Cragg & Tebo to go head to head for Worlds TQ

Neil Cragg and Jared Tebo will go head to head in the final round of qualifying tomorrow morning for the honour of being Top Qualifier at the 1:10 2WD World Championships in Japan.  A second TQ run from Cragg in the fourth round of qualifying, when he headed an Associated 1-2 from star of the event Spencer Rivkin, sets up the dual between the former Champion and Tebo. The defending champion also took two TQ rounds from the day but a bad second & fourth qualifier means Tebo sits 3rd overnight behind Rivkin.

‘My car was dialled again but I did get lucky too’ said Cragg explaining that having landed on the cones his B5M did a forward flip before landing on its wheels.  Adding that had it landed on its roof it was ‘game over’, he said ‘we are right in it now’ so while its going be ‘pretty boring, there will be no beers tonight’.  Describing his car as ‘pretty perfect’ the Brit said the car wouldn’t be touched nor would the driver be getting a shave!

Having made a set-up change to his Kyosho, Tebo said ‘maybe it was the change that got me out of my groove’.  Suffering a 3-second mistake on the second lap at the double after the table top, he said he struggled throughout the run on that one same section. Despite setting a new outright fastest lap, being the only driver to make 16-seconds also doing it in the previous round, for the final qualifier he plans to undo the set-up change and run the car as how it was in Q3 when he posted the fastest qualifying time of the day giving him the tie-breaker advantage should it be needed.

A driver who is turning a lot of heads on his Worlds debut, Rivkin said ‘it was good, me and Neil battling it out’.  Describing his Reedy powered B5M as ‘unreal’, the 16-year-old said he is ‘still driving on the conservative side’ but with ‘no wrecks’ thats paying off.  Despite the close battle with his team-mate, the gap only 2/10ths of a second, he said he didn’t want to push any harder as he was happy to take a second and not risk anything and end up throwing it away.  Appearing to be taking the event in his stride, that not being the case for his father, he said he remains focused on ‘consistency, consistency, consistency’.

Putting in his best performance of the day, Lee Martin would post his first Top 3 run.  One of the pre-race favourites, the reigning Vice World Champion struggled in practice but managed to open qualifying with a promising P4.  Changing his Yokomo’s set-up for Q2, the European Champion struggled.  Getting the car ‘drivable again but still not perfect’ for Q3 he said for Q4 they took the approach ‘better the devil you know’ and left the car unchanged.  Running in the second fastest heat, he felt he could have pushed harder and knowing this to end up only 1-second off was a little annoying but he was pleased the day was ‘a lot better than yesterday’.  Looking to the morning’s final qualifier he said ‘its time to tame the devil’.

Backing up his P5 from Q3 with fourth, Joern Neumann said it was a ‘very good run’ with the German managing to eliminate any mistakes.  Knowing he needs a good result to have any chance of making the A-Main, the Serpent driver said it was a safe run and he planned the same type of performance for the final round.  In terms of his car the German said he only plans to run the slipper a little tighter.

Another driver to benefit from cleaning up his driving was Associated designer Kody Numedahl.  The Warm-up Race podium finisher said he hasn’t really changed anything on his modified B5M since the first practice.  Normally happy to just target making the A-Main at the Worlds, the American said after his Warm-up performance he came into the event with more confidence targeting a Top 5 qualifying result.  Feeling his car can comfortably run Top 5 pace he said he just needs to get it around the track and get another good result in Q5.

Completing the Top 6, Ryan Cavalieri said the fourth qualifier was the best his Associated has been working, but excluding his break in Q1 it was his worst result due to him making a mistake.  Changing the rear wing for the run he said he’s wasn’t sure if the track came to the car or the wing made that big a difference but he’s very happy with the car and hopes to put it all together in the final qualifier.

View the overall standings after 4 rounds here (PDF).

View our full event image gallery here.

Video – 2wd Qualifying Rd4

Tebo sees off Cragg challenge in Q3

Jared Tebo has posted his second TQ run of the IFMAR World Championships but Q2 pace setter Neil Cragg made the reigning champion work hard for it, a late roll over by the former champion allowing the American top the 3rd & fastest qualifier so far by 1.2 seconds.  Behind them Cavalieri would post his first Top 3 time with the 2011 Champion becoming only the 3rd driver to run 18-lap of the Yatabe Arena circuit.

‘Me and Neil were going at it hard’ was how Tebo summed up the Q3 dual.  Having suffered a number of crashes in Q2 which left him annoyed with his driving he added, ‘I’m happy I was able to pull it back together’.  Happier with his driving he was ‘happier with (his) driving’ pointing out that he was more accurate with his lines in the centre jump section.  Describing his Kyosho as ‘great’ saying it ‘felt comfortable’ he would post the only 16-second lap of the astro turf track. With both himself and Neil having ‘the same pace’ he said he had some ‘little bobbles’ and it was only Cragg’s ‘big one at the end’ that separated them.

‘I couldn’t have done much more’ was Cragg’s reaction.  Driving at ‘105%’, he said ‘fair play to Tebo, I put him under a bit of pressure and he dealt with it’.  Asked about his roll at the end of the straight on the penultimate lap, he replied ‘I turned in a little too tight and clipped the dots’.  Locked into the A-Main, he said his focus now is to ensure he starts in the Top 3 saying his car is ‘pretty dialled’ so its down to him.

