Neumann again in Q2

Joern Neumann backed up his TQ run in the opening qualifier by making it 2 from 2 with the German again topping the time sheets in Q2.  This time the Team Durango driver took the round over Associated’s Steven Hartson and Tamiya’s Lee Martin with reigning champion Ryan Cavalieri repeating his Q1 result with another 4th fastest time.  Having posted the third fastest time in Q1, the biggest drama of the second qualifier was the retirement of Ryan Maifield who broke a steering servo horn on his warm-up lap.

A great run by former Team Durango young gun Carson Wernimont saw the take his Xray to the 5th fastest time.  Despite no official factory entry from Xray, the Slovakian manufacturer opting to skip the event having felt the sugar track would play into the hands of the America teams, the XB4 is having a good showing with Tyler Vik taking his example to the 8th fastest time.

Setting the 10th fastest time in Q1, Team Losi Racing’s young star Dakotah Phend continued to show improvement with the new TLR22-4. Running in the C Heat, the 16-year-old set the 6th fastest time 4/10th ahead of Durango’s Travis Amezcua.  Ryan Lutz once again made it three Durango’s in the Top 10, taking his standard kit DEX410 to the 9th fastest time 4/10th ahead of r/c legend and A-Main Hobbies team driver Barry Baher.

Once again US National Champion Ty Tessman struggled with mistakes, the HB driver only posting the 12th fastest time almost 7-seconds off the lead pace. Kyosho’s Jared Tebo didn’t look anything like the driver who earlier this week took the 2WD World title, his second qualifier even worse in terms of mistakes than the opening round.

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4WD Qualifying times Round 2

1. Joern Neumann – Durango – 11/5:06.766
2. Steven Hartson – Associated – 11/5:08.530
3. Lee Martin – Tamiya – 11/5:09.207
4. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 11/5:09.985
5. Carson Wernimont – Xray – 11/5:10.113
6. Dakotah Phend – TLR – 11/5:11.006
7. Travis Amezcua – Durango – 11/5:11.464
8. Tyler Vik – Xray – 11/5:11.922
9. Ryan Lutz – Durango – 11/5:12.120
10.Barry Baker – Associated – 11/5:12.512

Video – 4wd Qualifying Rd1

Neumann TQs opening 4WD qualifier

Joern Neumann TQ’d the opening 4WD qualifier at the Electric Offroad World Championships in California, the Team Durango driver recovering from an early roll to snatch it by 3/10ths from Naoto Matsukura and Ryan Maifield with defending champion Ryan Cavalieri completing the Top 4.  It was a strong start to qualifying for Durango with Neumann being joined in the Top 6 by team-mates Ryan Lutz and Travis Amezcua.

Running second to Maifield on the time clock, Neumann dropped back to 8th after a mistake on lap three which lost him 2-seconds.  Having made the front end of his prototype DEX410 stiffer to try & stop it from 3-wheeling in the corners, he said this made it feel too easy to drive.  Ultimately it wasn’t as forgiving as he thought as carrying too much speed to the 180 corner in the centre of the track he thought he could save it by giving full lock resulting in him rolling off the track.  Happy to kick off qualifying with a TQ run he said for Q2 he will go with a front end set-up somewhere in between what he used in final practice and Q1.

Running in the B heat along with Cavalieri, 2011 Worlds Finalist Matsukura was pleased with his opening run.  The Yokomo driver was happy with his B-Max4 III and said his focus for Q2 is to repeat the 5-minute run.

Having broke on the warm-up lap of the opening 2WD qualifier, Maifield said compared to that his 3rd place was a ‘great start’.  The Associated driver, who was one of the few drivers to put in a totally clean 5-minutes, said he drove ‘probably a little too cautious’ and this cost him a few places.  Team-mate Cavalieri said his B44.2 was a little too easy to drive and for Q2 he will try a different front spring.  In contention for his 5th World title this weekend, he said during the qualifier he had a intermittent drive problem which they discover afterwards was a broken rear hex pin.  The problem being unveiled after the had problems getting the rear wheel off the buggy.

Finishing just under 3/10th behind team-mate Lutz, Amezcua was pleased with his run to the 6th fastest time.  Like Neumann, Lutz having destroyed his in practice, Amezcua is running the prototype chassis but unlike the German who is running it in saddle pack configuration he is running a shortie pack.  Making the car lighter he said he started out like this so they could make a comparison but said he will stick with it for the rest of the event as he is happy with the performance.  Planning to thicken up his front shock for Q2 he said his main focus is better figuring out his braking points.

