Maifield & Rivkin take A1 wins at JConcepts Finals

Ryan Maifield and Spencer Rivkin drew first blood in the opening buggy A-Mains at the JConcepts Indoor National Series Finals in Omaha.  In the first of the encounters, 2WD Mod, it was Maifield from fourth on the grid who would take the win ahead of Top Qualifier Ryan Cavalieri.  In 4WD an early mistake from Top Qualifier Maifield would see the TLR drop to the back of the pack handing the No.2 starting Associated of Rivkin an unassailable lead the World Champion would never give up.  As the battled hotted up for second between Ryan Cavalieri, Jared Tebo and the recovering Maifeld, a mistake by Cavalieri coming onto the main straight in the late stages of the race would set off chaos. Maifield would come off the best of it to finish second in front of Tebo and Cavalieri.

Commenting on his 2WD win, Maifield, who is making his dirt racing debut this weekend with the new TLR22 3.0, said ‘I knew from Q3 yesterday that my car was really good’.  Getting by Tebo early he said he worked his way to the front getting by Rivkin when he made a mistake and then Cavalieri when he left the door open and once in the lead he could ‘just cruise’ adding his car was ‘fast and easy to drive’.  In 4WD, he said in the warm-up he could feel a problem with the front belt in his 22-4, the slipping belt causing the steering of the car to be inconsistent. Conscious of this for the race he said being over cautious this lead to his error at the double double on the opening lap. Dropping to last, he said he ‘put the head down’ knowing he could still try to salvage a podium. Setting the only 18-second lap of the race he would get up to fourth before Cavalieri’s mistake gifted him an easy second with him adding ‘Spencer was too far out’ to do anything about in terms of the win.

‘My 4WD is getting better & better and I also drive very well’, that was Rivkin’s response to his 4WD A1 win.  The 17-year-old was quick to add however, ‘Maifield’s mistake made things easier so I’m not counting him out and we’ll see what happens in A2’.  In 2WD he said a bobble in the triple which resulted in him parking up against the piping while heading the field cost him the win.  Although he would set the fastest lap of the race, he said he ‘just couldn’t get close enough’ to team-mate Cavalieri to attempt a pass.  Commenting on his races Cavalieri said in 2WD Mod Buggy he ‘just made a little mistake at the beginning’ and ‘came up short’ towards the end of the race.  In 4WD, he sad the rear end of his B44.3 ‘was hanging’, a broken diff housing discovered after the race.

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Rivkin TQs final qualifiers

Spencer Rivkin will line up second on the grid for both buggy classes after he TQ’d the third & final round qualifying at the JConcepts Indoor National Series at Hobby Plex in Omaha.  Third fastest in each of the two opening 2WD Mod Buggy qualifiers, the World Champion went into Q3 vying for second overall with Jared Tebo behind Top Qualifier & Team Associated team-mate Ryan Cavalieri.  With his rival second fastest in Q1 & 2, Rivkin needed to TQ the round and the 17-year-old would deliver seeing off both Tebo and Ryan Maifield, both of whom would need to be marshalled over the entertaining 5-minute qualifier.  Again ending up second fastest, last year’s race winner Tebo will start tomorrow’s finals from 3rd while Maifield will make his dirt racing debut with the new TLR22 3.0 from 4th on the grid. Behind the four PRO drivers, Team Associated supported driver Austin Horne completes the top half of the A-Main grid.

In 4WD Buggy the position going into the final qualifier was the reverse of 2WD with Rivkin holding second and Tebo the only one who could deny him P2 on the grid – Maifield having already wrapped up the overall TQ after two rounds.  A closely contested climax to qualifying, once Maifield pulled over after a mistake while on TQ pace it was Rivkin who took command with a tangle between Tebo and Cavalieri giving him breathing space to TQ by 1.6 seconds from his team-mate with Tebo third.  P2 would be enough to secure Cavalieri third on the grid while last year’s Top Qualifier & winner Tebo starts 4th.  Young Associated driver and Hobby Plex Summer Series Champion Tom Rinderkneck completes the top half of the grid.  Completing a trio of TQ runs in Q3, Rivkin would secure the overall TQ in Mod Truck ahead of Cole Tollard, his fellow T5M driver topping Q2 to force the Top Qualifier to be decided in the last round.

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Maifield locks up 4WD TQ in Omaha

Ryan Maifield has locked up the overall TQ for 4WD Buggy at the Finals of the JConcepts Indoor National Series in Omaha.  The Team Losi Racing driver secured the top spot on the grid for tomorrow’s A-Main when he again set the pace in the second of the three rounds of qualifying.  Taking Q1 by a comfortable 5-seconds from Ryan Cavalieri, in Q2 the reigning series champion would face a much improved Jared Tebo, until a last lap mistake from the Kyosho driver.  With Tebo holding on for second 1.4 seconds off Maifield’s time, Team Associated’s Spencer Rivkin would complete the Top 3 ahead of Welch Kendall and Ryan Cavalieri.

Commenting on his Q2 run Maifield said, ‘Me & Jared had a good race. It was very close. I made mistakes in the middle of it and Jared made some at the end’.  Describing his Orion powered 22-4 as ‘really good’ he added ‘the pace is crazy’ and ‘you are driving so hard’ but still his car was ‘easy to drive’.  Feeling his ‘front tyres are getting shot’, looking to the finals he said while starting at the front is always the best place it was even more beneficial here due to the high speed and technical layout of the track.  With his main aim ‘no mistakes’, he added that due to the style of the track a 1/2 second lead would be comfortable.

‘My car was amazing but I totally blew it on the last lap’ was Tebo’s reaction to Q2.  Setting the fastest lap, he said he was too aggressive and turned in too early causing his ZX6 to hit the pipe.  Wanting to test a couple of things the former World Champion said he might make a change to the rear end for the final qualifier.  With the ‘grip getting really good’ he said his AKA tyres are still running good and he has no concerns about wear.

Rivkin said his B44.3 was really good but his driving is letting him down at the start of the qualifiers.  Describing his driving as ‘a little hazy for the first minute’,  the Arizona driver said he needs to run more laps in the warm-up so as to get into his rhythm quicker once the qualifier starts.

Running a longer wheelbase for Q2 along with higher roll centres, Kendall said the changes were an improvement.  A former TLR driver, he said he doesn’t have much time with his new cars with this his first big race running Kyosho.  With his ZX6 ‘very easy to drive’ and needing ‘minimal effort on (his) part to keep it on four wheels’, he said he would leave it unchanged for the final qualifier with the aim to ‘not push too hard and put in a clean run’.

Fifth for the round, qualifying top seed Cavalieri said ‘it wasn’t that good, I just crashed too many times’.  Feeling his car was not great in the opening qualifier, the 2WD Top Qualifier said running faster in Q2 the front end of his B44.3 was a little too soft making it harder to drive.  For tonight’s third & final qualifier he will fit a harder front spring.  Behind Cavalieri, Associated driver Cole Tollard would complete the Top 6.

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