THE LATEST FROM THE WORLDS
| Ryan Cavalieri came from fourth spot on the grid to take
the first two A mains and retain the World Championship, this time for
the BJ 4X4. Neil Cragg brought his Yokomo prototype home second, and
TQ Ryan Maifield came home third in his BJ 4X4.
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| A MAIN #1 The cars came off the straight and around through the infield pretty much in order to complete the first half-lap when second-place Masami Hirosaka hit the pipe in the wide left-hander just before the start/finish and collected several other cars. Masami came out of it last, but Neil Cragg got through into second. On the second full lap, Maifield turned too early and hit the pipe almost where Masami did, and Cragg inherited the lead, with Cavalieri up to second and Easton right behind. At the end of the fourth full lap, Cragg had his hands full with Cavalieri just a few feet behind going over the start/finish, and Maifield was a bit further back, having passed Easton for third and Masami had worked his way back up to fifth. At the end of the main straight, at the back right corner of the track, is a 180 right. This turn had developed an inch-deep rut on the line just inches before the turn. Neil got caught out here, hitting the pipe, collecting the onrushing Cavalieri and Maifield. Somehow Cavalieri got out of it first, with Masami second and Craig Drescher third. When they got around to the straight again, Ryan was out front by the length of it. Masami now rolled it after the low fast triple jump and Craig went by into second, a good ways behind Cavalieri. Ryan Maifield was now fourth. As Cavalieri maintained his length-of-the-straight lead, the only meaningful battle was for second. Something happened at the other end of the track that we didn't see -- Drescher must have bobbled, and near the end it was Maifield second, Masami third, and Drescher fourth. The ruts in the straight were such that cars would snap roll at speed when they hit them, and there was a big crash on lap 8 and when the dust settled it was Cavalieri long past, Maifield also ahead of the crash, then Billy Easton, Neil Cragg, and Masami Hirosaka. Cavalieri had it on cruise control now, and Maifield started to catch up just a bit. Maifield got a bit sideways getting on the straight and Easton caught up, but Easton rolled over the little jump after the table-top and wound up in fourth. Cavalieri kept cruising, actually slowing down noticibly at the end of lap 10 to make sure the ruts and bumps didn't throw his car, and crossed the line just a little bit ahead of the hard-charging Maifield. Maifield was caught on the line while Cavalieri took a bonus lap to wrap up A-1 |
 The new World's Edition BJ 4X4 |
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The New BJ Uses Custom-Maade CVDs As Shafts |
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The Yokomo Prototype |
A MAIN #2 When the TQ does not win the first race, he's got to have a great race to win. They got away clean to start A - 2, but Masami got a great jump and was right on Maifield's bumper. There's a right-hand bend beginning a chicane followed immediately by a ramp up a table-top where the second, left-hand, part of the chicane was, and Masami cut inside Maifield in this right-hander to take the lead on the table-top. So Hirosaka crossed the line first to end the half-lap with Maifield second and Cragg third and Easton fourth. On the first full lap Cragg got thrown by a rut and Easton hit him at full chat but continued into thrid place. While I was watching that carnage, Masami bobbled and Maifield took over the lead completing the first full lap so the first full laps ended Maifield, Masami, Easton, and Cragg, all fairly close together. At the end of the straight on the second full lap, Easton got his xx-4 backwards and Cragg ran into him, coming out of it third. Maifield hit the hole after the big table-top and got it sideways on lap three, with Masami taking over the lead and Cragg also got by. That lead was short-lived, however, as Masami went a bit wide on lap four in that chicane table-top where he had passed Maifield earlier, and Cragg took advantage to put his Yokomo ahead of Masami's and the lap finished Cragg, Hirosaka, and Maifield. Right behind were Cavalieri and Easton, and when Masami bobbled after the big table-top, both of them came through to occupy third and fourth spots. Now Cragg hung it on the pipe at the end of the straigt but maintained the lead with Masami right behind. I didn't see it again, but Masami must have made a mistake, as the fifth lap ended Cragg, Maifield, Cavalieri, Easton, and Hirosake. On the jump after the table-top Cavalieri took the inside an got by Maifield into second. Cragg had about half-the-straight lead over Cavalieri, with Maifield right behind. Right after the start-finish on the beginning of lap six, Maifield did a little snap roll and Cavalieri got a bit of breathing room. Later on lap six Neil Cragg made a big mistake,
rolling it over the triple, handing the lead to Cavalieri and falling
all the way back to fifth. Nest lap Cavalieri bobbled slightly at
the end of the straight, and Maifield closed right up on his bumper.