Seventh fastest was Steven Hartson, the LA driver saying afterwards he ‘wish(ed) he hadn’t crashed that one time’.  Losing around 2 seconds, which would have potentially given him a top 3 for the round, the Associated driver said besides that it was a perfect run and he will continue with his B44.2 as is for the next one.

Having topped the final practice, Lee Martin struggled with a ‘twitchy’ car in Q1.  Having a bobble on the opening lap he had a bigger mistake later in the run.  The Tamiya driver said he was not comfortable with the TRF511 and as a result he couldn’t push for a good time.  For Q2 the British ace will fit new arms which are made from a different plastic in the hope that he can get his confidence back with the car.  Behind Martin, Associated designer Kody Numedahl set the ninth fastest time with Dakotah Phend ensuring one of Team Losi Racing’s new TLR22-4 made the Top 10.

Elsewhere HB’s Ty Tessman posted the 14th fastest time the Canadian saying afterwards he just made too many mistakes which he needs to tidy up for the next one.  Jared Tebo also had a run full of errors with the Kyosho driver ending up 44th.

Due to a high possiblity of the rain which interrupted the 2WD World Championships returning tomorrow, officials have revised today’s timetable with all 5 rounds now set to be run today.

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4WD Qualifying times Round 1

1. Joern Neumann – Durango – 11/5:07.402
2. Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo – 11/5:07.770
3. Ryan Maifield – Associated – 11/5:08.134
4. Ryan Cavalieri – Associated – 11/5:09.145
5. Ryan Lutz – Durango – 11/5:09.858
6. Travis Amezcua – Durango – 11/5:10.229
7. Steven Hartson – Associated – 11/5:10.266
8. Lee Martin – Tamiya – 11/5:12.028
9.Kody Numedahl – Associated – 11/5:12.110
10.Dakotah Phend – TLR – 11/5:13.431

Martin fastest in final practice

Drivers had one last practice opportunity this morning ahead of today’s first day of qualifying at the 4WD Electric Buggy World Championships, Lee Martin setting the fastest 5-minute run in the second & final controlled round of practice. Completing 11 laps of the Silver Dollar RC Raceway track in 5:06.594, the Tamiya driver topped the time sheets by 7/10ths of a second from Team Associated’s Ryan Maifield with A-Main Hobbies team driver Tyler Vik just a further 2/10ths off in third.

With a lot of drivers wearing their poker faces this morning, Martin was not giving too much away after his run summing it up as ‘fine (and) everything went to plan’.  It was a good practice for the Tamiya Racing Factory team with Marc Rheinard taking his example of the prototype TRF511 to the 5th fastest time.  The 3-time Touring Car World Champion and former 4WD Offroad European Champion, was pleased with his final practice admitting it was consistency rather than outright pace that helped.  Targeting making the A-Main rather than leaving Chico with a World title the German said qualifying is going to be all about who doesn’t crash.

Maifield described his final practice as ‘alright’ adding that they were ‘still plugging away’ with the set-up.  The American said his Reedy powered B44.2 is not exactly where he would like it to be this morning.  Team-mate & defending Champion Ryan Cavalieri, who again has been seeded in the B qualifier, said his shocks had built up a little too much pressure causing his Orion powered B44.2 to feel loose.  Planning a full shock rebuild, he said everything should be good again for Q1.

Fourth fastest behind the Xray of Vik, whose Facebook fan page is proving a huge hit at this event, it was Team Durango’s Joern Neumann.  Having set the fastest two consecutive laps in the opening controlled practice yesterday evening to become the top seed for qualifying, the German said he made too many small mistakes this morning.  Setting the fastest time, he said his prototype DEX410 was good and for the opening qualifying he just needs to improve his driving.

Elsewhere US National Champion Ty Tessmann posted the 13th fastest time but the Canadian had two bad laps.  The HB driver said despite the ‘few bobbles’ overall his new D4-13 was pretty good.  Planning to freshen up the shocks for Q1 he said he will also make a minor droop adjustment.

2WD World Champion Jared Tebo didn’t feature in terms of an overall time this morning but that’s because the Kyosho driver stopped during the run to make a swaybar adjustment.  From the changes the adjustment brought, he will run a thicker one for the open qualifying with Kyosho Team Manager Joe Pillar’s saying they are much happier with the prototype buggy this morning after a tough day yesterday when they struggled for steering on Tebo’s car.

Debuting their new TLR22-4 at the Worlds,  the final practice indicates that Team Losi Racing are still trying to find their way with the new chassis.  Dustin Evans was the fastest of their drivers, finishing outside the Top 10 with a time that was 9-seconds off that of Martin.

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