Cavalieri was pleased with his performance saying his ‘pace is getting faster’.  The Associated driver feels there is more to come from his driving adding he needs to work on the section after the table top as on the following jumps he is landing on the front end which is unsettling his B5M.  With everywhere else good, he hopes to join the mix with Tebo and team-mate Cragg.

Locking himself into the A-Main on his World Championship debut with a P4 in Q3, Spencer Rivkin was clearly pleased with his impressive achievement.  Commenting on his latest run, he said ‘I kind of made a slow start’ but picked up towards the end as his senior team-mate Cavalieri started to catch him up.  Pushing a little too hard he would have a roll on the last lap allowing Cavalieri to deny him a trio of Top 3 runs.  Saying he knows he can do better than 4th he wants to start his first Worlds final in the Top 3 but said having come to the event with a conservative programme he will continue that approach for the remaining two qualifiers.

Securing his first Top 10 run with a P5, Joern Neumann said the main problem in the opening two rounds was ‘too many crashes’. While he still had mistakes in Q3, he said changing to a harder front spring on his Serpent meant his car was easier to drive and the faster lap times contributed to the result.  The German plans to leave his car unchanged for today’s final qualifier and just work on eliminating the mistakes.

Completing the Top 6 was Michal Orlowski.  After an impressive P3 in Q1, the factory Schumacher driver had a difficult Q2.  Only changing to a new set of tyres on his KF2, the 14-year-old said for some reason this caused it to jump strange leading to too many mistakes.  Adding weight and an extra centre piece to the rear wing he said it cured the issue and he was ‘pretty happy’ to put in a clean run.  Describing the car as easy to drive but lazy he will remove the weight for Q4.  Behind the Polish star fellow European’s Martin Bayer and Lee Martin rounded out the Top 8 ahead of Kyle McBride and Ryan Maifield.

View the overall standings after 3 rounds here (PDF).

View our full event image gallery here.

Video – 2wd Qualifying Rd3

Cragg TQs second round of 2WD

Neil Cragg has TQ’d the second round of qualifying at the 1:10 2WD Offroad Championships, the Team Associated star becoming the first driver to knock defending champion Jared Tebo from the top of the time sheets in Japan.  While Tebo would have a run full of mistakes leaving the Kyosho driver only 8th fastest, Cragg would drive a faultless 5-minutes to claim the qualifier ahead of Ryan Maifield who made amends for his DNF in Q1.  Showing that his impressive P2 in the opening round was genuine pace Spencer Rivkin would complete the Top 3 despite Tebo’s car landing on his Associated while the teenager was on TQ pace.

Commenting on his TQ run Cragg said, ‘My car was dialled.  It was also in the first one only I had a big ass crash’.  Happy with the TQ, the British driver said, ‘I watched Heat 13  and there was chaos so I knew if I just kept the run clean I’d get a good result’.  The 2005 Champion added, ‘I don’t think I have the outright pace Tebo has but he’s crashing’ and this is something he is hoping will work in his favour.  Describing his modified B5M as ‘really easy to drive’ he said he doesn’t need to change anything for Q3 but just keep the thing on its wheels.

‘I got impatient’, that was Tebo’s reaction to the second qualifier.  Having made a set-up change to his Orion powered RZ6 with the car turning out to be the best its been he wanted to push really hard but ended up over doing it leading to mistakes.  Calling it ‘a wake up call to back off’, he said for Q3 he needs to do nothing to the car but instead ‘change (his) mentality’ and ‘get back to the plan’.

Breaking a ball cup after a ‘slightly weird landing’ after just a lap in Q1, Maifield said he ‘went out to not crash’.  Making a lot of changes to his TLR22 Development car the American said it had more speed than he expected but his focus was still on a safe run.  He said on the astro turf when you get a good set-up it feels like normal offroad but when you don’t its ‘a headache’.  With the car ‘by far the best its been’, Maifield is hoping to build on the performance in Q3.

‘Pretty good, there was a little less pressure after my result from the first one’, was Rivkin’s response to how he felt Q2 went. Describing his Reedy powered B5M as ‘really good’, the emerging Associated star said he had one mistake that cost him the ‘extra lap’. Contesting his first ever World Championships he added ‘I am happy with what I have accomplished’.

Setting the fourth fastest time having retired in Q1, Ryan Cavalieri said it was ‘nice to get a decent run’.  Changing ‘a few things’ after Q1, he said this led to a bobble early on as he adjusted to the improved car. With this allowing former team-mate Maifield passed he said running behind him cost a little time but still it was ‘a solid run’.

Completing the Top 6 behind Naoto Matsukura, the Japanese star laying down the early TQ pace until a number of errors, Elliott Boots was very happy with his improving pace.  Running in the second fastest heat, the European 1:8 Offroad Champion said the  improvement was ‘just me really’.  ‘Still getting into the track and how the car drives on the astro turf’, the Kyosho driver said he is getting faster every round’. Suffering one crash that cost him 3-seconds, he said ‘I don’t have the pace of the Top 2 but (I am) getting there’.  Happy with his set-up, he will leave unchanged for the next one.

View the overall standings after 2 rounds here (PDF).

View our full event image gallery here.