On lap seven they were side-by-side over the small jump on the left
end of the track. Easton got sideways at the end of the straight on
this lap, allowing Masami to take over third. |
The Other Side |
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Front End |
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The Other End |
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| With two laps to go it was the two Ryans, with Cavalieri in first and Maifield tapping his bumper all the way around the track. Entering the straight Maifield tapped Cavalieri a bit too hard, and Cavalieri just a touch of breathing room. But on the last lap, on the right-hander with the big rut after the big table-top, Maifield took the inside line and passed into first. But that didn't last long, as Maifield lost control at the end of the straight and Cavalieri took the lead again, but just by a little ss he had to slow down getting by Maifield. Maifield made up most of the difference with a desperation run through the triple and the table-top chicane, and they were side-by-side coming into the chicane and 120 right before the start/finish as time was running out. But Maifield snap rolled rolled in the last corner, and Cavalieri crossed the line just barely before the buzzer to take a slow victory lap and the championship. | |
 Amezcua's Car Being Repaired |
Four rounds of qualifying took place Monday August 8, with one more round to follow tomorrow and the mains. The top 7 or 8 drivers are probably a lock to make the A, with about 6 drivers currently in the B having a chance if they put in the round of their lives tomorrow. Ryan Maifield, who TQed round 1 is first on points. Third for now is Masami Hirosaka who took round 2, But they both need to watch out for second place Neil Cragg, whose smooth driving style carried him to the win in both round 3 and 4, beating second-place Maifield by 3 1/2 seconds in round 3. Cragg has been the only driver to be able to turn anything in the 26s, and he seems to turn in one of those gems each time out. |  He's Re-building The Diff  Amezcua Builds Diff For Prototype Car |
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Adam Drake Works on His Losi Proto |
| The real story of the World Championship this year is the track itself. The host club, long on experience with this dirt, has found it best simply to allow the track to deteriorate. Apparantly anything they might do simply makes things worse. This makes it difficult to attain speed anywhere on the track. Cars will suddenly roll while on the back straight for no apparent reason. After the big table-top is a 90 degree right, and in the middle of the line on the approach to the turn is an hole almost a foot long, about 8" across, and 6" deep at the worst. Some cars roll here, while many more, banging the chassis on the ground just as they enter the turn, are cross-wise for the little jump that follows. See the next paragraph. | ||
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On The Line |
Taking the long view |
Jesse Robbers Set Up "Perfectly" |
All the jumps are covered with carpet, something we Americans find quite odd, but again I assume leaving the jumps as dirt would cause even more deterioration. This means you've got to hit each jump straight on. If you approach the jump a bit sideways when you hit the carpet you'll be rocketed sideways or roll. If that doesn't get you, an approach that's not quite straight with the track means you'll be in big trouble upon landing. One of the worst spots is the biggest jump on the circuit, a table-top in front of the stand, and cars frequently spin and/or roll on the landing. |
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| Elsewhere On The Track | The Main Straight | Masami's Screwed Up After The Hole. He Will Roll It. |
| There will be a atotal of 5 rounds of qualifying, with two throw-outs. The following table has one throw-out already taken out. | ||
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| Mike Truhe Tries Different Wheels -- Will More Flex Help When a Rough Spot Throws You Sideways? |
Doing The Table-Top All Wrong | Even Worse! |
STANDINGS AFTER 4 QUALIFIERS
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NAME |
POINTS |
CAR |
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| 1 | Ryan Maifield | 460 | BJ 4X4 |
| 2 | Neil Cragg | 459 | Yokomo Proto |
| 3 | Ryan Cavalieri | 457 | BJ 4X4 |
| 4 | Masami Hirosaka | 455 | Yokomo Proto |
| 5 | Billy Easton | 450 | xx-4 |
| 6 | Atushi Hara | 449 | Durango |
| 7 | Jesse Robbers | 446 | xx-4 |
| 8 | Peter Pinisch | 443 | Durango |
| 9 | Paul Bradby | 439 | Yokomo Proto |
| 10 | Jukka Steenari | 436 | xx-4 |
| 11 | Craig Drescher | 435 | |
| 12 | Travis Amezcua | 434 | Losi Proto |
| 13 | Dave Montgomery | 426 | BJ 4X4 |
| 14 | Jerod Tebo | 423 | BJ 4X4 |
