Rikvin from Tebo in opening JConcepts 2WD qualifier

Spencer Rivkin has TQ’d the opening 2WD Buggy qualifier at the finals of the JConcepts Indoor National Series.  The series’ first visit to North Carolina, Rivkin was quickest around the Speed RC track outpacing Tebo by half a second.  Having assumed the TQ pace after a spin by Rivkin four laps in, Brent Thielke was looking on target to take the first of the three qualifiers but a mistake on the penultimate lap would drop him to third with Damon Borkowicz and Alex Kosciuszek complete the Top 5.

‘I thought it was good’ was how Rivkin summed up the opening qualifier.  He continued, ‘I didn’t come out that fast and then spun out in front of Brent after which I put the head down’.  Describing his Reedy powered B6 as ‘fast’, it setting the fastest lap, the World Champion said, ‘maybe it was a little hard to drive’. Putting this down to his tyre choice, saying the track was pretty dusty for using a slick, the 18-year-old plans to change to from JConcepts new Octagon slick to the threaded Spacebar adding the switch was also to try and ‘get ahead of the game for the heads up racing tomorrow’.

Making a ‘minor camber change’ on his new RB6.6 since topping seeding practice yesterday, Tebo said the car was ‘a little harder to drive’.  Describing the change as having made it ‘loose under braking’, he said it was this that caused his early crash at the end of the straight.  Still happy with the overall feel of the car which he is still running on Pro-Line’s Electron front and Positron rear tyre he will ‘just go back’ with the camber setting for Q2.

‘Not much to say, I made a mistake’, was how Thielke summed up his first qualifying effort. Catching a corner which sent his B6 rolling down the step section, the Associated team manager continued, ‘the car is good, the tyres and motor are good but the driver made a mistake’.  With his team drivers giving him stick that his performance is down to the extra track time he is getting by also racing in 40+ 2WD Mod Buggy, which he TQ’d the first round of ahead of Jason Ruona, he is confident that he has the car for a good result and just needs to drive it.

Making a ‘last minute decision’ to change from slicks to a threaded tyre and also going to the same set-up as team-mate Kosciuszek, Borkowicz said his ‘car was really good’.  With a crash on his second last lap, the Team Associated/JConcepts supported Florida racer feels a bit more work to lower the rear thread of his Spacebar tyres should further improve the car.  Sixth in seeding practice he said starting higher on the grid for Q2 should also help produce a better run.

‘The car was good and I though I drove good but the lapped traffic was hurting’, was Kosciuszek view of the opening 2WD qualifier.  He continued, ‘in the first round everyone is nervous so Q2 should be better and I’m ready to go back at it again’.  Behind Kosciuszek, who is one of four drivers vying for the overall 2WD JConcepts Indoor National Series title, contender Max Flurer completed the Top 6 at the controls of his TLR.

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Tebo take first 4WD qualifier at JConcepts Finals

Having topped seeding practice yesterday at the JConcepts Indoor National Series Finals, Jared Tebo picked up where he left off to claim the opening round of 4WD qualifying at Speed RC in North Carolina.  Topping the first of the three qualifiers from Damion Borkowicz by one second, Tebo’s run was far from perfect with the Kyosho driver benefiting from the mistakes of others namely Alex Kosciuszek who ended up third. Posting the fastest lap of Q1, Kosciuszek looked on target to open qualifying with a TQ until he rolled his Associated allowing Tebo to snatch the fastest time.  Having set the early pace Spencer Rivkin would fail to finish pulling an arm off his Associated half way through the 5-minute qualifier as he ran side by side with Tebo on the track, Tebo being delayed when he collected Rivkin’s broken car coming onto the straight.

‘I decided not to change shock oil and for sure it was too soft’ was Tebo’s reaction after Q1.  Describing his Orion powered ZX6.6 as ‘hard to drive’ he said ‘I will definitely go up (in the oil) for Q2’.  After traffic issues at the beginning of the run, he admitted this left him a little flustered dropping him to an early P5 pace. Working his way slowly back into contention but dropping behind Borkowicz after getting caught up in Rivkin’s error, a late charge that saw him finish with his fastest lap of the qualifier, would give him the TQ with him concluding ‘it was all good in the end’.

Borkowicz was content with his P2 but felt he had a good chance at the TQ until a mistake at the triple.  A mistake up the hill to the triple meant he had to double the jump this ‘possibly cost me the TQ’.  In terms of his car, the Florida driver who was 4th in seeding yesterday was much happier with his B44.3 today having made ‘a bunch of changes this morning’.  Changing both diff and shock oils in anticipation for today’s cooler weather he also ground down JConcepts new release Octagon tyres resulting in a better car which he said was also helped by the ‘track (being) a little better today’.

