the clockwise direction of the Warm-up race.  Trying a new set-up for the run, the 25-year-old said they would need to change it for tomorrow as it didn’t feel right.  Asked if he felt any extra pressure being the reigning champion, King said he wasn’t thinking about defending his title or doing the double and his plan for the event was just to treat it like any other race.

Top Qualifier at the last World Championship 2-years ago in Thailand where he finished 3rd overall behind King and Atsushi Hara, Jared Tebo was pleased with the feeling off his MP9 in the first run.  Getting over a crash early on the US ace said once he found his rhythm everything felt good although he said it took him about 10 minutes to get used to the track running in the opposite direction to the Warm-up race in which he finished second behind Batlle.  Setting a best lap of 44.839, Tebo said he doesn’t plan to make any set-up change for his first run tomorrow.

Fastest non Kyosho driver on Day 1 was Warm-up Race winner Robert Batlle who used Mugen’s new MBX7 to set the fourth fastest time with a 44.414 lap of the track.

Elsewhere current US National Champion Ty Tessman had a shock pin come out in his run but said otherwise the run felt ok.  The 19-year-old factory HB driver, who has been enjoying great form this year, said he found the track layout took a bit of getting used to. Asked about set-up he said he plans to leave his OS Speed powered D8-12 the same for the morning but added he expects the track to get quite rough with each round and that’s going to mean having to constantly adjust the buggy to suit.  Team-mate and 2008 World Champion Atsushi Hara said his D8-12 felt good but he needed more track time to readjust his driving to offroad having finished runner up at the 1:10 Onroad World Championship two weeks ago.

A World’s podium finisher in 2008, 3-time former European Champion Renaud Savoya said he had too much rear brake on his RB powered Xray XB9 as well as running too soft a compound of tyre.  The Frenchman who just missed out on a podium finish at the Warm-up race to Team Associated’s Ryan Cavalieri said he has a number of things including prototype parts and a longer chassis to try tomorrow which he is confident will make the buggy more suited to the track.

Current European Champion Darren Bloomfield, who didn’t contest the warm-up race, said his TLR 8ight was a little off.  Trying a new set-up the British ace said he plans to revert back to his European Championship winning set-up for the morning and fine tune that over the other runs.  Based on the track conditions for the opening run, team-mate Adam Drake decided to run an old engine and with a short supply of his regular race fuel also opted to use a different fuel for the first practice. Unfortunately this caused problems with the tuning and his 8ight flamed out five times during the run.  15-year-old factory TLR driver Dakotah Phend, who was running in group 7 of 12, said the track was really dusty but while it was hard to be sure due to the slippery conditions he thought the track had a better flow than the Warm-up.  Working with David Spashett who is his mechanic for this event, Phend who has become a major contender in the offroad nitro scene in the US this season said he will change his suspension set up for tomorrow.

Over in the Associated camp Ryan Maifield, who ran in the seventh of the 12 Groups, said today was just about getting used to track which he described as not being as ‘gnarly’ as the Warm-up layout.  Happy with his LRP powered RC8, the Arizona ace said he will start out Day 2 with the same set-up.

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