| 15 | Shinnosuke Adachi | 421 | Yokomo Proto |
| 16 | Mark Pavidis | 418 | Kyosho Proto |
| 17 | Matt Francis | 417 | xx-4 |
| 18 | Greg Hodapp | 414 | X - 5 |
| 19 | Mike Truhe | 413 | xxx-4 |
| 20 | Richard Cree | 411 | xx-4 |
| 21 | Richard Taylor | 410 | xx-4 |
| 22 | Adam Drake | 410 | Losi Proto |
| 23 | Brent Thielke | 408 | BJ 4X4 |
| 24 | Scott Brown | 406 | BJ 4X4 |
| 25 | Jason Ruona | 405 | BJ 4X4 |
| 26 | Lloyd Dassonville | 402 | BJ 4X4 |
| 27 | Billy Fischer | 400 | xxx-4 |
| 28 | Jeremy Kortz | 397 | Kyosho Proto |
| 29 | Rob Schaefer | 394 | xx-4 |
| 30 | Lee Martin | 393 | BJ 4X4 |
| 31 | Jorn Neumann | 389 | Durango |
| 32 | Joe Pillars | 388 | Durango |
| 33 | Hiroshi Suzuki | 385 | |
| 34 | Marc Rheinard | 384 | Durango |
| 35 | Hubert Honigl | 382 | xx-4 |
| 36 | Simon Moss | 378 | |
| 37 | Richard Barton | 371 | Schumaker |
| 38 | Tatsuya Sanpei | 368 | |
| 39 | Chris Rowcliffe | 367 | |
| 40 | Markus Lubke | 366 | xx-4 |
| 41 | Kuniaki Noguchi | 366 | |
| 42 | Ryan Dawson | 363 | xxx-4 |
| 43 | Benjamin Groschel | 363 | |
| 44 | Roland Macho | 362 | |
| 45 | Dan Marcin | 355 | |
| 46 | Allen Horne | 346 | xx-4 |
| 47 | Riccardo Rabitti | 346 | |
| 48 | Ghristopher Bowater | 337 | |
| 49 | Matt Griffin | 337 | |
| 50 | Alberto Garcia Duran | 332 |
| Eight rounds of practice were run today, with
the last round determining the qualifying heats for tomorrow. All the
practice heats have been run with IFMAR starts and transponders, and
practice round 8 required "teched" chassies, tires, and batteries.
Travis Amezcua and Adam Drake are running their prototype cars, and, since they have taken those chassies through tech, they are committed to running those cars for the race. The Yokomos look really good, with their near-vertical rear shocks enabling them to handle the car being thrown sideways from the bumps better than most other cars. Here's the finishing order from practice round #8:
Stay tuned for tomorrow's reports and possibly a podcast or two. |
| We're here in Collegno, Italy for the 2005 IFMAR Off-Road World's and all the manufacturers are represented with strong contingents. Yokomo is here with Neil Cragg, Masami Hirosaka and sevderal others driving the new car. Kyosho is here with several drivers from Japan as well as Mark Pavidis. There seem to be Durangoes everywhere, at least 6 or 7. A strong group of BJ drivers has arrived, and all the usual Losi drivers are here, most running half a practice session in the xx-4 and the other half in the xx-4 trying to learn which is faster. Oh yes, Greg and Paul are here, along with three customers driving X - 5s. |  Top View, Losi Prototype |
 Losi Prototype Side View |
As has been rumored for a long time, Losi seems to be working on an off-road version of the JRX-s, and they have two very early prototypes here. One is painted with Travis Amezcua's scheme, the other is a solid day-glo green. They have tons of custom-made aluminum and plastic parts. This is extremely early in the development process for the car, and, frankly, it doesn't look too fast at this early stage. This is being written after 4 out of 10 total rounds of practice; I didn't see the green one on the track at all and Travis has put his away in is running his xx- and xxx-4 like the others. I've seen it with the body off (Gill Losi Jr. said I could take pictures only with the body on and we'll respect his wishes.) and, remember I know nothing about on-road, it looks a lot like a JRX-S. It certainly has the two belt drive system. |
| In another development, we've seen Jesse Robbers and several
other Losi drivers bolting a new carbon fiber piece onto the back of their
xx-4 shock towers which allows the shocks to be lower and a bit further
out at the top mounting. They've gone to 1.0" shocks from the standard
1.2". We also understand that some BJ drivers have experimented with a 1-way in the front and a spool in the rear. |
 Front View |
The schedule looks like this: Sunday will be 8 rounds of controlled practice. That means you may as well be racing, as you are assigned an heat and a transponder and must marshal afterwards. The last round today will seed practice for tomorrow. Monday will be two more rounds of practice followed by four rounds of qualifying, with the last two rounds of qualifying on Tuesday morning. In qualifying the best four rounds count, and the mains will run Tuesday afternoon. We should have a Champion by 4:00 Tuesday Collegno time. |
 At the Ferrari Factory & Museum |
 Paul and His Dream Car |
Greg and Paul arrived on Tuesday and really didn't have much to do as no practice was allowed until today. On Wednesday they drove three hours to the Ferrari factory, museum, and test facility, which they say is a really cool place. |
Italy sure is different from the USA!!! |
 Not As Practical For Everyday Use |