‘Bad’ was how Kosciuszek summed up Q1 adding ‘that should have been an easy TQ’.  The 17-year-old lost out when he rolled his B44.3 but said the problem was there was no marshal so it ended up being a ‘pretty big wreck’.  Changing the rear shocks this morning he said the change was pretty spectacular and with the car ‘amazing’ he is determined to make amends for his errors on his second qualifying attempt.

Posting the fourth fastest time Matt Cline said his Associated pushed a bit in the qualifier and he will make a front spring change for the next one.  Suffering an early mistake that cost him over 3-seconds, the Ohio driver added, ‘If I can take out the one wreck I can definitely improve’.

Racing at his home track, Max Flurer would take his TLR 22-4 to fifth a result he was far from pleased with.  Already a JConcepts race series winner this year, he said ‘I ran slicks when I shouldn’t have’.  ‘Struggling to get side bite’ leading to ‘2 or 3 wrecks’, he will go back to a pin tyre adding with side bite the pace for Q2 should be better.

Completing the Top 6 would be Chad Eubanks but the Xray driver felt he got his diff set-up wrong for the conditions.  Looking to improve the car by going down in the diff oils he said his XB4 was ‘diffing out’ and he needs to go back up a little for Q2.  In terms of the overall run he was happy he ran pretty consistent lap times but added ‘I need to bring down my lap times to get on everyone else’s pace’.

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Nothing in it as Tebo tops 2WD seeding from Rivkin

Having topped 4WD seeding at the JConcepts Indoor National Series Finals, Jared Tebo went on to complete the double when he topped the 2WD times but only just from Spencer Rivkin.  Tebo set the fastest three consecutive laps in a time of 50.804 while Rivkin posted a time of 50.809.  The only other driver to manage a 16-second lap around the Speed RC track, Brent Thielke would complete the Top 3 with the Team Associated Team Manager outpacing his team driver Alex Kosciuszek and Serpent driver Will McIver.

Pleased to end his day by topping the 2WD Buggy time having also gone quickest also in 2WD Mod Truck, Tebo said, ‘I had a little more rear traction than I expected but overall my car was awesome’ adding the ‘the balance was perfect’.  Feeling the high rear traction could be wing related, for tomorrow the Kyosho driver ‘will mount the rear wing a little different’ while also considering adding a brass front suspension mount for extra weight, repeating ‘I had a lot of rear grip’. Like in 4WD, he ran his Orion powered new RB6.6 on a Pro-Line Electron front and Positron rear tyre combination and he plans to stick with that for qualifying.

Running a brand new set of JConcepts new slick called the Octacon, Rivkin said while the seeding run went well, with his tyres being new he didn’t get the maximum potential from them adding they should be better as they get more sauce.  Feeling the track conditions of the night time run wasn’t as advantageous as they would have been earlier in the day and with Tebo running a pin tyre, which better suited the condition, ‘it was a good thing’ to have been able to match his rival’s pace.  Set to leave his Reedy powered B6 unchanged for the start of qualifying the World Champion will just sauce up his tyres, adding ‘the more they are sauced the better they get’.

‘My car was dialled’, was the reaction of Thielke after seeding his B6 in the Top 3. Having ‘been tweaking the car all day’ making a ‘couple of spring and piston changes’ he said the switch to JConcept’s Octagon tyre produced the lap times.  With a lap time fractionally faster than that of his star team driver Rivkin he would be 6/10th off Rivkin & Tebo’s 3-lap pace and while he wouldn’t be able to get any closer to their time he was ‘looking forward to tomorrow’.

Kosciuszek said his B6 was good but running on a brand new set of Octagon tyres left him struggling a little as the fresh tyre lacked side bite.  Prepping his tyres different to his team-mate Rivkin, for qualifying the 17-year-old will adapt the same tyre prep while also changing to a set of the tyres with more running on them adding, with these changes he ‘hope(s) to be right there tomorrow’.

Behind McIver, Damion Borkowicz said his P6 time ‘wasn’t too bad’ but the car felt loose because he ‘sauced too late’.  Like his team-mates, the 16-year-old also opted to run JConcepts’ Octagon tyre but he felt it was a little too dusty as the the day came to an end. Expecting the track to be more moist for the first qualifier due to the overnight watering of the track he said the slick Octagon should be then be better than a threaded tyre like that which Tebo ran.

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